Uploads from abbietabbie, tagged tree

Christmas cake ....

nobody@flickr.com (abbietabbie) — Tue, 08 Jan 2013 11:12:35 -0800

Rich fruit cake which had been fed for a few months with brandy and then covered with marzipan and fondant icing. The "Christmas tree" is made from green fondant snowflakes.
The cake was made for Catherine's in-laws as a Christmas present.

Boxing Day lunch table .....

nobody@flickr.com (abbietabbie) — Wed, 26 Dec 2012 12:31:51 -0800

abbietabbie posted a photo:

For Shirley, who wanted to see our Christmas lunch table. I'm sorry Shirley, I forgot to take a picture of it on Christmas day but it looked very much the same as this but with two more place settings !

Minimal time = minimalist cake !

nobody@flickr.com (abbietabbie) — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 06:00:26 -0800

abbietabbie posted a photo:

This is our rather hastily decorated Christmas cake. I've had no time to either think up or make a cupcake tree this year, so we are having a rich fruit cake, well soaked in brandy and covered in marzipan and fondant icing.

Design is taken from the top of the cake stand that this is sitting on !

I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas !

Explore 23.12.2011

Christmas treasures !

nobody@flickr.com (abbietabbie) — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 08:10:41 -0800

abbietabbie posted a photo:

I have just received these beautiful blown glass Christmas tree ornaments from a dear flickr friend in Vienna who obviously knows my weakness for all things cupcake !

I am so very lucky to have such wonderful flickr friends scattered across the globe and my Christmas tree bears testament to this ! I now have an amazing collection of cake related ornaments ...... all of them different ..... from around the world and I like to think that with these lovely presents on our tree, that my flickr friends are somehow here with us for Christmas, if only in spirit !

Thank you so much Monika ...... I am thrilled to bits with them and they are now hanging on the tree !

Explore 11.12.2011

Christmas cake no 2 ......

nobody@flickr.com (abbietabbie) — Fri, 17 Dec 2010 01:00:09 -0800

abbietabbie posted a photo:

..... this is the other tiny 4" fruit cake I have made for a gift.

Covered in marzipan and fondant icing and decorated with a fondant ribbon Christmas tree with a snowflake star on top ...... and twinkled of course !

I got inspiration for this design from some lovely china ribbon Christmas trees I saw in Florida ...... and before you ask ....... no, I didn't buy any !! ;o))

This didn't photograph too well .... the light is appalling and I couldn't get the angle right. It looks much better in real life !

Christmas Magic ....

nobody@flickr.com (abbietabbie) — Sat, 04 Dec 2010 03:18:01 -0800

abbietabbie posted a photo:

....... what could be better to do while you are snowbound than to decorate the Christmas tree ?

I love this time of year and can't wait to get to get started on our decorations.

This year decorating the tree with Christmas music playing in the background while the snow fluttered down outside was pure magic !

I'm now feeling quite in the festive spirit !

Tipped with red ...

nobody@flickr.com (abbietabbie) — Fri, 10 May 2013 11:32:39 -0700

abbietabbie posted a photo:

One of the amazing sunsets we saw on Waikiki Beach, Hawaii.
Hawaii has some of the most beautiful sunsets I have ever seen and, as is often the case, the best colours often appeared some while after the sun had disappeared.

Winter dining ...

nobody@flickr.com (abbietabbie) — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 05:56:02 -0800

abbietabbie posted a photo:

The squirrel enjoys the bird feeder as much, if not more, than the birds I think !
This little chap visits daily but we also have another squirrel visitor that I am trying to photograph but who is proving much more elusive !
We have an albino squirrel visitor to the garden.
He is very beautiful with his white fur and pink eyes but also very nervous and skittish, so I can't seem to get the opportunity to get a decent shot ...... you never know when or where he's going to appear ! I'm not giving up though !! ;o))

The countdown begins ....

nobody@flickr.com (abbietabbie) — Sun, 30 Dec 2012 10:13:37 -0800

abbietabbie posted a photo:

.... to twelfth night !

