Decorate

I decorated the house a couple of weeks ago. This year I went to a local Christmas tree farm to chose my tree....so much better than going to the DIY store. The tree was chosen from a forest full of trees at Tayside Forestry. 

I pulled up into their car park and the very next car to pull up was a friend....and the car that pulled up as I was getting into my car to head for home....another friend. I live in a city of 147,000 but it's still a village.

Two friends came round to help decorate the tree and we had some international help from my friend Mariana in Seville who joined us by Skype. I enjoyed remembering where my decorations came from, many of them having special memories. I shared some of my favourites last year but here are a few more.

This one sits on my mantelpiece every year. It comes from the small town in Eastern Germany called Seiffen which is famous for its Christmas decorations made by a company called Erzgebirge. It was bought for me by my friend Mariana and it is loved.

This cheeky pair were given to me by my mum and come from a Swedish company called Sia.

I made this cross-stitch a number of years ago, it's a miniature copy of the fall that hung from the pulpit in my parent's church.

Every year I try to buy at least one new decoration and this year as I was in Copenhagen in late November I had lots of opportunity. The decorations were amazing and I had a hard time just choosing one....

And here's the cheeky fellow that came home with me.

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!

Cutest Christmas Story

I am sure most of you have seen this but just in case......

I can't remember whose blog I saw it on earlier in the week but had to share.... Merry Christmas....

Christmas in Edinburgh

I had the chance to stop by Edinburgh's Winter Wonderland on my way home from a meeting the other day. It made me feel Christmassy! Hope your preparations are coming along.....

Scandinavia

I am just back from a few days in Copenhagen, Denmark and Malmo in Sweden as part of a work trip - oh and one day's annual leave to spend some time wandering in one of my favourite cities - Copenhagen. 

The work trip was as part of a European funded project that is looking at how to make creative sector incubator spaces more sustainable (financially) and this was the second study visit I had been on this year - the first was to Rotterdam in the spring. It was a really interesting trip and we visited 4 different spaces and heard from several speakers about the projects and spaces in this part of the world that support the growth and development of the creative industries. We visited Media Evolution City and MINC in Malmo, the Ideon Incubator in Lund, Sweden and the Danish Design Centre in Copenhagen. These were inspirational spaces, filled with inspirational entrepreneurs and business advisers. Some of the spaces I would love to work in. For example, this is what is called the Media Forest in Media Evolution City where people can rent a desk for a minimum of 3 months and work in a creative environment, that provides the opportunity to integrate and network with other creatives.

I had a lovely day in Copenhagen, a city I have visited a couple of times before, but never in the winter. It didn't disappoint, with beautiful shop windows, great design offerings and a trip to Tivoli, the world's second oldest amusement park right in the centre of the city, which opens for 6 weeks before Christmas and is truly magical.

Tivoli opened in August 1843 and has always included theatres and outdoor entertainment, has fireworks, funfair rides, shops and restaurants. Apparently it's designer was granted the land by King Christian VIII by telling him that "when the people are amusing themselves they do not think about politics."

A winter wonderland of fairy lights and magic...

Last year the park created a Russian theme for the Christmas opening and it was the focus again this year (Tivoli has often had international themes, with the Nimb hotel looking like an Indian palace.

Nimb - the hotel in Tivoli which also houses a Michelin star restaurant run by Danish chef Alan Poulsen. 

Trees of all varieties can be found inside. 

Tivoli Treats!

The Chinese Pavilion.

I could easily have taken thousands of photos - it was inspirational....I however, need to learn how to use the settings on the camera more effectively and to use my little mini tripod to prevent shake when taking photos at night.