Happy Thrifty Christmas 2013

Merry Christmas!  Here, it has been go go go all day. This year we are with my husband’s family – and Thrifty Kid’s two cousins, aged three and one, whom he adores.

We got up very early (thanks, kids) and opened presents in the morning. My favourite present this year was from my sister-in-law: a giant basket filled with handmade sauces, jams and chutneys. In particular, I am looking forward to trying out the damson ketchup. My sister-in-law also made a terrific Christmas cake.

Later in the morning we went down to the beach and strolled along the seafront, stopping to throw stones into the sea. It turns out that if you are one, this is the best thing EVER.

Talking of Thrifty Kid, his favourite present today was a cardboard vat of Brio. You can glimpse the giant box in a couple of the pictures, wrapped in polka dot wallpaper. We collected the Brio inside for the past year. It was all second-hand, donated in bits and pieces by friends with older children and, in one happy case, by a lady who threw a bag in for free when I bought her kids’ activity table via a local Facebook selling page. When Thrifty Kid is too old for it, we’ll hand it down to somebody else. I hope that, like a festive snowball, the collection of pieces and trains will keep growing and growing…

This afternoon we settled down to a ginormous Christmas dinner. This evening? Cheese and telly. Perfect.

I hope that you, too, are having a fun and thrifty day this year. See you on the other side…