Last days of December at school.

Today it was very cold and windy so we didn't do much. We stayed at home and I started putting away my Christmas decorations. I plan to take the tree down tomorrow.
Anyway in the evening we went to a neighbourhood theatre called Amalia-Peiramatiki skini (Experimental Stage) and watched Ken Ludwig's Moon over Buffalo which was hillarious and very well mounted.
Here I would like to add a bit more about my December last days at school.Yes I still haven't finished my December news!
So in December the sixth grade had a project on Shadow Puppet Theatre and they loved writing their own plays and acting them out on the screen.

The first graders played with some Nativity scene stickers from a book my friend Cathy had sent me some time ago and learnt new vocabulary.

 They coloured Santa....

 made Christmas trees....

 decorated their classrooms....

 The fourth graders coloured Christmas trees.

 The second graders sang Christmas songs and acted out a nativity scene with their teacher who also painted the background. She is the one who makes the driftwood villages in a previous post.

 In the first grade we had the surprise of a little doll who played Christmas music.

 That is the Christmas sticker book I used.

 We sang Christmas songs with the second grade.

 We also sang Christmas songs with the fourth and sixth grades in the hall.

And they played Little Drummer Noy with their music teacher using plastic pipes. It was great!

Epiphany Day.

One day the weather is fantastic like on Thursday when we went for coffee with our friends and the next day it is windy, rainy and cold and you have to stay inside.
One good thing was that we had invited my brother's family for lunch so we didn't have to go out.
I spent the morning cooking and we had fun around the table and afterwards trying to take a family picture to send to relatives and friends abroad.
Setting the table....
 Mum's rice,various cheeses and ham,green salad, three coloured salad, beef stroganoff, cheese salad with olives,mum's stuffed vine leaves...and not in the photo rabbit stew....

 Desserts.....various chocolate from around the world.......

 Chocolate mousse and strawberry jello....

 Vasilopita(New Year's pie) made by my best friend Gia....and Maija watching!

 My niece can make you say cheese in seconds but you can't stop laughing afterwards!

Maija in Greece!

Yesterday we had lovely sunny day and we arranged with some friends to have coffee together!
Before leaving home I had to go to the post office to receive a parcel!
It was from Susan Seamaiden a friend from the States who sent me a Globetrotting little troll, Maija who is travelling around the world having fun via our sea glass site SeaGlassLovers!
Here are a couple of photos with Maija along.

 Isn't she so sweet?

 I had to dress her up as she was cold but she looked like Mother Teresa so we didn't keep this outfit on!

 She took pictures from the harbour towards the city sea front!

 And with the beautiful sunny sky as a background!

 Towards the cafe!

 Towards the city!

 Kitchen Bar, the cafe-restaurant.

 Lovely chocolate and biscuits.

 Maija brought gifts!Thanks Susan!

A second hand shop at last.

While spending time with my Godson last week which I haven't blogged about yet but hopefully will soon I found by chance a second hand shop in the city centre!
I was amazed because antique shops do exist in the city centre and they are quite expensive but no second hand shops! So this discovery was a revelation!
So yesterday evening I took along hubby and went to the huge basement. It was cold but clean and heavily packed with furniture, books, glass, embroidery, toys, etc etc
I realised though that it is not very cheap as thrift stores are usually abroad.
The owner a Greek lady from France brought the idea from there a year ago! And I only found it now!
Anyway better late than never!
I tried to behave myself and not buy everything I liked leaving some things for future visits hoping that there will also be other things I might like.
Here is what I bought and spent only 10 euros.A book hubby bought about shadow puppet theatre is missing.
The good thing was that the lady has a whole bunch of free things to take as well and also she gave me the little shamrock vase for free as it was a bit broken on the lip.
I took the ribbon for free which costs about 2 euros in shops.
The teddy bear cushion is for my summer house.
The book about MichaelAngelo by Romain Rolland is in german from the 50s.

 The green cloth was also free of charge. I am going to make it into a summerwear.
And that's the Donegal Irish Parian China vase.

 This little book is very dirty but being published in 1914 was a must.Look how it is inside. Lovely!

 And a set of vintage Greek coasters quite a souvenir.

 I loved the pictures in this little book.

A Christmas tree exhibition.

Yesterday morning I went for a while to the Goethe Institute which is in my neighbourhood next to the Ethnological Museum. There was a designer's Christmas tree exhibition. It wasn't really anything special but you could get an idea of how people's artful minds work. And you could laugh!
Here are photos I took there.
This was the poster of the exhibition and this little tree was lovely! I wanted to light it!

 The Goethe Institute.

 The gardens.

 Another exhibition poster.

 Be careful! Christmas!

Everything can become a Christmas tree!There were some paintings!

 I loved this one, so so simple to make!

 A haircut!

 Logos and trademarks!

 A fish bone!

Glass bottles.

 Pencil sharpening bits.

 Melted wax.

 Wine glasses one on top of the other.Or were these left over from the opening ceremony?

A book can be cut into a Christmas tree!

 And a Japanese artist made a Coca cola bottle into a tree!

 Look at this one!

 And that was called Atlas.

Chilly peppers turned into a Christmas tree!

 And that's how Christmas trees end up into ashes!

 Unless you hang yourself from one of them!