I hope you had a wonderful day whatever you got up to! My Christmas day was filled with delicious food, coffee, meeting new people, catching up with family, playing petanque, presents, conversations and lots of fun. A few years ago, Sam and I were in Tahiti for Christmas. While I definitely wouldn’t complain about being there, it felt very strange to not have our family around at Christmas,  in fact it didn’t feel like Christmas at all! Christmas day for me is about being surrounded by the people who love you, who will always be there for you. Family. Dad is back from a stint from working overseas in Papua New Guinea. It was so nice to see him again, we were all glad to have him back for Christmas. This is his Christmas present to himself – a new Nespresso coffee machine (the George Clooney one…) which produced surprisingly nice coffee with very minimal effort – always a bonus! Present time! I wish I had a photo of what my sister Esther had made for Dad, it was his uncles old stamp collection pasted to the board Dad is holding. Our tree was a bit pathetic, but at least it was real! My present from Sam… (!!) I know  lots of people don’t like Christmas cake, but this one I made was so good! And completely easy to make. A Nigella Lawson recipe, you just put everything in the pot, simmer for a while and pour into the baking tin. Just over an hour later you are given a moist, dense, delicious cake! Petanque… My DIY vases. Empty Antipodes bottles with Pohutakawa blooms and Magnolia flowers inside. Everyone! My Mum fed 21 people! Heeringa family. Jess and Jedd (on the far left) got married the week before. I’m so excited to show you their photos! Me and my Dad. Love this photo! Our family. x My lovely Sam… It was such a gorgeous sunset that night xxx