A christening!

The term properly refers to the acceptance of the recipient of a christening, or Baptism, into the church of Christ. It means to "bring to Christ."

In this case, our latest grandson is due to be christened this weekend.  As a Church of England tradition the actual ‘christening’ will often be added at the end of the normal Sunday service.  So, hopefully we won’t have to wait too long as for other little ones it can be tiresome!

This ceremony does give the family the excuse to meet, join with friends and neighbours to enjoy and formally recognise the latest addition to the family.  Hopefully, the weather will be kind to allow a barbeque to be held outdoors otherwise it will be a finger buffet style meal indoors.  Either way, I am sure our grandson will be totally oblivious (he is only 6 months old) as it will be his nap time anyway!

Whilst strolling through the realms of this talented team of interior designers I came across some beautiful items that might be perceived for the celebration of a christening.

Stained Glass Manager by Creations in Glass.

A handcut beautiful opalescent iridized stained glass, for the base & foiling the pieces using the copper foil technique, and soldering to a music box base that plays away in a manger there are two wise men & baby Jesus.  Perfect for that Christmas christening!

 

 

Christening gifts can be difficult to source but what about this useful item?

The Owyn Toy Box by Mod Mom Furniture

The Owyn Toy Box is a modern organic-style chest designed for any room in the house!  Use it to store everything from toys to gadgets to blankets. It has two easy lift-off lids that fit the top like a puzzle. Easy for little hands to manipulate!  The Owyn Toy Box is separated into two convenient compartments under individual leaf lids.

Looking for something to keep as a memento of this auspicious occasion?  Why not this item which you will agree is a little diferent?

 

Decorative Silver Giraffe Flower by Yoola

The artist created it as most of their creations using the smallest crochet needle available in the market and a silver colored copper wire.

 

 

 

For a reminder of how we welcome cherish this new child into God’s midst this delightful image would be prefect!

Gift of a Child by DeborahVoizin

This is one of my most favorite images. It shows how tiny and fragile a newborn baby is, in comparison to adult size hands that will be caring and guiding this sweet child through life.

 

 

 

Perfect for that old fashioned style!

Victorian Style Crochet Christening Cape by Precious Quilts aka me, On a Whimsey!

Can you imagine your little one on their special day wearing this romantic Victorian style christening cape?

 

And, so I look forward to our family gathering next weekend!

It was really cold!

In order to blow the cobwebs my husband and I decided to visit Wakehurst Place which is not too far a drive from our house.  It was just a couple of days into the new year and the weather, though dry, was really cold!

One of the views we had promised ourselves was that of a huge tree near the main house which had been decorated with loads of light bulbs which were to be lit every afternoon just prior to the closing of the park.  We got there around 3.30pm to walk around a little whilst waiting for the lights to be switched on.  Boy, was it cold! It was OK at first as we were well wrapped up and the sun was still throwing its last rays on the house and surrounding areas.  Amazingly, there were still a number of visitors walking about looking like us, waiting for the lights to be switched on!  Here you can see a view of the front of the house from across a lake with about three quarters of an inch of ice.

Even the birds were finding it hard work.  At one stage we saw some seagulls fighting over some bread that had been cast on the ice only to be slithering all over the place!

Ducks and moorhens were trying to manoeuvre across the ice to reach the bread that visitors had thrown for them.  If you look closely here this moorhen has found a large crust!

All this was all very well but when were the lights going to be lit?

 

Here the sun was shining on this tree and creating a lovely pink colour accentuating the branches towards the top of the tree.

Finally!! The lights were switched on!  It was hard to photograph since the sky still held the last of the daylight.  Still, you could see vestiges of the moon to the upper right and judging by the clear blue sky with not a cloud in sight we were due for a very cold night.

Best to return to the car to put the heater on and whilst driving home we looked forward to a hot cup of tea and the remainders of the Christmas cake to warm us up!

I AM back!!

Well, we flew back from Malaga on Saturday afternoon. Our daughter kindly picked us up from the airport and we caught up with the family gossip, as you do!

One thing though...... once ensconced in the house we discovered the boiler controlling our heating had broken down. This was the coldest day and we had no heat! At least we had the gas fire on in the lounge which was a saviour whilst upstairs we had an electric fan heater. DH posted a request on our local village website for a portable gas fire since we have a gas bottle for the BBQ. Good lateral thinking!

One of our neighbours then contacted us and explained how to nurse the boiler to life! Yay!!! Heat and hot water!! It was not until the next morning, Sunday, that we realised our new shower in the adjoining shower room as not working! No water at all. We left it until a reasonable hour and then contacted the builders who had installed it. Apparently, and here we are getting technical, it was a fuse that had blown. DH, being technically minded, was able to sort that and we now also had a hot shower! Life is good.

Monday we had to be up and about bright and early since our house was to be decked in a woolly jacket. A woolly jacket, I hear you ask? We normally call it cavity wall insulation which works like putting on a woolly jacket! Since the noise was to be horrendous I had the perfect excuse to go shopping until the job was done!

Returned home to a well insulated house.

Now to start to get back to normal. I really want to download all my pictures so that I can blog about our wonderful vacation. So, there you have it!

OOOOh yes, I nearly forgot to tell you! I have now got a new book entitled 'My Encaustics - art in wax' which can be purchased from http://blurb.com/user/store/onawhimsey It would make a great seasonal present for a person interested in art with a twist. Nice to have on your coffee table to show your friends and neighbours. It would also make a great present for that friend or member of your family that you just have not got a clue what to get them, I am always in that sort of position. So, it is always handy to have an extra present in the cupboard to get out of sticky situations!!

Check back soon for further updates!!