All the family are back in their own homes so I know the end is nigh but I don't take down my trees until twelfth night. It takes me so long to put them up, I like to get full value for my efforts !

The tree may still be there .... but the presents are all gone ! ;o))

It wasn't just yesterday's robin ....

nobody@flickr.com (abbietabbie) — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 05:50:37 -0800

abbietabbie posted a photo:

...... who was grateful for the full bird feeders ! ;o)) LOL

Grandson, or even great-grandson of Cyril ?

Christmas Day .... Mark II ......

nobody@flickr.com (abbietabbie) — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 05:24:02 -0800

abbietabbie posted a photo:

..... is what today is in our house !

Catherine and Ben spent this Christmas with Ben's parents so, as they are with us today, we are having a second Christmas here ...... turkey and all the trimmings and presents !!!!
We have left all the presents unopened until we could open them all together ..... so it really does seem like Christmas all over again ! :o))

Christmas Cake .....

nobody@flickr.com (abbietabbie) — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 06:04:32 -0800

abbietabbie posted a photo:

Ben's parents so enjoyed the wedding cake, I made them a surprise Christmas cake to the same recipe. Catherine and Ben will take it to them when they go for Christmas.

A simple design to match the ribbon I bought at Michaels in Orlando but with plenty of snowy twinkle !

Rich fruit cake well fed with brandy and covered in marzipan and fondant icing.

I would have liked to have photographed this in natural light but that wasn't an option at the time ! (And I should have straightened the ribbon round the edge of the board before I took the photo too ! LOL)

Countdown To Christmas !

nobody@flickr.com (abbietabbie) — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 08:17:54 -0800

abbietabbie posted a photo:

This Hallmark ornament is the one I was after when Anthony spotted the Happy Feet Two one in the shop !
www.flickr.com/photos/abbietabbie/6436181709/in/photostream

You just tap it and it lights up, for fifteen seconds, and shows the number of days, hours, minutes and seconds to midnight on Christmas Eve ...... just in case you need to keep track !!!! ;o)))

A special ornament .....

nobody@flickr.com (abbietabbie) — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 05:40:06 -0800

abbietabbie posted a photo:

...... for a very special son !

When I saw this Christmas ornament of Mumble and his son Eric in the Hallmark shop in Orlando, there was no way that I wasn't going to buy it !

Why ? Well, our dear son Andrew, who lives in Sydney, has been working at the Dr D Studios there on this film for the past three months as a Digital Matte Painter ! It's the first film he's ever worked on and he loved it.

Anthony and I went to see Happy Feet Two while we were in Florida. It's a really fun film and for us, had the added excitement of seeing Andrew's name in the credits !

To be more accurate, I was the one who saw it ........ Anthony missed it completely, he was so busy looking ! LOL Actually Anthony found the ornament in Hallmark and got me over to see it, so he's O.K.
We'll just have to get him the DVD now so that he can pause it over Andrew's name !

Andrew said his favourite matte painting jobs were turning the Doomberg green and doing the computer screens on the Russian ship. So if you see the film, look out for those two bits especially, and look for "Andrew Hamilton" in the credits as a Digital Matte Painter. It comes under the Art Dept, and there are just three painters listed.

Blue skies and blossom ......

nobody@flickr.com (abbietabbie) — Sat, 19 Mar 2011 07:28:22 -0700

abbietabbie posted a photo:

...... the new floor is lovely, and my wifi is now working again thanks to our super-star Aussie son ....... what more could I ask for today ? ;o)))

Christmas ....

nobody@flickr.com (abbietabbie) — Thu, 30 Dec 2010 02:50:41 -0800

abbietabbie posted a photo:

..... is very definitely not over until twelfth night in our house and as if to prove it, this beautiful ornament arrived on my doorstep today from one of my flickr friends in America !

Thank you so much Kate (kavingate) ...... you choose the most beautiful ornaments and are a genius at finding cake related ones too ! I love it and as you can see, it went straight on the tree !
By coincidence your card arrived today too !

