Tuesday is SHOPPING DAY!!!!

Today we are off for our once a year shopping day. We get photos taken with Santa, the kids buy their gifts for each other. We get the all important Christmas Chocolate stash.

And generally have a whole day at the shopping centre. I do not as a rule enjoy shopping centres I hate them in fact and buy from our local Main Street retailers as much as possible. But this one day is the exception.

This year as an added bonues we have daisyboy20 with us again as he is still off work recovering from his surgery. The little ones are so excited their big brother is coming with us.
These covered coathangers are what I ahve made for my Secret Santa gift for patchworkers. the party is tomorrow....

Someone asked me how I went yesterday well I had a great day and I am indeed organised.

I made three of these hangers, further down you will see a book and a pile of bags they don't look much but the background squares for my BOM applique are now done. Tonight I will trace out the designs on Velisofix and if I have time I might attach them to the material and cut them out. So that project is well under way now to be ready for handsewing while we are away.

The other photo is a Strip Club pack I bought from our local Patchwork Shop it is (or will be...) a Christmas Table Runner. It is so bright and funky just perfect for Christmas at the beach, this was how it looked yesterday at 5pm, and now it is cut out and laid out ready to sew together so i will post more of that tomorrow.

CHRISTMAS TRIVIA: THE CANDY CANE (those of you with children finishing school this week will no doubt have a houseful of his rubbish I wanted to know where they came from....)

It was not long after Europeans began using Christmas trees that special decorations were used to adorn them. Food items, such as candies and cookies, were used predominately and straight white candy sticks were one of the confections used as ornamentation. Legend has it that during the 17th century, craftsmen created the white sticks of candy in the shape of shephreds' crooks at the suggestion of the choirmaster at the Cologne Cathedral in Germany.
The candy treats were given to children to keep them quiet during ceremonies at the living creche, or Nativity scene, and the custom of passing out the candy crooks at such ceremonies soon spread throughout Europe.
According to the National Confectioner's Association, in 1847 German immigrant August Imgard used the candy cane to decorate a Christmas tree in Wooster, Ohio. More than 50 years later, Bob McCormack of Albany, Georgia supposedly made candy canes as treats for family, friends and local shopkeepers. McCormack's brother-in-law, Catholic priest Gregory Keller, invented a machine in the 1950s that automated the production of candy canes, thus eliminating the usual laborious process of creating the treats and the popularity of the candy cane grew.More recent explanations of the candy cane's symbolism hold that the color white represents Christ's purity, the red the blood he shed, and the presence of three red stripes the Holy Trinity. While factual evidence for these notions does not exist, they have become increasingly common and at times are even represented as fact. Regardless, the candy cane remains a favorite holiday treat and decoration.

A Note about CHRISTMAS TRIVIA: Yesterday I had an email from a reader who was most upset that my Christmas Trivia was "all centred on religion" - I would like to explain that although I am a Catholic and my faith is very important to me I also have dear friends who are Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist and even Ba'Hai I have other friends who do not discuss their spirituality - after receiving your email I dicussed it with them and we all agreed that religion is inevitable in any discussion about Christmas as it is a RELIGIOUS FESTIVAL.

I have done some research and I will be including some trivia from other spiritual paths and the traditions that they also follow at this time of year.

I honestly thought this was a bit of fun and interesting - I sincerely hope that it has not offened or alientated anyone who visits Daisy Mountain. My personal view is that faith is a personal thing and whether it is tied up with ceremony, meditation, or pomp and circumstance is not an issue with me I am who I am and I embrace and accept who you are.

Mind you this has all lead me into some very interesting trivia territory so stand by to have your collective end of year season trivia knowledge expanded beyond the "traditional".

Wish me luck six kids, santa, shopping and crowds.....................

daisymum