Food and presents ... !

That's what Christmas is all about in my world, anyway. Birth of Jesus, bah humbug! There's no evidence he ever even existed, and if against all odds he actually did, the bible says black on white that he was not born in December. So darn it all to heck, just give me food and presents. And I did get so many wonderful presents ... !! Too many to list here (I think I'd be embarrassed if I did, especially since I know that there are some that I will get that I haven't gotten yet) but I've just got to share a special few. :-)

I have such a creative bunch among my friends and family. Anéa gave me (among other things) these gorgeous ... umm ... I actually don't know the word for these in English. Someone help!! They're to wear on your wrists to keep warm. I'm certain she made them herself (am I right?? :-).

Only showing one of them since my other hand was needed to hold the camera ... ;-)

My secret cousin's knitted me these colorful mittens! They are so warm and comfortable and I love the colors. :-)

My mother's cousin Mille (she's the one who got that award presented to her by the queen last month) has made these socks for me. Practically on order!! She gave me a pair of these a few years ago, and I just love them, they're so wonderfully warm when my feet are cold. But this fall I accidentally machine washed one of them, and it completely fell apart. :-( I was so sad ... but I, ahem, hinted that I was in the market for another pair and indeed there was one under the tree last night. Unsurprisingly, these have been knitted with washable yarn ... ;-)

My mother's Bosnian friend gave her, slash us (I hope, since we've all been eating them ;-) a tin of home made Bosnian cookies. So many different ones ... ! All the ones I've tasted have been delicious. :-) And it's so nice to get something from another country like that - no way we'd have already had the house full of these. :-)

Of course I got a bunch of turtle stuff too. Can't escape that. ;-) The photo album was from CH, I wonder what I'll use it for. I'll have to print some of my best turtle pictures and put them in it. :-D

My best friend got me the little bookmark in the bottom right corner, but the 'real' present from her was a donation made on my behalf to the Society for the Protection of Animals in Oslo & Akershus (DOOA). I didn't even know they do that, so that was a wonderful present. Even though they probably don't do much for turtles ... ;-)

The best present I got this year - sorry to those of you who may feel slighted by my saying this, but, well ... sorry! - this present was just so amazing. I saved it for last because I had certain hopes as to its contents. From the size and weight of the box ... well, mainly. ;-) And I was right. The present was from Anne Ida and it was a quilt that she's made herself. Partly I appreciate it because she's made it herself - and it's so fantastic, so skilfully made and in such beautiful colors (she's so talented!!!) - and partly because there's a certain story behind this quilt, it's kind of special. You can read about it here. Anne Ida, thank you so much ... !! You are so gifted (my mother is deeply impressed with you! ;-) and you are so kind. When I posted that comment on your blog I certainly didn't expect to actually be given this actual quilt ... ! but I am SO happy that you did give it to me. :-)

Here it is, lookee so pretty ... !! It's about 130 by 130 centimeters. Fantastic colors.

The best present I gave to anyone this year was probably my main gift to my parents, which was a basket full of wine and cheese and biscuits and fruit and so on. I didn't wrap it, I just put it in the walk-in closet downstairs ... and then I wrapped a nice box with a piece of paper inside it, on which I'd written TØRRFISK. This means 'dried fish' in Norwegian, something we used to keep on hand all the time for our dog when we had her (she died in 2001). It was her Saturday night treat, she loved it. I put this pretty package under the tree. My parents were really confused at first when they opened it and read the note, but then they remembered where we used to keep the fish for the dog ... so they went down to the walk-in fridge (also in the basement) and hoped to find something there. But I'd just put another wrapped box on the floor there, with another piece of paper which said 'old clothes and shoes'. My dad said, 'But that's everywhere in this house!' :-D (Not entirely true, actually.) So they were more confused than ever at first, but then they decided to check the closet, and there it was. They were really happy with it ... once they'd figured it out. :-D

Here's the basket being divested of its secrets ... :-)

Oh, and look at this. Here's the sitting room before we started opening the presents ...

... and this is what it looked like afterwards. Three adults, no kids. Sheesh.

Christmas isn't Christmas without too much food. Here's my favorite, grouse in cream sauce, which I eat on Christmas Eve (my parents eat lutefisk, which, yuck, I'm sorry - I know I'm a grownup now and all, but that's where I draw the line) and which we all eat on Christmas Day.

The cutlery is being wielded by my father, the grouse hunter.

Our breakfast table this morning. And there's plenty more where that came from.

If only everyone had it half as good as me. :-)

Sorry to everyone whose presents I didn't mention. I feel guilty now, may have to show off more presents tomorrow ... :-) I do appreciate everything you've given me, so much!!!