Getting Better, Slowly

The cough and sore throat episode is mostly over, but it really knocked me out. I have been

relaxing in the afternoons, sitting quietly stitching and watching TV. There are jobs to do, presents to wrap...but they can wait.

I find it quite therapeutic to work on hand stitching little Christmas gifts. On the stool by my armchair i have tiny pots of beads, a tangle of embroidery floss, pins, needles and my sharp scissors. I need to speed up a bit though if I'm to get things done. 

We continue to get visitors coming to see the Manger Scene outside, giving donations to the Hospice. That is so pleasing.

Thank you for all the very kind comments about the little Nativity Set. All this collaborative stitching with Kirsten has helped me master stitching small details. 

To dispel any false notions among my readers that everything I do turns out beautifully, here is the picture of the flat, incinerated Yorkshire Pudding I produced on Sunday.

I have no idea why it went so terribly wrong!

The laughter keeps us going...

Bob has been incredibly solicitous this week, and done much of the cooking. I am very grateful. His ragu sauce and pasta is much more tasty than my burnt offerings.

Here's hoping I feel stronger next week!

No Plastic Tat Here!

Every time we have been over to our little chapel recently, we passed signs about the Hindolveston Craft Market. H is a little village a few miles on from the chapel - less than 20 minutes from Cornerstones. So we pootled over on Sunday afternoon after lunch.  Entry and parking were free.

Every stall was run by a local person with proper handmade crafts - knitting, sewing, quilting, cardmaking [various] jewellery, basketwork, ropework [various] woodturning, glasswork, pewterwork... Nothing that was an 'assemblage' of bits from China, or plastic and produced on a 3d printer.

It was brilliant, and run by the Hindolveston CIA [Crafts In Action] This is their 25th year [how have I not heard of it before?] and they do a 2 day event in December, and in August a 'workshop' event, where the craftspeople demonstrate their crafts and allow the visitors to have a try.

The Village Hall was beautifully decorated and they have gorgeous little stalls with striped awnings - plus hot drinks and cakes. And everyone was so friendly, and prices were reasonable. We enjoyed it so much - and everyone was really friendly

One woman had a few knitted baubles, all the same design. We got into conversation and I showed her my review of the book by Arne and Carlos. She took a photo, and said she would like to check out the book, as she only had the one bauble pattern!

The best Christmas Market I have been to this year, and on my radar for next year now! 

Felt Happy

I did enjoy the pegdoll book by Margaret Bloom. I decided to make a nativity scene. I'd been given some lovely felt last year, and I had some wooden dolls in my Stash

Kezzie had sent me some bamboo food boxes, and one [cut down] made a little stable. 

Two interlocking rectangles made a manger. I stuck a wooden craft star onto a bbq skewer. Two 'pony beads' stuck on the back of the stable held the stick in place, but it could be removed for storage.

I was given the felt, and the boxes, so I felt happy giving this little decoration away to someone who will enioy it. Maybe I will make myself a similar one [after Christmas when I'm not so busy]

It's All White Now!

I have been sharing the Pantone "Color Of The Year" with you since 2014, although the company started the idea at the turn of the Millennium [All colours here] But honestly I think this year they have surpassed themselves. Their chosen colour is white!

This has proved very controversial, as you can imagine. With their usual [ahem] colourful language, they declare it "a whisper of peace in a noisy world""a billowy balanced white imbued with a feeling of tranquility" There has much criticism of this 'non-colour' in the press

Apart from Hello Magazine, who gushingly tell us that Kate Middleton was a "vision in white" and has already nailed it perfectly. Can I just mention here that she should be referred to as Catherine, Princess Of Wales. She hasn't been Miss Middleton since 2011. And she doesnt have to worry about laundry or dry cleaning bills. I too have nailed this colour - my new kitchen has a white ceiling, white tiles, white paintwork on the door, and a powder coated white range style cooker...

