Reading and xmas ideas

Well I came back from Samoa (very, very reluctantly) and almost immediately after stepping off the plane started to feel pretty ill. Three days later I've slept off the aches and headache so I'll be back at work tomorrow (and daydreaming of Samoa). 

Yesterday in between naps, I knocked off the first of 12 books I'm going to read in the next year as part of my things to do before my 25th birthday. I never saw the movie The Help, but the book was fantastic. It is about black domestics working in white households in America back in the 1960s. I could barely put it down. I love the way the author captured the voices of the different characters. Now I'm on the lookout for my next book to read.

I'm also on the lookout for Christmas present ideas. I'm trying to give everyone something thoughtful and with some handmade element this year. We'll see how that goes. I stumbled across this idea today and thought it might be perfect for my 9 year old niece. 

cookie dough mixture in a jar

I also came home with a bag of lemons from mum's tree so lemon curd will be featuring in some peoples' presents this Christmas too. 

This is the latest I've left sorting out Christmas gifts actually. Most years I've bought everything by the end of November. Normally I'm quite lazy and do everything from one shop - one year it was Lush, another Whitcoulls. Last year everyone just got souvenirs from South America. Whoops. This year however I'm actually going to be at the farm with the family only a few days after Christmas so I do need to prepare some sort of presents that are easy to fly up there with. 

My Samoa holiday blog post is still to come - I have some nice photos to share - maybe tomorrow...