Soft landing and a calendar cushion

Home life has settled down at last, after all the excitement of him getting back. The days now have a gentle rhythm to them. Not to say there haven't been a few bumps along the way....the morning routine went a bit haywire at the start - I mean, you'd think another pair of hands would speed things up during the mad rush before school, well not straight off as it turns out, we were all over the place! Things eventually calmed down by the end of the first week - just needed time to get used to each other again.
And I have to admit, I am still adjusting to having company 24/7 (as lovely as it is), after being on my own for so long. From nothing to all and back. The story of my life. Maybe a post for another day?

I can see my husband slowly unwinding too. As well as being relentlessly tough, his year away was so regimented and ordered - everything done pretty much straight away and people listened....realisation's dawning that if he expects things to go like clockwork here, he'll drive himself insane!
And the house is lit up like a belisha beacon. He seems to have forgotten how to switch a light off.

Talking of lights - sparkly, twinkly fairy lights - I'm going all out this christmas, no holding back! It's going to be christmas with jingly bells on and lashings of multi-coloured glitter.  I was such a misery last year as he'd just gone to Afghanistan - time to make up for it I think. So to kick things off I made an Advent calendar cushion...

Not sure it'll catch on, but any project that makes a dent in my huge wool supply is fine by me. The cushion's made out of an old jumper I couldn't bring myself to throw away (so soft, but holey - sooo soft though)

This is such a quick and easy knitted cushion cover, and the sleeves make a good pair of fingerless gloves. Old patterned christmas jumpers would be great for covers, wouldn't they?

The tree itself is a large knitted triangle and the little square pockets were quick to do, but the numbers took a while. Don't look too hard - I chain stitched them on and they're all kinds of sizes.

I put some chocolate buttons wrapped in tin foil in each pocket, and the cushion is now sitting at the end of my daughter's bed. It's going to be a bit of a test - more self-control needed than one hanging on the wall or safely on top of the fridge. We'll see...

But this has got to be my favourite Christmas thing so far. It's the picture my 5 year old drew at school for those cards you feel under a great deal of pressure to buy, you know the ones I mean?

Poor old fairy.

Ouch!