If Tomorrow Is Yet Another Bank Holiday...

 

Tomorrow is the day for all those new diaries and calendars to be started. I was very tempted by this one on sale in Aldi, a meal planner might be useful - but I decided it was unnecessary.

Then I saw the one in the adjacent display. I am really disconcerted by the name they have chosen for it! 

In years gone by I had a "Family Organiser" which never lived up to its name, but a "Family Planning Calendar" sounds rather intrusive...

Happy Days

The Manchester family arrived Saturday evening, and the boys were thrilled to be with their Grandad.

They were delighted with the Christmas presents we had given them, and we all had fun assembling train tracks and learning dinosaur facts.

On Sunday afternoon, the others got back from visiting their other grandparents. 

More gift swapping. Jess was excited about with her unicorn dressing gown and did much posing in front of the bedroom mirror.

Once Jess returned to the lounge, Rosie [in her new DG] entertained us all with magic tricks - calling herself The Great Rosita and wearing a fabulous false moustache. She had received a Magic Set last week and has been diligently practising the tricks, and the patter. It was indeed a great show! 

We feel very blessed to have these four with us [even if we collapse exhausted with a cup of tea at the end of the day!] I hope your family festivities have been fun too 

The Last Picture On My Calendar*

A very appropriate picture as we come to the end of the year. Do not stress about what lies ahead - worry cannot change anything. But be of good courage, and trust God to go with you through whatever happens.

*my dear friend Chris has given me next year's calendar as a Christmas present! She's a star ⭐

Christmas Confusions

Those wonderful little misunderstandings which really don't matter, but make us smile...

Jacob, having listened to Mummy reading the Nativity story, looked hard at the characters all crowded round the manger, and asked where Father Christmas was.

Jess, whilst we were having a family discussion about where to go on Boxing Day - her Dad mentioned Sea Palling and she thought he said Singapore. 

In her defence, we do pronounce it Sea Porling  - which is an anagram of SINGAPORE [but No L, which is seasonally appropriate]

 

And the one which might have been a real disaster but wasn't...Bob was making his legendary post Christmas soup and asked if we had any tomato puree. "There's some in the freezer which needs using up" I said, and fetched it. It said TOM P on the top. I removed the lid and zapped it in the microwave on defrost for 10 seconds. It was rather light pink, not rich scarlet red. I tasted a little on the tip of a teaspoon. It was strawberry ice cream! I promptly ate it, to soothe my sore throat!

I found a tube of tomato puree in the cupboard for Bob to use instead. The resulting soup was utterly delicious! [ the strawberry ice cream would have certainly added a little je ne sais quoi though!]

We have not watched a lot of Christmas TV - the family were very quiet so Grandma could watch the King's Speech, and we all watched Wallace and Gromit. Dr Who yes, Gavin and Stacey no[I had not watched any of the previous G&S so decided there was not point] The extra Only Connect, UC and Mastermind have been a treat. I had worked out what would happen on the Xmas All Creatures Great And Small back in the Autumn when Mrs Hall's son put on his sailor's cap marked "HMS Repulse".

My greatest confusion has been working out which day of the week it is...fortunately we pulled out the wheelie bin on the correct morning!

Have there been minor misunderstandings in your house this week?

Fun And Feasting

 On Monday evening we visited the Christmas Lights in Hethersett, where a whole community lights up in support of Finnbar's Force, a charity working in Norfolk by those affected by childhood cancer.

It was beautiful, and thoughtfully  organised - not too much walking [Which Bob and Jess appreciated] There were little fox lights in some gardens - Rosie counted 15. A wishing well for cash donations, as well as an online site - and a Santa Sleigh for family photo ops.

We went relatively early, had supper on the way back in McDo's, and home in time for Quizzy Monday on TV.

Tuesday began with a coffee date in Downham Market, meeting up with Bob's sister, her husband and his mum. Back for lunchtime Christmas Nibbles with friends, then onto the Hospice for Carol Singing. Home to prepare food for Christmas Day.

