Magical

Every year, without fail we visit Father Christmas at Longleat - this is our 10th year. It is so popular you have to book it in May but it is worth every penny and to top it off this year - we had snow!

It was always Grandma's treat, she sadly passed away 3 years ago but Grandpa has kept the tradition going and it so special getting all the Grandchildren together ranging from a very unamused 14year old to the youngest at 2.

You take the little steam train through the forest, then once through the dark tunnel you arrive at Father Christmas's cabin in a wooded glade, lit spectacularly in fairy lights. It really does take your breath away.

There is a big roaring fire to warm yourself by, which was very welcoming as it was -4 today.

The trees looked truly beautiful.

There is a stable where you can peg up a letter to Father Christmas, a sleigh and a cabin serving Hot Chocolate - perfect festive treat.



Then there is Father Christmas's cabin it's self and 2 very excited children.

Inside all the presents are named and are age appropriate so that Father Christmas calls out the children's names and gives them their own special gift.

Father Christmas even comes down and stands by the fire and waves the train on it's way. It really is a truly magical experience and will always hold a very special Christmas memory for us all. A perfect time to share as a family and swap Christmas gifts in the car park!

Remember you need to book early to get a good time / date.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow....

I'm dreaming of a white Christmas is playing and how apt, when we woke up this morning to this!

It all looks picture postcard perfect!

Our view from the landing window.

Of course Sam couldn't wait to get out there and make the first mark in the snow.

And measure just how much snow we had. After much debate he decided to use a ruler - 12cm.

The trees look beautiful.

You can just make out the bunting!

Wonder if we will have a white Christmas this year?

I Love giving presents

Yesterday I took a little treat over to my printers - they are so good to me and I know I can probably sometimes be a pain - so I thought I ought to keep them sweet with a mug and a packet of biscuits each!

Today is the turn of the teachers. A jar of cookies and a simple but lovely Christmas star.

I've started to wrap other presents - just one or two.

Today is my last day with the children at school and that I am at home - so today is present wrapping day - all day! What a great way to spend a day!

Postman Pat!!

Christmas, when you run your own business, means one thing - long post office queues, audible sighs and tutting from the growing line of people waiting behind you and a wasted hour of your day! I have mumbled on about this before!

When you start to get piles of parcels that amount to few bags every day - things have to change - and change they did, when one day I received a phone call from Royal Mail, who noticed we were obviously posting out a lot of parcels.

We received a home visit from our Royal Mail area manager who talked us through our options and signed us up to a new online business postal system. We weigh the parcels we send out in total and divide by the number of parcels we send.

A few calculations and numbers typed into the computer later and we are good to go.....



.....straight to the sorting office in the morning.
No queues, no waiting, no tutting - just a cheery thank you at 8.30 in the morning and the days postal duties done!
I highly recommend it!

It's Christmas!!

Welcome to the Peabody house which is, at last, full on Christmassy!

I have spent the last couple of days cleaning my pigsty of a house in preparation for our festive decorations.


Yehhhhh ..........It's Christmas!


Our Christmas cards to each other this year.

My poor husband always tries so hard to get me a nice card and this year he came up trumps with this fabulous, homemade, driftwood Christmas pudding made by the very talented Kirsty Elson.

The spotty baubles have been dusted off

And ta da this is this years tree - adorned with 600 sparkly white lights.

The dresser has also been treated to a new set of lights.

The dresser will get a lovely festive floral arrangement nearer the time and the pictures will get a sprig of fresh holly.

The family favourite Father Christmas comes out every year as do some of the favourite cards from over the years.

The kitchen dresser this year is also waiting for some fresh greenery but is going to for a pudding theme this year.

Some gorgeous vintage style baubles.

The perfect tree companion.

The sitting room is very small so only the fireplace gets the true festive magic - less is more, as they say. Extra chairs have been squeezed in to prepare for all our guests which will be sharing in our festivities this year - I think last count it was 7 for Christmas lunch and 10 on Boxing day!

So there you have it, a little festive tour - all it leaves for me now, is to wish you all a very

Keep tuning on - still more festive delights to bring you over the coming weeks - as my 8 year old keeps telling me there's still 14 sleeps til Christmas!

Spotty Christmas gifts.... of course!

I LOVE giving gifts during the festive season - more than receiving them!

I LOVE to think about what a person would like and give it a festive and wherever possible, spotty touch!

So I was delighted when I came across the fantastic Jo, who makes the most beautiful and delicious cupcakes. She is very talented and would have probably produced some amazing designs but I wanted red and white and of course some of them had to be spotty!

I put my idea to her a couple of weeks ago and booked in a few collection dates and she even managed to source these fabulous spotty boxes.

With a finishing touch of ribbon and a handmade dots and spots label they are good to go!

The lucky recipients are the fabulous couple who pack all my cards for me - I'm keeping them happy - I have 32,000 cards on their way in the next week or so!




I gave myself the day off today to make a start on cleaning my pigsty of a house. I have cleaned the sitting room and dining room so they are gleaming!! The tree is up and lit but will have to wait until the weekend to get decorated as the children love to do it and we ran out of time - will keep you updated, last year it all looked like this !

It's a little chilly out there!

Compared to a lot of the country, we have had it easy the last couple of weeks but that's not to say we haven't had a small share of the cold freeze. The bunting out in the garden is like cardboard!

The tree has been an icy white for at least a week now as the temperature remains below freezing throughout the day.

The old cobwebs which would otherwise go unnoticed, look beautiful as the frost show off their intricacy.

The old red and white spotty watering can offers a little colour in an otherwise white landscape.




The garden has looked beautiful in it's icy magic. I wonder how long it will last and how long it will be, before I hanker for the green shoots of Spring.