This is a handmade decoration, completed partly from a need to get creative with a small project and partly from a dearth of decorations with Christian significance. Even the angel on the top of my tree owes much more to pop culture [of its Victorian time] than it does to Scripture, it’s a girl for a start!

Anyway, in the years before I was expending all my creative energy in cyberspace I was a [not so] closet cross stitcher. Partly because its creativity is a paint by numbers kind and at the time that suited me a lot better than having to come up with the goods and partly because, well I liked the stuff.

So in the bottom drawer of my dresser there sits a number of beautiful cross stitch pictures in need of frames and in the cupboard above my wardrobe there sits a big box of threads and fabric awaiting the desire to strike again (I’m not optimistic of that happening…).

Hearking back to those days, I guess I had a lot of time on my hands. I was a nanny by trade at the time and had young children in my care. They’d sleep, I’d stitch. I also was living as a lodger in peoples homes and didn’t have a tv of my own and needed to entertain myself without it!!

The stitching projects were varied. At Christmas time they’d usually be small gifts like the decoration above 3 of which (over a 3 year period) I gave to my nanny agent at the time, she who shall be called Dingle.

Dingle was a great chick and was a bit fond of me which was a good thing, it meant I got a good bit of work out of her. I think it was her that set me up (after 6 months on the dole) with my first full time nanny job in NZ. However until that time I’d do the odd ad hoc job here and there as a casual.

The most memorable was for an actor whose name you will recognize, however, rather than confess straight up I’ll just say that he was in NZ(where he has home) to film a certain movie that would go on to win Oscars for a young NZ girl, its director and leading actress (3 out of 8 nominations).

I got the call early in the am.

“Dee quick, are you busy today?”

“mumble… mmmf, Dingle?”

“yes” Get up, I need you to go to the [insert hotel name] at once; [insert celeb’s name] needs a baby sitter for today and tomorrow.”

“I’ll try, I haven’t got a car”

“Figure it out and call me back”

“Scoozi?”

“ok, but don’t break it”

And off I went. To the then nicest hotel in Auckland for breakfast with him and his girls.

Me, and Sam, and the 2 girls.

Having breakfast.

2 days running…

Of course, he spent most of his time with his nose in a book/script…. But still… I was this far away from him!!

The job was a breeze but for the boredom that comes from trying to entertain children in a hotel. The novelty of pay tv and room service soon wears off. However, the mileage I have got out of the story (and still get) every time you see his face on tv has been worth it.

Even worth the embarassment of rocking up to [insert hotel name] in the oldest dodgiest red Ford hatchback and asking the valet to park it.

There were 6 of us girls, Me (duh..), Perry, Humble, Scoozi, Jane, and Linz. Scoozi and I had been friends since I was 12 and when I moved to the big smoke to find work she introduced me to her friends and happily I became part of the ‘whanau!' (a Maori word meaning family). Coming home from the UK was traumatic, the folks were living apart and close to divorce, the economy was very depressed at the time and I was unemployed for some months before I landed a nanny job. Having the girls around made life bearable when things weren’t going so great.

Some of the more memorable times were had playing Family Business (which we had to give up because it got too nasty) and hanging out at Ballarat Street or Ladies Mile. I still keep in touch with Scoozi (who lives in Kasakstan nowdays!) and Perry, we're the single ones… the others are long since married and bringing up families… Times change, that’s for sure! Anyway, that was the background, the story behind the decoration is this.

In Christmas of 1993 (I think…) I came across a book filled with Victorian Christmas decorations and tips for producing an authentic Victorian Christmas. It was captivating, and there was something so gorgeous about the whole design of them that I decided to create the experience for me and the whanau. The book had napkin rings, table centrepieces, the whole kit and caboodle! However, there were no recipes so a trip to the library was in order to plan the menu.

I honestly can’t remember what we cooked beyond the turkey, which I’d never done before and the whole business of stuffing both ends of the bird proved a bit of a challenge in its initial stages!!! Still, I recall that we achieved it! The table was set with new bottle green table trimmings, a checked table cloth and green napkins (in their Victorian Napkin Rings no less!!) and the scene [and table] was set for a great evening.

We served up the dinner, exchanged the [small] gifts and the whole event marked the beginning of an annual tradition that, as far as I know, continues till today!!! Not bad going considering 2 of us live overseas these days.

The decorations are clearly still in my collection and for me there’s nothing that feels quite so traditionally Christmassy than these decorations. After 2 years in the UK I have very fond memories of Dickensian and Victorian Christmas themed events over there, crisp air, mulled wine, figgy puddings with hidden cash, and warm winter clothing and winter fires.

