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Merry Christmas From FactoBrunt, Daisy, Stumpy, Blondie, Vicious and Puffy!

I’m off up to Wales for Christmas tomorrow evening, so I doubt I’ll be getting chance to write about the things I’ve promised.

I’ve been really busy building a more substantial chicken coup the last couple of days, as well as Christmas shopping and wrapping. It’s been quite a busy holiday. I hope you’re all looking forward to Christmas and 2008!

I will post some pictures of my trip to the SAMT 2007 conference in Genoa in a bit, but first I wanted to show you the Christmas table decoration I made yesterday.

At HobbyCraft we bought a circle of oasis (the dry sponge stuff into which you poke flowers) with the idea to make a Christmas table decoration.

I went out into the garden with my trug and pruned some bits of fir tree from the various trees lining our garden. I picked some Vibernum flower buds and some of the red berries on the tree round the side. From the front garden, I found some pinky-purpley berries and took some Hebe stalks and quite a bit of holly from the varigated holly bush. I took a couple of the rattles that are the Nigella seed heads that have already been outside drying for a while.

Then, I tastefully arranged them around a candle that I pushed into the oasis. I think it’s rather pretty:

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What do you reckon?

So last Sunday I went out to Leuven in Belgium, which is where they make Stella Artois. It was a business trip with full days, so I didn’t get to see a great deal. It’s one of the few countries in Europe that’s as easy to get to by plane as it is train, so we went by the Eurostar that goes under the English Channel.

The London end starts in the new station at St.Pancras, which looks mighty impressive. However, they are still having teething problems and there was no water in the station as we went through, meaning no toilets or drinks! That wasn’t the only thing making it a miserable stay at that station though; It seems some stupid highly-paid person has decided it would be good to make the station just like an airport. As Eurostar is in a constant battle against the low-fare airlines to get people to Europe I would have thought one of their few advantages is that you don’t get all the hassle of airports, but unfortunately you do.

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St.Pancras Platform

The train is wonderfully smooth and, in the dark, you have no idea how fast you’re going or where you are. The food has improved a little since I went on it 12 years ago, too.

In Leuven I was staying at a nice hotel right opposite the building where I was meeting. I was given a suite, for some reason, and it was huge. It was quite a trek from the loo to the bed. It had a modern and minimalistic feel, with walls showing and just a divider between the bedroom and toilet.

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My room in The Lodge, Leuven

During Monday evening, we had a wonderful meal at a univeristy owned club in town. Before the meal we had a walk around the Begijnhof where the restaurant was. The Begijnhof is a kind of closed community of housing where religious people would live together. It later got used as council housing and many have since disappeared. However, the Leuven begijnhof still has a wonderful feel to it, with its narrow cobbled streets and old housing.

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The Begijnhof in Leuven

I got back on Wednesday, and have been busy since, but more about that some other time. I must tell you about my diet too… so much to write about, so little time.