Snow.... almost

It snowed for about an hour yesterday.  I was so excited, I really hoped we'd get about 1-2 inches, just enough to blanket the garden & roof of the house so I could get some photos.  Sadly, it didn't do that and the snow melted away as soon as it stopped falling.

Don't know if you can make out the snowflakes falling.  It all melted away pretty quickly.

I decided to have a go at making a Christmas wreath today, thanks to a home decorating series called Kirstie's Home Made Christmas.  I didn't have any of the materials she had so I made do with some string and very flexible branches.

My first attempt at a (rather rubbish) Christmas wreath.  Cost me absolutely nothing so I'm happy!

Fireplace again with some berries and evergreen foliage along the mantle.

I've been going crazy with candle making again.  Andrew & I are giving candles as Christmas gifts to a few of our closest friend this year, so I have had fun making a mess in the kitchen.

The finished candles.  Some of the wicks need trimming before they are wrapped and packed into gift bags.

The next batch of various colours and shapes.  These candles will be used around our house.

The two large jars at the back are recycled salsa jars, the three small clear tealight holders are from Tesco (50p each! Bargain!!) and the purple and red tealight holders at the front are from Homebase (99p each!  Also a bargain!!).  Rather than put tealights in the tealight holders, I made wicks and stuck them inside the holders so I can pour the wax straight in.

Andrew had a job interview on Wednesday and I tagged along with him.  If he is offered the job it comes with a house but the only downside is that the house is in town, about 5 minutes drive from the farm.  The house looks beautiful (I didn't get a pic, sorry) but it has no gardens and is in the middle of a street so we will have alot of neighbours.

 The farm is in the Cotswolds, kind of like the Hunter Valley with its beautifully groomed paddocks and picturesque scenery.  And very wealthy estate owners.

Farm shed, milking parlour & office

My handsome hubby wishing I'd bugger off while he psyches himself up for a job interview

Cow being groomed by a giant hairbrush

Oh yes....  that's the spot...

Can't forget the tail can we now?

Inside the shed where the cows are "housed" during the winter.  The most impressive shed I've ever seen.  There are scrapers that periodically muck the shit out of the sheds, the cows have individual beds that are filled with sawdust, giant fans suspended from the roof to keep a good airflow, and of course the giant hairbrushes to keep the cows looking pretty.

~

It was bright and sunny this morning so I decided to take advantage of it and tackle the vegie patch a bit more.  I weeded the patch in the foreground, and even though it is larger than the patch at the rear, it took less time to weed.  It's a shame the sun didn't stay out a bit longer for the photo.

~

Andy & Nat came to visit us today, and they gave me this perfectly lovely gardenia scented candle set as a birthday present.  I've already put the set on display in our kitchen on the window where our dining table is.

We sat in the lounge room sipping mocha and eating chocolate croissant, talking about Christmas shopping and admiring my home made candles in the fireplace.

I only had 45 minutes to spruce the house up before they arrived so I lit the candles and put out some Christmas pressies that I haven't got around to wrapping yet.  If you think that reindeer looks terrified now, just wait til he sees Jack (the dog next door) on Christmas day!  We decided that, as Jack has befriended us and he's really quite harmless, we would buy him the reindeer toy and a chewy treat.  Jack's owner Charlie will be getting a nice big tin of Fox's biscuits.

Now that my 2nd order of wax and wick has arrived, over the next few day I will be making more candles as Christmas presents for friends and family.  I can't believe how easy they are to make, I really wish I'd started this years ago.

The finished masterpiece

I have to say, they look stunning.

I burned the candles for almost 2hrs last night and the wax had barely melted when I examined them this morning.  This is good news, it means that my candles have a very long burn life!

The only thing that I will need to change for the next batch is to use a thicker wick for the wider glass, as the melt pool was quite small, unlike the melt pool in the taller glass and tealight holder which went right to the edges.  The size of the melt pool isn't so important for plain candles but if I want to make scented candles, the melt pool has to be bigger to give a good scent throw.

So much to learn!  But I'm having so much fun exploring my creative side, I felt quite a sense of achievement last night when I lit my candles and sat back to stare at the flames.  There is something hypnotic about candles, I always feel a sense of peace and calmness around them.