After Zoom Church, we worked in the kitchen till family arrived. Lunch was very successful [Bob in charge, I was sous chef]

Then R&J sang Happy Birthday

To Jesus, and blew out the candle on his cake!

You may remember last year I knitted 4 Safari jumpers, for three grandchildren, and one great-nephew. This year I used the leftover wool to knit Rosie a horse jumper for Christmas. She absolutely loves it!

Boxing Day we went out to Horsey on the coast. We put up the third row of seats [aka The Granny Annexe] in the Kodiaq. Rosie was delighted to sit with me on her booster seat. We saw lots of seals and their pups [well over 100] and had a picnic in the car

On the way home,we were enthralled to watch a family of ducks crossing the road, and pleased that the driver in front had stopped to let them pass. 

Today will be quieter. It is Friday, so Bob is going to do pastoral work at the Hospice. I am going to make a Christmas Pie, and soup, with leftovers - and mend two winter coats for R&J.

I hope your Christmas time has been full of love, however you have spent it. 

I know that for quite a few of you there has been sadness of one sort or other, or health issues in your family. Know that you are loved, and you are not forgotten.The Light continues to shine in the darkness- and the darkness will never overcome it.

Not Even A Mouse

The Museum in Dereham may be closed for the winter, but my little mice are enjoying their Christmas. I shall make more in the New Year for my shop

Immanuel - God With Us

 

Some Hanky Panky With Rosie, Followed By A Visit From The Local Police...

Sunday afternoon Liz and co came round. Rosie has a bit of a sniffle, and asked very politely if I could make her some proper hankies. She had a very soft muslin cloth, which was bought when she was a baby, and we turned it into 9 hankies, hemming them on the sewing machine at the dining table, while the rest of the family chatted in the lounge, and Jess did colouring.

Later on we were just settling down to watch Death In Paradise* when the doorbell went. Our new neighbour from the top end of the close, a local police officer. She'd been out for a run, and noticed Joseph had fallen flat on his face! She kindly stopped to alert us, and came in for a brief chat. She said how much she liked the Tableau, and also asked if we knew if any church locally had a Midnight Mass Service on Christmas Eve. [our nearest is happening at 10pm, because the residents of that Village told the vicar that midnight is too late for them.They still call it Midnight Mass though. Normal for Norfolk!]
We noticed on Sunday morning that someone had rearranged the manger, the little mouse is now sniggled up right next to Baby Jesus! A number of folk have suggested we have a Charity Donations Pot. Next year...

*I like a theme tune to have lyrics which I can sing along to ]Like Only Fools and Horses]. If it doesn't I make them up. DIP has not inspired great poetry. I usually sing "Dead! they're all dead, they're all dead, they're all dead!" as that seems to fit.
Monday was a general purpose housework and food prep day, then visiting Christmas Lights in the evening, Today - lunchtime Xmas Nibbles with friends, followed by Carol Singing at the Hospice. One more sleep...

Christmas Pain!

Don't worry, we are all ok - but here's a French Christmas recipe for you. It was featured one day last week on my beautiful Jacquie Lawson Advent Calendar - a set of traditional seasonal recipes. This year's calendar has a Parisienne theme. So here is Pain D'Épices.

PAIN D'ÉPICES - This classic spice-laden quick bread is served alongside savoury dishes (such as foie gras or cheeses) or warmed with butter.

• 250ml/9fl oz milk
• 250g/9oz honey
• 170g/6oz rye flour 
• 125g/4oz plain (all-purpose) flour 
• 50g/2oz brown sugar
• 1 tsp of bicarbonate of soda (baking soda) 
• 1½ tsp salt
• 1½ tsp finely grated orange zest
• ½ tsp black pepper
• Mixed spice (adjusted per your taste):1½ tsp ground cinnamon, 1½ tsp ground ginger, ½ tsp ground nutmeg, ½ tsp ground cloves, ½ tsp anise seeds

1. In a large bowl, whisk together the flours, brown sugar, bicarbonate of soda, orange zest, salt, pepper and spices. Warm the milk and honey in a small saucepan, stirring until the honey is dissolved. Gradually add the milk and honey to the flour mixture, stirring until a smooth, uniform paste is achieved.
2. Pour the batter into a prepared, buttered and floured, loaf pan (23x5cm/9x2in). Bake in the centre of a preheated oven at 165C°/325°F for 40-45 minutes, until deeply browned. Transfer the loaf to a cooling rack for 10 minutes, then tip out of the pan. Allow to cool completely before slicing and serving.

