Some cheery Chrimbo things

With all the work going on in the house, Christmas decorating has taken a back seat.

However, my sister sent us a festive dinosaur diorama that is on the side in the kitchen.

And this year I have a Star Wars Droid Factory advent calendar again. It's taken five days to get all the pieces for the first droid - a gingerbread R2 unit with a mixer tray of drinks. I hope it's mixing whatever the version of egg nog they drink in a galaxy far, far away.

Winter Village Sideboard

A new location for our Lego Winter Village this Christmas. Cathy cleared the sideboard in the dining room.

Santa's workshop is in the middle of the Village.

The gingerbread houses are on the west side.

While the elf clubhouse is on the east side, next to the train line.

We have added in a few bonus little sets that we've acquired over the years, like some Christmassy market stalls and lots of decorated trees. They make the village look bustling and busy.

Two days after Twelfth Night

Is tonight fourteenth night? Anyway, we took our Christmas decorations down a few days before Twelfth Night because I prefer having them away before I return to work. As we took them down I took a few pictures of this chap, our red moose named Solvang.

We bought Solvang in a little town called Solvang in California. We visited it on our first American road trip back in 2004. Solvang is the "Danish Capital of America" and it was the first place we ever went to an all-year-round Christmas shop - the "Jule Hus", which translates as Yule House.

Since then we have bought Christmas decorations that remind us of places we have been on other trips. Decorating the tree - and then later undecorating the tree - is a nice way of remembering adventures to different places. 

The address of the "Jule Hus" is on the bag that Solvang lives in when he's not hanging on the tree.

We showed my Scandinavian Grandma our holiday pics when we came back She fell about laughing at the pictures of Solvang with it's tribute Viking architecture. We had also sent her a postcard that she found highly amusing. 

I've had a dredge in the archive and here are a few pictures to give a flavour of the place. 

Me, 18 years ago

The juxtaposed Viking longship and palm trees!

The Jule Hus Christmas Store is still in Solvang (and still at 1580 Mission Drive). Maybe one day we will get to visit it again and buy a companion for our moose!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Our decorations went up in early December. Unlike last year we have had people come into the house this year and they seem to like them, so I thought I'd share a few pictures on here.

First off - the Lego shelves.

Over the years we have bought a few of the buildings that make up the Lego Christmas Village, and of course, I had to get the train! On the lower shelf is Santa's house, a gingerbread house and the clubhouse whre the elves get some well earned kip after working long shifts in the toy factory. The other assorted sets include all the Christmas-themed Star Wars figures from advent calendars in past years. 

We have mistletoe new for this year too.

This is made by Jellycat, who make the most adorable soft toys. I bought this at a lovely little toy shop not far from my house called Honeycomb Toys. They have lots of cool stuff in there, including some great wooden toys. Well worth a look if you're in south Cardiff.

One of the highlights of Christmas for us is visiting the red and white craft stalls in the city centre, particularly the one run by Sian Davies, a ceramic artist from Abergavenny. We have several of Sian's creations including a flock of dragons that normally reside on our mantelpiece but hibernate in a crate over Christmas. This year we have a couple of sheep cutting a Welsh edge to our Christmas decorations.

(I can proudly say that we bought one of the first Santa Sheeps than Sian produced because it was on a stall a few years ago as a one-off!)

Keeping it Welsh on the tree is one of Sian's dragon tree decorations. 

As of a couple of weeks ago, these dragons are now sold out this year. I bought the very last one off the stall to send to a friend who has been very generous sending me baseball cards this year. We have a few other ceramic decorations made by Sian - including this fun looking gingerbread man.

So, that's it for now. We love adding to our festive features so there will probably be even more next year!