HAPPY WINE TIME....
oops, what I meant to say was...

MERRY XMAS!!!

hehehehe!
and yes... WINE TIME came VERY early today lol!

I hope some of you got to sleep at least a LITTLE later than I was afforded
compliments of my 8 year old son Jude...
who had us up at 6am prompt! lol

Accompanying coffee was the exploration of all his gifts
and the sharing in his endless excitement!

Granny was given a carrot...lol
yes, this has a story...
When Jude was a little younger,
he used to pronounce "Father Xmas" as FARMER XMAS hehe
so, his uncle, (my eldest brother) decided that it would be funny
to give him a carrot for Xmas. lol
Which he did!

I think Uncle Brett thought it a WHOLE lot funnier than Jude at the time lol
so this exchanging of vegetables at Xmas
has become somewhat of a family joke now...
hehehehe

and Granny was the one blessed by FARMER XMAS this year lol!

With the presents done and dusted,
and the coffee working its magic...
it was time to start prepping the food for our late lunch

on our Xmas menu today,
we had Roast beef cooked on the weber
accompanied by sweet potato bake with bacon,
brussel sprouts and peas.

Every year, I set the table
and as my dad lives alone, there is not much to work with
in terms of decor as you can imagine. lol

So each and every Xmas,
it is somewhat of a challenge
to scrape together surrounding items...lol

These are shots from the last two years....

This was last year and we went with a black and red theme

and this was the year prior...
this was a rather unique Xmas day
as we did DIY gourmet burgers.
It was so much fun!

And there was blue champagne...
so nobody was complaining. lol

Creating the table setting at my dads house
requires SERIOUS innovation! lol
This year, I went with
blues, greens and orange.

The table setting consists of items such as...
a duvet cover as a table cloth,
one of my scarfs as a runner,
a pillow slip as a base centre piece lol

I cut reeds from the garden and put them in an empty vase
and then wrapped some of them in silver foil lol
you now... for that "bling bling" factor haha!

My dad has a jar of semi-precious stones on one of the top shelves in his kitchen
so I stole a few of the orange and green stones from that
to scatter on the table...

Amusingly enough,
I discovered amidst setting the table, that we were short of serviettes
and my mom came walking into the kitchen
as I announced this to her...

She immediately declared that she had brought some serviettes
and not just ANY serviettes,
no... these were MONET serviettes...
all the way from France actually...

and they fitted my colour theme BEAUTIFULLY!!!

These GORGEOUS serviettes were given to her
by one of her art students when she went on holiday in France.

So that was it, to my mind, the table setting was
looking GOOOOOOD!
(Well, I thought so anyway lol)

Oh goodness!!!!
So much HARD work!
Me thinks its time for some VINO!!!!!
hahaha and yes... this was 11.30am and I am still standing lol ;)

Meet mom!
The genius chef of the day @lizziesworld!
Say CHEEEEEESE mom!! hehehehe

Food prep done & table sorted
it was time to chill...
oh and be ordered to watch Jude master his new toys lol

This one was particularly cool...
it was a soccer bubble set...
so you blow the bubbles and it comes with a special pair of socks
which allow you to kick the bubble like a soccer ball
without them popping!

and the hand sensor drone....
which was super cool!

Right, time to get the roast onto the coals
and time for "poppy" to say cheese...

no wait... poppy needs to fix his hair first....
whenever you are ready poppy....lol

ok, ok.... poppy is ready!!

SAY CHEEEEEESE POPPY!!!!

and in the spirit of selfies and "ONSIES" ;)
(those who read my recent post will know what this term means lol)
the girls and Jude did a few of their own... lol

The roast was... well... roasting lol
so there was still a bit more
"play time"

and time to sit by the pool,
pretend to be a stranded mermaid
while your mother takes photos of your hair lol....

hehehe.... girl things... girl things... lol
Sh!t - is that wine in that photo?
GAAAAWD - I didn't know mermaids drank wine ;)
hahahaha!

ok ok... enough! lol
time for luuuunch!!!!!
Calling the master carver....

Just LOOK at this BEAUT!!!!
Yummy!!!!

Wine was served at the table for...
EVERYONE!
Including Jude lol...

He was um...
errrrr....
not that enthusiastic.... hahahahahaha!!!!!!!
(well not as enthusiastic as mommy anyway lol!

oh look... another "ONSIE"
you non South Africans
are going to have to start paying me for coining this phrase lol

Mom lecturing me about something... no doubt. lol
I cannot recall mom... sorry! hahaha!

Right...
GRUBS UP!!!!
om nom nom nom nom!!!!!

and what better way to finish off such a
DELICIOUS meal,
than with moms home made lemon fridge cake!!!!

EEEEEK!!!!!!

Mom wrapped each wine glass
with little "conversation piece" messages....
I LOVE MY MOM!!!
and they did indeed inspire some lovely conversation...

I hope you all had an amazing Xmas day too
Love you all LONG TIME!!!!
xxxxx

Until next time...

Much Love from Cape Town, South Africa xxx