Christmas Firsts #16 : Simmons Family Christmas

Today, the Simmons family ( my husband's family, and hence my family too) is celebrating Christmas together for the 32nd year. As in all good loving families , there is most likely some disagreement about the actual number , but as far as some of us can remember, the family came together for Christmas for the first time in 1985 and that is, in another home rather than in their childhood home in Bonnell's Bay. This was some years after the tragic death of Rose Simmons , my mother-in-law who had previously always welcomed everyone "home" for Christmas and by 1985, owing to various locational changes for work , most of the family were within reasonable travelling distance from one another.

Simmons Family Christmas 2008

And this is how the Simmons family Christmas works - one of the Simmons siblings organises the date and hosts the gathering in his or her home.

Simmons family siblings

Everyone in the family is allocated some food to contribute, and in a secret Santa draw, we are also allocated a family member as our gift recipient and depending on the number of children in the family at the time, each individual family also purchases a gift for one of the children - this means that everyone in the family receives a gift. While the presents are excitedly anticipated by the children, for the adults it is usually a day of indulgence - lots of great food!

Simmons Family Christmas 2013

Simmons Family Christmas 2016

Over the years, of course the family has grown ( in different ways .... there are now children, their partners, grandchildren and some of them have partners and great-grandchildren . The Christmas gathering is a time when new relationships between generations are made.

There are at least half the number of the family who weren't even born in the 1980's and sadly, some of the family have passed away. Over the ensuing years, the Christmas gatherings have witnessed the growing up of many of the family members and the many changes of places of residence. Christmas gatherings have been in Newcastle, Taree, Bonnell's Bay, Morisset Park, Pretty Beach, Sydney, Lake Macquarie, Tamworth, Cardiff South, Rutherford, Wallsend , Coffs Harbour, Ogunbil .... and more.

Even after 32 years, the Simmons Family Christmas remains one of the most important days of the festive season and the whole year for us ... Thanks to whoever thought of this way to celebrate as a family. Merry Christmas from the Simmons family!
Just a note - the Simmons family in England also have a similar annual gathering on the last weekend in November.

Bilby Infatuation

Wrapped wire and fabric bilby sculpture : Wilma Simmons 2016 Over the years I have been fascinated with the plight of the bilby and it has inspired quite a few of my cloth creations... With long pinkish-coloured ears and silky, blue-grey fur, the Bilby has become Australia’s version of the Easter Bunny. Unlike the rabbit, bilby numbers are falling rapidly. There were originally two species but the Greater Bilby is now commonly referred to simply as ‘the Bilby’ as the Lesser Bilby (Macrotis leucura) is thought to have become extinct in the early 1950s... Bilbies are nocturnal, emerging after dark to forage for food. Using their long snouts, they dig out bulbs, tubers, spiders, termites, witchetty grubs and fungi. They use their tongues to lick up grass seeds. Bilbies have poor sight and rely on good hearing and a keen sense of smell. To minimise threats from predators they’ll mostly stay within 250m of their burrows, but sometimes roam further afield depending on the food...

"Temari Or Not Temari?" Tutorial

Background Information: Temari (literally translated “hand ball”) is a Japanese folk craft that is alleged to have originated in China and was introduced to Japan five or six hundred years ago. Traditionally, the balls were constructed from wrapped kimono fabric remnants and silk threads. They were made by mothers and grandmothers for children to play with. Nowadays, decorative embroidered temari represent a highly valued and cherished gift symbolizing friendship and loyalty. Recently I've wondered if your don't use traditional techniques whether you should call what you create "temari". That is an ongoing debate but today I share what I do to make a "non-traditional temari".... 1.I start with a polystrene ball ( traditionally the balls were wound silk scraps or other organic materials) and begin to wrap with approx 4 ply wool, turning the ball as I wrap. 2. I then wrap another layer of wool in a similar fashion , this time a 3 or 2 ...

Non-Committal Collage Anything Goes

Have you heard of non-committal collage? I hadn't until one of the other participants of the 100 Day Project started doing this each day and showing the results.... Here are Peggy's rules : 1. S elect 9 scraps of paper from collage box/stash 2. Make three different compositions using each scrap at least once. (some pieces can be used more than once) 3. Do not alter the scraps of paper in any way. 4.Do not use glue. 5.Take photo, disassemble and return scraps to box. I thought this would be a fun and quick exercise to do for Tag Tuesday's theme , Anything Goes... so here are my "non-committal collage" tags.... Did you spot the nine pieces? Would you like to suggest some titles? And I repeated the exercise before putting back the 9 scraps of paper, so these are different items. Hope you will try this exercise - it is lots of...

Empress Wu Designs with Wilma

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