Feather your Nest Friday. 19 December 2014.

It's almost Christmas! There is so much to do!
I will have to miss next weeks post and will resume the following Friday for Feather your Nest Friday.

This week we enjoyed quiet nights lit up so prettily. Sometimes you hear people say Christmas is for children. I agree children make it special, sweet and exciting but Christmas is for young and old. There are no children here (anymore) and the lovely lights and tree are just glorious none the less. It is not a child's celebration it is the celebration of the birth of Jesus.  A time of hope and joy and we really need that! I hope the beauty of it leaves a tear in your eye no matter what your age!

This week I made coconut ice. I make this every year without fail! It is so pretty and makes lovely gifts. The recipe is here.
Each year I present it or wrap it a bit differently. This year I made it all palest pink, no white. I thought why not? It is a lovely soft pink milkshake colour. I serve it as sweets a couple of nights as well.

I filled up the car at $1.18 c per litre!

In the bathroom I made a shelf for looking after cuttings. With heat coming I decided I have so many cuttings that I will look after them better and made a propagation shelf. It has fantastic light and is the perfect spot. Once things have a root system I will use peat pots to get them to the next stage and plant them into the garden in autumn/winter.

I bought a small fan for the bedroom. On warm nights it;s the lack of breeze that gets to me. With a little breeze I feel fine. And often those nights are very still. We don't want the air conditioner on all night. Well, this little fan is wonderful. I sit it in the windowsill and it creates a gentle fresh breeze. On warm nights it has been great! So that relates to money saving and comfort as well.

One night I used up left overs, mainly from the freezer. Turkish bread, tomato paste, soft cheese, bacon... I added pineapple and grated cheese  and baked it like a giant pizza sub. It was yum and there were lots of leftovers. (which Andy took to work) I love dinners like that! Plus I'm making room in my freezer for after Christmas bargains (hopefully).

I have parsley, coriander and oregano going to seed. I pick big bunches of this and hang it upside down for our birds to eat. It is free food, good for them and they have a good fun time attacking it. They think it's Christmas!

I did some more Christmas wrapping. By spreading this out I do a better job as it isn't rushed. It all looks lovely. Making gifts look wonderful really doesn't have to cost more but it makes each one seem special. To me it shows love and care. Gifts don't have to cost very much.  Most of mine I have made them and the cards as well. So this would be my biggest saving over Christmas.

Today I need to face the grocery shops. Tomorrow we are helping Lucy and Kato move house! I am making rolls and a basket of goodies to feed all the helpers for the day. It will be so nice for them to be in a new home for Christmas. Lucy is in full nesting mode and just wants to get on with it!

What did you do to build up your home and save money this week? I hope it was a good week. I know there is so much to do. Plus it was a hard week for Australia and we weren't by any means the only ones under attack. It got into my dreams last night. But we can't be different we have to go on and hold our values close to our hearts and not let go. Maybe this makes building up our homes and making our homes safe, tranquil retreats from the world, is more important than ever. I think so.xxx