IKEA on the other hand, say their C.O.T.Y. is "Rebel Pink". After decades of green washing up liquid, I went crazy last week and refilled my bottle with cherry pink 

White is fine for tiles and paintwork and wipeable, washable surfaces. And for special events [bridal wear and baptismal gowns] But I do not find it practical for everyday clothing, I'm far too messy, and I spend time with sticky fingered children!

Sorry Pantone, I  think this billowy white is not your best choice!

Patients Are Clogging Up A&E With Hiccups

That headline sounded so silly on the BBC News Website last week. Then I dug deeper and discovered that too many hospitals are struggling with patients expecting the emergency department to deal with niggling issues, who really ought to seek help elsewhere. A spokesman for NHS England said "We are under siege from hiccups and ingrowing toenails"- across England, in the six months between Nov 24 and March 25, an average of twenty people a day  turned up at A&E because they had problems with an ingrown toenail. Such foot issues don't happen accidentally or become an overnight emergency.

It is utterly selfish, in my opinion, to take up the medic's time with that when there are other people with broken limbs, serious cuts, or genuine breathing issues waiting to see a Doctor.
I read the headline, and ranted to Bob, who listened patiently, then asked "and did the BBC spell it properly?"
I knew immediately what he meant - is it hic-cup or hic-cough?
At school, we were taught cough but lately the generally accepted spelling is cup. I had to go and look it up. Here's what I found
In old English [1500s] the word hiccup was - allegedly- just ahead of hiccough in books, the two spellings appeared around the same time. However, many people thought the hic was a sort of cough, so that gave the second spelling. Furthermore, people long before Tudor times, had blamed this malady on the elves, and called it ælfsogoða  which means elf's cough. 

Here's the little Elf-On-The-Shelf I made in Dorset- how convenient to blame him if I get the hiccoughs!
I have been suffering with a sore throat and tickly cough for a few days, and completely lost my voice on Saturday Morning. Bob went without me to help put up the Christmas Decorations at church. 
He came back and said his back was aching badly. We'd planned to go to the Village Carols in the Parish Church at 6pm. "Let's stay home, darling" I whispered tenderly "After all, you can't sit, and I can't sing"
"But you couldn't sing even before you lost your voice..." he replied [altogether a bit too quickly, if you ask me!]
You may have been a good Santa last Tuesday, but the elf is still watching you, Bob!!!

It Is As If Infancy

 ...Were The Whole of Incarnation

One time of the year
the new-born child is everywhere,
planted in madonnas’ arms
hay mows, stables, in palaces or farms,
or quaintly, under snowed gables,
gothic angular or baroque plump,
naked or elaborately swathed,
encircled by Della Robbia wreaths,
garnished with whimsical
partridges and pears, drummers and drums,
lit by oversize stars, partnered with lambs,
peace doves, sugar plums,
bells, plastic camels in sets of three
as if these were what we needed
for eternity.

But Jesus the Man is not to be seen.
There are some who are wary, these days,
of beards and sandalled feet.

Yet if we celebrate, let it be
that He has invaded our lives with purpose,
striding over our picturesque traditions,
our shallow sentiment, overturning our cash registers,
wielding His peace like a sword,
rescuing us into reality, demanding much more
than the milk and the softness and the mother warmth
of the baby in the storefront crèche,
(only the Man would ask all, of each of us)
reaching out always, urgently, with strong
effective love
(only the Man would give His life and live
again for love of us).

Oh come, let us adore Him—Christ—the Lord

This thought provoking poem was written by Luci Shaw, the gifted American Christian poet who died this week aged 96. She lived in Bellingham, Washington State [which is also where my dear friend J. lives] Maybe she rest in peace and rise in glory.

My Tree - The Twelfth Picture

10am, December 5th.  Bright sunshine, weather cold... and still recognisably My Tree.

Over the weekend I shall make a grand collage of all the pictures. 

What next?

Should I continue with this tree or spend December looking for one to 'adopt' for 2026? This one has worked so well in terms of location

What do you think?