I decided to make this on Saturday afternoon. Bob was a great help - I had no anise seeds, so he ground up a little bit of star anise in the pestle and mortar. 

The method was very easy - but I needed slightly longer in the oven than I thought - 50 minutes. The finished loaf looked, and smelt great!

And while it cooked, I took down all my spices, wiped the jars, removed outdated stuff, and put them back in proper alphabetical order! All ready for a New Year of Baking.

I have hung a few late arrival random decorations on the rack, along with the lovely spice star Liz bought me years ago from a German Xmas Market. You can just see my jug of twigs and baubles which was a fiver from a Dorset CS in 2018. This year, under the twiggy 'tree' I've placed a shepherd. He was £1.50 in a CS in Manchester last month. Bob and I both liked the simplicity of the figure.

As I was pottering in the kitchen, Bob came in and said he thought he'd heard a car and voices outside. I went to check, in case we had visitors. It was a young family who had driven into the Close to look at the Nativity Tableau. They had brought their little boy last year, and he'd really loved it, so they decided to visit again. This charming 5 year old had all sorts of questions, and wanted to tell me about his baby sister, who was asleep in her car seat. We chatted for a while then he went home with his family, with some Christmas Chocolate. A delightful unexpected visitor.

The JWs had come round a little earlier, wanting to ask me what I thought about Jesus. "Which way did you come into the Close? from the left or the right? They pointed , and I said "So did you see the tableau? I believe Jesus is the Reason for The Season" Had I actually read the Bible recently? "Yes," I said, "this morning. I'm sorry, I have to go, I am in the middle of baking. God bless you!"

Advent 4 - Stars

It was inevitable really,  my first Advent post was about circles, and then I had to find different shapes for the next 3 Sundays, and after squares came triangles...but the most common Christmas shape has to be a star, doesn't it?

The Bible is full of references to stars - the one we'll hear most this week is from Matthew's gospel

After Jesus was born in Bethlehem, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem and asked King Herod “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” [Herd had no idea!] And they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was.  When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him, giving gifts of gold , frankincense and myrrh

But from the very beginning, stars have been important, and Jewish tradition has referred to the Messiah as the Star of Jacob.King David chose a star for his royal seal, and the Star of David has long been the symbol of the Jewish people.
In the old Testament we read about God's creation of the stars [in Job 38 and Amos 5]
Where were you when I created the earth? …While the morning stars sang in chorus and all the angels shouted for joy? 
The Lord made the stars, the Pleiades and Orion. He turns darkness into daylight and day into night.

The Psalmist is overawed by the beauty of the night sky, and marvels that the One who created the galaxies created and cares for mere mortals

When I look at the sky, which you have made, at the moon and the stars, which you set in their places—what are human beings, … that you care for them? And yet you crowned them with glory and honour. O Lord, our Lord, your greatness is seen in all the world!  

In the book of Revelation, Jesus is called the Bright Morning Star

And,here's a challenge, we too are called to be like stars. Paul's letter to the Philippians says...

Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may be innocent and pure as God's perfect children, who live in a world of corrupt and sinful people. You must sparkle among them like stars lighting up the sky, as you offer them the message of life 

How many references to 'Star' can you find in the Christmas carols you've heard recently? Here is John Rutter's lovely "Star Carol" 

Reason For The Season

Here's one of our two CoverStory pieces, which should have arrived with Kirsten by now, I draped it over a box before I posted it, it gives you an idea of how far we are progressing [although the vertical  lines have got a bit distorted]  My December piece is on the left, made with Christmas prints - one mixed strip, top to bottom, and two thinner red strips filling in the gaps around my "Orange Vintage Ads"  panel

Initially I had thought to make my December strip very sparkly, but Kirsten's blue November piece is like that. I determined instead to use up some of my scraps of Xmas prints [trimmings from the tissue holders in my shop] I was going to use the "strip and flip" technique. But I got a little carried away and incorporated triangles and narrower strips into my design, exposing sections of the red foundation fabric.

