Smile: Tis The Season To Be Jolly! Any survival tips?

[Cathie19]

 

🎄😁😄SMILE: Tis the Season to be jolly ..... 🎄😁😀

😀😁🎄Please could you share your POSITIVE tips for everyone’s survival! 🎄😁😀

Some of you will be working your butts off over Christmas tending to many guests and turnarounds.

For me it’s the low season... and do I decide to stay on red tinsel alert for the occasional guest gracing our threshold, or do I bite the bullet and close shop for the holidays?

Do you welcome your guests, in as part of the family Xmas?

Do you have a secret tip to balancing family, friends and guests alike? 

Do you celebrate Christmas as a spiritual or religious time, or do you go full on with the hype and commercialism. Or for whatever reason, does the season pass as another day, unnoticed......

So what I really want to know.... do you have any constructive ideas or tips? 

So what will make you smile this Xmas? 

What will you do to get through it? 

Do you prepare differently? Do you  decorate, not knowing if guests celebrate the Christmas holiday? Extra treats?

What’s happening in your neck of the woods!

🙂

Cathie

[Lizzie]

Lovely upbeat post @Cathie19. 🙂

Have you got your decorations up already? 

[Cathie19]

Today’s the day @Lizzie! Psyching myself up for pulling them down out of the yearly storage... 🎄🎄🎄🎄🙌🏼

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Cathie19

Christmas MADNESS in Zagreb starts tomorow , December 1.st and lasts until January 7th. It is great for tourists and kids, it is good income for hosts.... but if you have any business to run you are screwed.

Traffic is already unbearable so if I have to go shopping by car  then I have to do it before 14 h or after 19 h or will be stuck in traffic. We have home renovation going on, now it's 18:00 h and I have to wait another 30 min or more to be able to sit in a car and go shopping ceramic tiles until 20:00 when the shop will close. And the shop is not even close to city center.

Parking spot is impossible to find anywhere downtown. Mission impossible, at least before midnight.

We are off site hosts and let 2 apartments in city center while we live at other location.

How do we manage December stress? Uh... beer and hot wine 🙂

It's not even started and I already can't wait until is over 😛

[Cathie19]

Hi @Branka-and-Silvia0. The traffic sounds a nightmare.... so I wish you the very best for 5he season, and more of the good things. Good guests, lucky parks and some flow through traffic options.

The beer and wine sounds fine by me! Hot wine as in mulled? Now that would take me back...

But here in the heat my wine comes from the fridge! But I’ll drink a toast to you and the greeting and temperature can meet in the middle.... 

🙂

Cathie

[John1080]

We traveled to our place last week to put up a few decorations. We don’t do too much, as we don’t want to overdo it and not sure of the date we can make it back to take them down afterwards and may have to rely on the cleaning staff to do it.

Would love to see what others have done. 

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

wow @John1080 with this romantic fireplace you don't need any other decorations 🙂

[Lizzie]

Wow, @John1080. I love your decoration, especially your fish bauble – it looks such a happy tree. 🙂

I agree with @Branka-and-Silvia0, your fireplace is wonderful. 

[Cathie19]

Gosh @John1080, it looks lovely! And @Branka-and-Silvia0 @are right, it is romantic! 

It’s hard to feel motivated in oppressive heat, with the monsoonal rains yet to arrive. But the air conditioners are doing their thing and the swimming pool is sparkling. With some get together happening soon, I will get started today.....

[John1080]

@Cathie19, a pool and a cool room to retire to doesn't sound too bad either! Beautiful garden btw! 

[Cathie19]

Thanks @John1080 for the garden compliment. With the rise in humidity, and our seasonal regular storms, it’s a happy space and a thriving ecosystem.

We are forever breaking bits off and sticking them back in the ground to restrike. Garry does many regular tip runs to remove the ever abundant green waste, and the lawns currently need mowing about every 5 -6 days, as you can physically see the grass growing......... lol.....

Tis the season:

Seasonally, the cicadas are now in full crescendo rising and lowering their screeching song in unison. The green tree frogs calling in abundance wanting to procreate; and the geckos are click clucking on the outside of the windows, enjoying the ever abundant feed of insects. Butterflies and moths appear after a hot parched day if you get out and hose the plants. Birds everywhere and the occasional bee visiting from some hives up the street. But yes, there are flies as well....... for it wouldn’t be an Australian garden without them! 

[John1080]

@Cathie19, it looks very lush and verdant indeed.

We only get about 400 mm of moisture here a year, but it’s pretty easy to get things to grow at home with an irrigation system, particularly xeric plants.

However, given we’re not at the cabin that often, I’ve not been able to get anything to grow there! I did scatter and sew native wildflower seeds there this summer and fall and given we’ve had quite a bit of snow so far, I’m hoping for some color in the spring! 

[Rinny0]

I have a similar ceramic tree that I made several years ago! Glad to see they are still around. Look nice. 

[John1080]

@Lizzie@Branka-and-Silvia0 Thank you! Always one of my favorite places to park myself with a good book. 

[Cathie19]

And @John1080, you have some interesting books to choose from....