Living in Australia we celebrate Christmas in mid summer and this year we hosted the family Christmas – in our family that’s 28 people. Everyone was so helpful and brought something to contribute; one family brought the turkey (thankfully sliced and prepared), another brought the plum pudding and so it went on. The host is in charge of decorations and sets the theme. This year it was gold, green and red with white linen cloths, fine china and my mum’s silverware. I was so proud of the end result.

Getting to the nitty gritty of how my house made me happy this summer was the pride my partner took in getting everything ready. We have huge windows throughout the house and they were cleaned until they sparkled. The inside of the house was cleaned until it was gleaming and the yard was manicured and patio spotless.

Then three days before Christmas he decided to pull up the carpets and polish the floor boards. Three Days Before!!! What was he thinking? I imagined dust and debris and odours galore. Workmen in the house while I was trying to put the finishing touches on everything. I thought I’d go out of my mind. No workmen – he decided to do it on his own! Thankfully with the help of his dad (who built the house back in 1960) they set out pulling up the carpets. Meticulously working section by section they pulled, extracted pins nails and staples as they went revealing a beautiful timber floor beneath. The smile on my partners face said it all – he’d remembered from his early childhood how beautiful the floors had been all polished and the most gorgeous honey colour similar of that to the pale mid century Danish design timbers(Danish design credenza linked below) . http://lh4.ggpht.com/_4DNdSxaMkrE/S2i4oJqPRSI/AAAAAAAADs8/nj1D0IJWMto/s576/25-05-09_1616.jpg

Wow – it was stunning – I had to eat my words. I didn’t need the stress that close to such a large event but the end result was well worth it.

He was so pleased he decided to pull up the stone tiles in the entry hall and laundry too but that’s another story …

If I could find a picture of us on Christmas day I’d post it and you’d seen how ridiculously happy we were … being the host and hostess leaves you no time to take happy snaps. Indeed this summer I’ve been very happy.