If you look at it carefully, you may be able to read a very special Christmas word, reminding us that we're celebrating God With Us

A Season Of Gifts And Yellow Fruitfulness

 As the poet Keats didn't quite say.

We were eating some fruit the other afternoon and Bob asked the difference between a tangerine and an 'easy peeler'. I wasn't sure, so I have been down the Research Rabbit Hole and discovered so fascinating facts.

Tangerine is the old name for the Mandarin - and that is the generic name for citrus fruit from several trees. Tangerine is the popular term in the USA, but in the 1960s, the British fruit industry phased it out in favour of the more exotic term Mandarin . Older people [like me!] often say "And we always had a tangerine at the bottom of our Christmas Stockings"

As well as a piece of fruit, Mandarin can also mean the standard, official Chinese language, spoken by over 730M people, or a high ranking civil servant, or a slightly dodgy Lego figure. Tangerine is also the name of a deep orangey red colour.

Satsumas are a variety of mandarin, popular for being easy peeling, and seedless. In 2005 , Tesco actually launched a Save Our Satsuma campaign, because growers in Spain and Morocco were changing satsuma orchards for other more profitable options. Britain is the world's biggest importer of satsumas - parents love them because often children who don't eat fruit will eat these.

Just don't tell the children that satsuma, a Japanese word, is also the name of a type of land snail,

It can also be beautiful Japanese pottery, richly decorated, with crazing on the glaze and embellished with gold.

Well what about clementines, then? Do they have anything to do with the darling miner's daughter? Nope - they were named,  for the french missionary priest and nurseryman, Father Marie-Clement Rodier who grew them in the garden of the orphanage in Algeria where he worked for half a century. Originally he called this hybrid cultivar a mandarinette but it was renamed for him in 1902 a couple of years before his death.

I can understand why supermarkets like the general term "easy peelers"

One final thing - the mandarin is an "ancestor" fruit. There are three ancestor citrus fruits, and all our other citrus fruits are hybrids of these. The other two ancestors are the citron and the pomelo. From the citron [called etrog in Yiddish] are derived lemons and limes. The latter is also called the shaddock [named for the British Sea Captain who first took the fruit from South East Asia and set up plantations in Barbados in 1640] The grapefruit is a pomelo/mandarin hybrid [and do be careful, grapefruit can interact with prescription drugs] 

I found this chart quite appeeling!

We should all be eating more fruit!

Basketwork

Many years ago I blogged about the expression "Basketwork" meaning a Friday afternoon lesson where children just work on paper, and at the end of the day, it is just screwed up [unmarked] and put in the waste basket. Not an activity I would ever do with the children!

This week I have been doing different 'basketwork'

I have three laundry baskets, the brown one I got in 1977 when I had my first flat, then two larger grey ones I got in the 80's when two growing children added considerably to my washload. I admit to not being very diligent about pitting away laundry, and sometimes one basket is full of last week's 'dry washing to be put away' a second is 'stuff to be ironed sometime' and the third is in use carrying this week's washing between the machine and the whirligig dryer, or the Drying Rack in the Futility Room. Bob clearly had a few 'formal' events in the last fortnight, as there were more shirts than usual in the brown ironing basket. I did get them done though [whilst catching up with Strike]

I put away all the other washing, and used one of the big grey baskets for my wrapped Christmas presents. That job is[almost] done and dusted now.

My sewing basket has been full too...I have been working on my CoverStory stitching this week. Rosie has asked for a bowtie for Cat-Cat [her bedtime toy since she was a baby] and in November George requested pjs for TeddyDinosaur and Kezzie commissioned an embellished teeshirt for a colleague who wears different festive outfits all through the last weeks of the Christmas Term.

