Because we had been on holiday for a week just before Christmas, this year Christmas day seemed to sneak up with alarming speed. We were lucky to spend the day at home with visits from parents, grandparents, uncles and aunties and cousins.
The tree was its usual eclectic mix of ornaments both brought and home made, lovingly assembled by the children in early December. There were, of course, an abundance of packages beneath the tree…
We celebrate Christmas in New Zealand in mid-summer so there is plenty of fresh summer fruit to enjoy. Strawberries and cherries feature a lot on kiwi Christmas tables… although we do like to add in a bit of mistletoe and some fake snow to accompany the far-from-home reindeer for a bit of Northern hemisphere white Christmas spirit. 
This year we ate outdoors, the deck brightened with an abundance of colourful blooms from the garden…
Arranged and deposited around the place (and I’m very proud to say all from my garden!)…
Because it was so hot we opted for outdoor cooking, so the dinner was cooked in our pizza oven – we enjoyed perfectly roasted turkey and lamb.
And an assortment of salads and baby potatoes (and maybe a glass or two of wine)!
Not to mention a LOT of delicious dessert… which left us all feeling a little like this guy 🙂
Merry Christmas, from my family to yours! I hope you had a wonderful day filled with love, joy, family, and delicious food. I’d love to hear all about it!
Janette xxxoooxxxooo
The Green Dragonfly 
It looks like a wonderful warm Christmas! lots of packages and wonderful food and happy people!!
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It was a super hot afternoon, perfect for snoozing 🙂
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Sounds like a lovely day. Our NZ Christmas dinner was similar to yours but we chose to have cold meats and some hot broad beans and peas with our baby potatoes and a salad.
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Nice. I was all about the salads this year (no cooking inside at all 🙂 )
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Your photos are beautiful and your dinner sounds delicious!!
We had a picnic by a nearby lake and spent most of the afternoon in the water. It was very nice and we ate way too much (it’s the rule, isn’t it?) and I had leftover trifle for breakfast on Boxing Day.
My wife had made so much macaroni salad (a delicious family tradition) that we still had some left on 27th December!
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Sounds wonderful! I love trifle for breakfast too!!!
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We had some when we got home from the lake, around 5pm, I was still so full and regretted it lol
The worst thing? After all that eating, THE KIDS ASKED FOR DINNER!! They had a cheese and lettuce bun and were sent to bed!
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Lovely flowers.
You should dry the statices as well as the hydrangeas to get a dried bouquet for winter. Two days ago, I cut the last roses of the year, just before the cold and the snow (-7°c this morning, now it is sunny).
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Wonderful photos of the purplish flowers and the red decor.
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Looks like a lovely way to spend Christmas. Happy Christmas and New Year to you and your family. Jean
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Oh your hydrangeas gave me warm fuzzies! We had a great day too. My friend and her husband cooked the trad Christmas feast with 3 meats, every imaginable veg and trifle with plum pudding. We had a heap of people lots of kids and 2 of the “kids” have partners now. (18 and 21) We are getting to be a big tribe. LOL!
I love making the mice so much because there is so little sewing. I reckon they would look good on a Christmas tree with hats or big red and gold bow ties. HAHAHA! I have such fun with your dear mice.
Thanks for posting your Christmas. (Christmas ALWAYS seems to sneak up on me) ❤
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Lovely food and I know just how that gorgeous kitty felt, too . . . 🙂
Glad you had a super Christmas and I wish you a wonderful New Year. ~ Linne
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Hello Janette. I wish you and your family all the best for the New Year. Thank you for sharing your thaughts, work and always such good photos on your lovely blog. Kind regards from cold and wintry Germany
Annett x
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Love that sleeping cat not to mention all the pretty flowers. Happy New Year To you.
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