Hope you all have a very happy, peaceful and healthy New Year and thank you again ! xxx

Christmas Cupcake Tree .....

nobody@flickr.com (abbietabbie) — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 01:25:42 -0800

abbietabbie posted a photo:

....... here's the complete" tree", taken last night on the kitchen work surface ...... and yes, I have to have a Christmas tree in the kitchen too ! ;o)) LOL

Not as elaborate as last year's reindeer fest, they just have gingerbread men, christmas trees, baubles, and embossed and twinkled snowflakes on them ! But they do look quite pretty ..... and they are only for us, after all ! ;o)) LOL

The fondant is lustred too. The cases I bought in Florida in Walmart (sorry Kate !) and as they are bigger than the ones I usually buy in the UK I didn't have enough mixture for all 19 that should be on the stand ! So I filled up the empty four holders with Christmas decorations and I think it looks quite pretty.

I think I should have altered the white balance on my camera for this shot but I forgot (!) and in fact with our current cold weather, I quite like the "warm glow" here ! LOL

A very Happy Christmas to you all ! x

(The large oval plate you can see behind the Christmas tree once belonged to my Great Aunt who lived in Chicago having married an American. It was their plate for the Thanksgiving turkey and has Thanksgiving scenes on it but I use it at Christmas, as did my mother before me ! )

The whole tree .....

nobody@flickr.com (abbietabbie) — Sun, 05 Dec 2010 03:46:51 -0800

abbietabbie posted a photo:

....... and looking very much like it did last year except, of course, I doubt that the ornaments are in the same places ! LOL

I have collected these ornaments .... or been kindly given them .... over the years but am now sadly running out of branches to hang them on ....... even the back of the tree is crowded !

This is a pre-lit tree I indulged in last year but when I went to put it up this year half of the lights wouldn't light ! Luckily the Garden Centre we bought it from had one tree like it remaining and readily exchanged it for the faulty one ...... I thought that was very good service.

This stands in the bay in our hall and I love the way the lights are reflected in the side windows ...... although you can't see it in this shot ! ;o))

View original for ornament overload !

Some more wedding shots .......

nobody@flickr.com (abbietabbie) — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 00:57:01 -0700

abbietabbie posted a photo:

Just thought I'd post a few more shots of last Saturday's wedding as it was such a beautiful and unusual one !

The bride is a friend of our daughter and is such a lovely young woman. She has always been somewhat unconventional so we knew her wedding wouldn't follow the "norm" ! In case you missed this in a previous post, she had to have a leg amputated at the hip when she was four, due to cancer. This has never held her back and I have the utmost admiration for her ...... she has even done VSO work.

The ceremony was in a wooded glade by a lake and the reception in a beautifully decorated marquee. In the evening they had a local community Afro-Brazilian carnival band, Sambalanco, performing outside who were brilliant.

A lot of the (younger) guests camped in the field for the night, including the bridal couple ! They had had this "Wedding Teepee" put up for them all luxuriously equipped inside !

I gather the celebrations finally ended with a barbecue lunch the next day.

All in all, one of the loveliest weddings I have ever been to!
Here are the other wedding photos: www.flickr.com/photos/abbietabbie/4678480020/

From the top left, clockwise:
The Wedding Teepee.
The bride with our daughter under the "Love Tree" ..... the letters actually spell out love.
Inside the Wedding Teepee.
The bride and groom with the wonderful old sports car that took them down to the wood for the ceremony.
View LARGE.

Bill ....... or is it Coo ? ..... ;o))

nobody@flickr.com (abbietabbie) — Tue, 11 May 2010 00:43:19 -0700

abbietabbie posted a photo:

Two dear little doves have taken up residence on the tree outside our kitchen window. Utterly devoted to each other they sit side by side and so I have decided to call them Bill and Coo ! LOL

I have been trying to get a good photo of the two of them but one always seems to prefer to be behind a branch or they sit with their backs to the camera !

So, if this is Bill, let me assure you that Coo looks exactly the same ..... ;o)))

Try Bill in large !