This was a fun challenge- as requested,  I embroidered a crown with snowflakes and Christmas Clothing Queen then added sparkly ribbon trim, five colourful pompoms, and lots of spangles and sequins. Then I appliqued it to the front of the teeshirt Kezzie had sent me. That is now safely in Essex.

Then there's the shopping basket [I suppose technically called a trolley, or if you are in the USA, a cart] Bob kindly came with me for the Big Shop yesterday - which began with an early start and bacon baps in Costa! Mainly Aldi then a top-up in the Sainsbury's across the road. Mostly OK, we stuck diligently to our carefully planned list.

 But for the 3rd time in a row, I had to have a rescan. I am beginning to suspect the Smartshop App on my phone is dodgy - every time, the final item appears to have not scanned properly. Bob said to the assistant that he had been watching me and seen me scan each item - and if I was trying to con them, surely it would be on the large chicken, not the tube of toothpaste. She was really nice about it, and suggested next time I should use a handset, and possibly uninstall and reinstall the app on my phone. I still felt like a criminal though.

As we unloaded the bags into the car, the pot of cream split! That was a bit messy to say the least. But otherwise I think we have more than enough food for the festive family feasting.

A Post From The Past

I rarely re-post, but I was looking for something else, and found this one from December 2013. It seems to me that it's still relevant [still trouble in Syria]  That year I posted each Advent Sunday about my Willow Tree Angels. 

‘Angel Of Courage’

This angel reminds me of the importance of the ministry of encouragement. The dictionary defines that word as “to inspire with hope, courage or confidence; to hearten."

I love this angel so much, because this is a pose I so frequently adopt myself. I throw my arms in the air, and shout “Hallelujah!” or “Yessss!!” or “We’ve done it!” or “Jesus, you’re amazing!” or “It’s finished!” [sometimes my fists clenched purposefully, other times, hands open, fingers pointing heavenwards]

I walk through the busy streets, and see the people hurrying along, getting ready for Christmas – many look harassed, fraught, anxious, worrying about whether they should spend their money on all this stuff, whether they can pay off the Credit Card bill. Others are struggling to carry loads of bags [probably full of inappropriate, overpriced gifts, many of which will be forgotten very quickly.] In the shop, the lady behind me in the queue is talking about a family member who has been diagnosed with major illness, and a neighbour recently bereaved. At the bus stop, they are discussing what will happen to their jobs next year, and how yet another local firm has gone into receivership, and how they will struggle to meet the mortgage payment in January.

And I want to encourage each one of them, and say “Christmas is not about giving stuff from Argos and Tesco and M&S…it’s about receiving hope. Not about feeling a failure because you cannot provide all the material things that the ads imply you must have if you are a ‘perfect’ family, it’s about triumphing gratefully in the many blessings you have been given. Love, friendship, home, family, friends, food and clothes. Not about being anxious about the things that might [or might not] happen in the New Year, it’s about receiving courage to face what lies ahead.”

I have no idea what your situation is, what you are facing right now – or what you will be facing in the year ahead. But be encouraged, because Christmas reminds us that the Son of God became man, he lived and died – and rose again – for us. Immanuel – God with us. And He will walk with us through every day of our lives - to give us hope, and inspiration and courage. 

I'm not perfect – I have ‘wobbly moments’ [usually around 4am] when I start stressing about things [great and small ]…the lack of Supply Teaching Income, two daughters living 100 miles away, the many tasks I have ‘left undone’, the odd socks lurking in the bottom of the laundry basket forever seeking their mates, the latest proclamation from Mr Gove, my inability to make gravy, the troubles in Syria…but then God’s gracious Spirit reminds me that He is there and He does care. And then I throw up my arms and shout “Hallelujah! Thank you Lord!”  and I get on with my day [unless it is actually 4am, in which case I stay very still and rejoice silently, in case I wake my beloved ]

Be strong and of good courage. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go

I'm Knot Convinced!