How weird is that/ I’ve only ever had 3 winter Christmases and they feel more like Christmas than the prawns on the BBQs Down Under!

Well, those of you who have done, or in fact do live in America know that practically every month there is some date to be celebrated… New Year, Valentines Day, St Patricks Day, Easter,4th July, Halloween and the big 2 Thanksgiving and Christmas…

I arrived right as the fun was about to begin… you see none of these dates go unnoticed, the appropriate home furnishings are changed to celebrate each event!! So, I arrived as Halloween was in full swing and the Rescuers and I stocked up the candy jar at the door and handed out candy. We dressed up for the Halloween party at church (!) and decorated the rooms accordingly!!!

Thanksgiving came around and we travelled up to Philadelphia to visit the Liberty Bell, actually I have a decoration for that but for some reason I haven’t hung it… it’s a bit fragile! I shall have to see if I can remedy that… (ed. found it… see right…I mean, your other right…)

Phildaelphia was lovely, from what I recall at least, we were there for such a short time.. but we visited the place where the Declaration of Independence was signed and stood in ridiculous queues to see the bell… It was pretty, and the historical value of the place felt quite weighty. I’d like to go back sometime to see it at a more leisurely pace!

As the weeks went on I was becoming more and more a part of the Rescuer family. It was a thrill to feel so immediately included and I felt very sure that I had met with them by some divine appointment. Thanksgiving dinner was the traditional turkey feast, with spaghetti squash which I have never seen before or since, sweet potato served with marshmallow (ONLY in America) green beans and lots of lovely gravy etc. It was a great day, a real celebration of the good stuff, family and friends.

I came home from Philly to find the little mice had even decorated my bedroom with small Thanksgiving squirrels and a placemat with all sorts of Thanksgiving type motifs. None of the little details were ever missed in the quest to make sure Dee had a great time!!

Of course, the real decorating was still to come..

I can’t actually remember why I had been out, it was certainly for a long time so it may have been that I was working (I had taken on a number of casual cleaning/babysitting jobs to keep the cashflow going) but I arrived home one afternoon and got the shock of my life!

As I climbed the stairs to my room there were rather suspicious childish giggles from behind me as Kat and Crisp followed me up the stairs…

Nothing was too untoward as I approached my room though there was a rather lovely wreath hanging from my door. There were 3 hand decorated hearts dotted strategically around it each bearing 1988 written on the back just so I never forgot when my Christmas with Rescuers actually ocurred… which was a v. good thing because as the years go by I still can’t believe it was that long ago!!!.. Oh god, nearly 20 years! Furthermore, when I opened the door I was assailed by Christmas like I never saw it before!!!

There was a long string of pine garland wrapped around the furniture and strung along it were many of the decorations that I have been showing off in this series, the Garfields, the little wooden Santa and the cardinal which were posted today.

All of the pieces were chosen because they have some kind of significance for me…The Chairman is the kind of person who will see something that she knew I’d love and would buy it there and then… The cardinals were regular features on the highways and byways of Maryland. As I love to see the different fauna of the places I live in (I still get a kick out of the Kookaburras here, 7 years down the track!!!) I would remark on their scarlet presence every time I’d see one (as I would with Woodchucks, squirrels and chipmunks!). The little Santa was just plain cute so he got popped into the pile…

You might think the piece de resistance was a little tiny Christmas tree set up as the centrepiece which was adorned with the little red hearts, each one personalised with the names of all my family members and all of the Rescuers, right down to the family cats but in fact it was the hand-made Christmas stocking that was hung [with care] on the mantlepiece alongside a raft of the others, one for each of immediate and the extended family. Not only were the names specific (duh) but the motif on each one was specific to the owner… mine, a little ginger kitten like the Ratbag I’d left with Dad… In fact, it wouldn’t surprise me if their cat had one of her own as well!!!

I was pretty stunned actually, no one had ever gone to that much trouble on my account before! The bedroom looked gorgeous and the fact that I got to keep all the stuff has certainly meant that the Rescuers have NEVER gone forgotten at Christmas time! In fact in recent years a new deco has arrived by mail in time to add to the collection on the tree… each with stories of their own…

A certain Kiwi(soon to be Aussie) blogger is tired. Too tired to write a new Christmas Decoration post this evening… SO she couldn’t resist sharing her excitement at having secured a date.

A date with these two…

March 31st 2006…