My idea of decoration for any special occasion is to bring the season to the table, finding beautiful foliage from my garden or foraged from roadsides!

Roses are always my number one choice for any meal, but especially at Christmas I like to find other choices of flora too. Olive branches always look striking on a table, and are in abundance at home with our olive grove just outside the door, but I also love having branches from trees that offer both greenery and produce - figs, almonds, lemons, even immature pears and pomegranates are a wonderful addition if I can bare to sacrifice a few for the sake of beauty!

I always choose my favourite linen napkins, our best glassware and cutlery, and have all dishes accounted for with a chosen serving platter ahead of time. Then it’s just a matter of making sure there are plenty of ice buckets on hand for bubbles, and if we are lucky enough to catch some yabbies from our dam, I set up a washstand for those doing peeling the yabby shells. I like to have everything at hand to reduce the amount of footwork from the table back to the kitchen once we have started eating; it takes a bit of forethought but it is well worth the effort to be relaxed enough for everyone to really enjoy the day.