We had a brilliant time at our Craft Group Christmas Get Together. We chatted*, and ate festive food and played games - and Janet taught us to make Macrame trees.

Our results were very diverse because we had different thicknesses of string. I was fairly happy with my little green tree, but I'm not planning to make any more!

After lunch I sorted out the freezer food, and made a sensible shopping list. 

We watched the final episode of Wolf Hall on Sunday night. I wasn't quite sure about the end... I must check the book again.

George was a sheep in his school nativity play yesterday, and remembered his line. I'm very proud of him for overcoming his shyness, I'm so pleased his Mum and Dad were able to go and watch the production. I sometimes feel there's a lot of pressure put on the youngest children in school. 

It's only "eight more sleeps"and I'm not convinced I'll be fully organised for the 25th, but if things don't get done, that doesn't matter. 

*one person asked us not to say who had won Strictly as they had yet to watch the final on iPlayer. How had they managed to avoid finding out for 36 hours? I don't usually watch the show, but I saw the last 10 minutes on Saturday night, and was very happy about the result. 

Upside Down And Back To Front

I finally got my bakeware sorted! It has only taken 4 years! When we came to Cornerstones for Christmas in 2020, I realised that in the 11 years since we'd got this property, I'd been accumulating bakeware here.

If I was here for a week or more, and I wanted to make cakes or pies, I'd pick up tins in CS, or sales. And when we retired, I brought my pans from Dorset, and I had a lot of duplicates! On Saturday afternoon, I pulled the two huge plastic boxes out of the relatively inaccessible corner cupboard and sorted everything out.

I now have a large box of perfectly good, but surplus, bakeware, ready to go back to a CS. I've admitted that the still wrapped silicon macaron sheet is never going to be used, and the heavy shortbread mould brought back from holiday 20 years ago, and used twice, is a waste of space.

I have reduced the collection by 50%, and made a careful list of what I have kept. And also noted that my large rectangular springform pan [as used for big celebration cakes] will only fit in the right hand oven, below the fan, with the oven shelf put in upside down [and needs 1½ times my regular Xmas cake recipe] The cupboards are much tidier.

I had an unexpected flash of inspiration last week. I want to wear my pretty blue skirt over Christmas, and I wanted a simple plain blue sweater to go with it. But I've been very strict all year about clothes buying. 

I suddenly realised that I could wear the pretty blue cardi which Steph gave me a few years ago, but put it on back to front! It goes beautifully, and looks great under my black jacket. Wearing B2F was very popular in WW2 during clothes rationing. 

Have you done any successful decluttering recently? 

Do you ever wear things B2F? 

[I know Kezzie tucks in dresses to wear as tops] 

Advent 3 - Triangles

Since I posted last week about squares,m we have realised that all but 3 of our cards are square shaped. It is definitely the fashion this year. 

But triangles -  where do they fit into the Shape of Christmas? 

Well, again, at the meal table- I often cut sandwiches into triangle shapes and fold my napetties along the diagonal. And the children's cone shaped party hats look triangular...

Christmas trees are definitely triangles

And my house is strung with triangular Christmas bunting

But what about the Celtic Trefoil Knot, with its essential "threeness", representing both earthly body, mind and spirit, and also the divine Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Often in Advent, we think about the birth of John the Baptist, Jesus' cousin, [full story in Luke chapter 1] Bob made a very interesting point in a sermon the other week.

He said that when Mary went to visit her pregnant cousin Elizabeth, to tell her of her own pregnancy, Elizabeth praises God, and we read...

When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. In a loud voice she exclaimed: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! But why am I so favoured, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?

That is, she prays to God the Father, having been filled with the Holy Spirit, and she calls Jesus Lord. Bob suggested that therefore Elizabeth could be described as the first Christian. Now there's a thought for you to ponder on!

Some more triangle bunting, wishing you Christmas Joy [my Grandmother said that the best way to find JOY is to thing first of Jesus, then of Others, and then finally of Yourself]