Just In Time for Christmas

We are home just in time for Christmas. There's been rain while we've been away, the grass is long and green and the Poinciana trees in our little pocket of suburbia are covered in their showy red flowers. I think I will pick a spray of them for our Christmas table. So gorgeous and festive!

A Poinciana tree in glorious bloom decorates our neighbourhood.

As I write, a fluffy pavlova is baking slowly in our oven, dollops of meringue dotted around a circle to make a wreath shape. I made it the way Fiona, over at Stay Home Instead does. I can't wait to decorate it tomorrow with lashings of thick cream and slices of fresh fruits.  In many hours time, when I can take that pavlova out of the oven, I'll roast the chicken and the root vegetables for the salads that we'll share with our family for Christmas lunch tomorrow. It's simple, homemade food made with lots of love, baked with plenty of time and seasoned with much gratitude. There'll be leftovers too!

A cluster of Poinciana flowers.

I am looking forward to setting the table out on our verandah tomorrow, with a spray of those Poinciana flowers in the centre, and then sitting down to share the delicious meal we've made along with all the laughter, storytelling, memories and joy that comes with being together.

Wherever you are, and whether or not it is a day of celebration for you, I hope you can spend time tomorrow with the ones you love and that love you.

Merry Christmas to you.

Meg Xx

Petals and Sunlight

On a whim yesterday, I bought a little $6 bunch of Ranunculi. Softly-coloured, floaty petals unfurling from their button-like centres.  Perhaps, if they'd been more expensive, I would have left them in their florist's bucket, but then I would have missed this ...

I set them upon our old wooden table where we can watch their tightly closed buds open and the flowers slowly fade. In the early light, that streams through our big glass doors of a morning, their petals catch the light and are almost translucent.

Every Sunday, Fiona over at Stay Home Instead, writes of something she is grateful for in her "Sunny Side Up Sunday" post.  Today, for me, it is the gorgeous petals of Ranunculi catching the sunlight. Even though not fully awake, as I made my way through to open our doors for the day, I couldn't walk past their blooms. I thought to myself just how beautiful these flowers are, unfolding on our table. I'm glad I brought them home.

I hope there's something beautiful unfolding in your Sunday too.

Meg