Let Every Heart Prepare Him Room

 And Heaven and Nature Sing...

There are so many animals in this picture! A reminder that He came to redeem a fallen World, a damaged Creation and well as lost Humankind

May Christmas joys be yours today, the peace and love of the ChristChild fill your hearts

No Vacancies

 
Look at the detail - the roosting birds, and the sign on the Inn - Three Crowns = The Three Kings, perhaps?

The Angel Told Mary...

I found Jan Pienkowski's "First Noel" on the Charity Book Table in Aldi. The book has just 10 pages, which open up and have a ribbon which ties up to make the pentagonal prism.

It has five pictures of the Christmas story - glorious paper cut-outs, and verses from the King James version. We are away at Steph's, so I may not get the chance to blog, so I am sharing a picture each day. 

I hope you enjoy them ...

I did not know that Mary had a cat!

Mancunian Monday

We had a really smooth journey on Sunday - although it got quite foggy at the end. Gaz and Steph's new home is lovely. Having a bedroom with ensuite feels like staying in a hotel! The boys were as enthusiastic and affectionate as ever. Jacob came in to see us first thing, and enjoyed storyline with Big Grandad Bob. 

After breakfast, Steph took me to Booth's in Knutsford. I can see why Sue and others in the North West like this supermarket chain! Not as cheap as Aldi/Lidl, but way more atmosphere.

 The displays were lovely, staff helpful and friendly - my only reservation the sinister Santa dummy in the Coffee Shop.what a dreadful beard! The top Julian gave me matches my jacket beautifully. 

Then home again, to find Bob had been busy with odd jobs [always lots to fix when you move house] I finished decorating the Christmas Cake with the boys. George tells me it's only 3 sleeps till The Day!

How is your week going?

An Entertaining Evening

 Lots of practice and setting up beforehand - and the evening went very well

I got my "cocktail waitress" outfit sorted out, as we had an alco-free bar.  Clare gave me a little Christmas clip which lit up and looked very pretty [she wore hers in her hair]

The hot chocolate proved the most popular, closely followed by the green [ spice]d apple fizz] Fewer people wanted the red [berry] or blue [orange and lemon] Rosie was happy to take home the leftover bottle of berry drink. 

About three dozen people turned up, quite a few children.  

Rosie, a budding magician herself, was delighted to help Nick with one trick.

I'm not sure how much was raised for FRIN.* One of the trustees explained that Foulsham has the oldest "relief in need" charity in the country. Amazing, for a small village.

Just realised, my lighted pin makes it look as if I'm on fire! 🔥*An amazing £775 raised!

Advent 4 - LOVE

I have a beautiful wreath by my front door. Handmade by volunteers at Priscilla Bacon Lodge, crafted with greenery from the Hospice Gardens. For me, the Christmas wreath symbolises God’s love
It is circular, there is no end to his love
It is evergreen, always fresh – the book of Lamentations reminds us, his mercies are new every morning
It contains rosemary, the herb of remembrance – to remind us of God’s continuing faithfulness. In Isaiah 49 it says “a mother may even forget her child, but I will not forget you”
It contains holly – the baby in the manger grew up and died on the cross for us, the holly leaves represent the crown of thorns, the berries his lifeblood shed for us.
It contains ivy, a symbol of fidelity and lasting love. Romans 8;39 – nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ our Lord.

An Advent Prayer...
We thank you for your unending, unfailing love which is new every morning
For the certainty that nothing in earth or heaven can separate us from it
We thank you for your faithfulness to us down the years
Lord, help us to never take your love for granted
We pray for those around us who do not know your love – help us to share it with them. Not simply with words, but with deeds of lovingkindness. As we have been so blessed, help us to bless others
Lord, help us to never take your love for granted
Help us to remember that our salvation came at a cost
This amazing grace didn’t come cheaply, but your Son suffered and died for us
Lord, help us to never take your love for granted AMEN

Music And Magic

Busy day today, as we have an event over at the chapel. Bob's doing the PA, and I am providing the drinks. More importantly, Nick, our minister, is the Magician and Graeme and Clare are making the music. He's an accomplished keyboard player, she plays lots of instruments, and is also a composer [winning the BBC Radio Carol writing competition a few years back]

 

It is a free, family event for the village - we hope it will be well attended! FRIN is the local charity which supports those in the village who are in some sort of need. They work all year round, not just at Christmas. 

The Silent Stars Go By

Often I will make a special tree decoration to mark the year - the year of lockdown, the year of the Raised Bed, etc. This has been The Year Of The Kitchen. I had a whole stack of IKEA instruction booklets - every item comes with its own A4 manual, about 8 pages long with pictures of how to assemble the flatpack furniture. I had a crazy idea about some sort of paper sculpture decoration.

Using my die cut machine, I produced lots of 3" circles, and carefully folded and glued a 'honeycomb' ball. But although it was suitably round, the honeycomb turned out very uneven and I was unhappy with it. I found a pattern for folding a 5 pointed star. This proved much better.

I found an excellent online TUTORIAL , offering both words, diagrams and a video - so you could choose which instructions suited you best. You begin with some very clever folding of a square of paper, and then make one cut, which gives you a perfect pentagon. This is then folded into a pretty star. 

Whilst watching University Challenge, I folded my stars. I've given them a thin coat of PVA solution to protect and stiffen them, and help them stay folded. I have chosen the best one to hang on the tree. On some you can read the different languages, on this one you can see screwdrivers and hammers!

I may add this line to my 'reworked carol lyrics' collection

"Westward leading, still proceeding
Folding the Kitchen Star"

One Potato, Two Potato...

Wednesday dawned bright but very cold. Bob was organising the Shed Christmas Mardle [A 'mardle' is an informal get together to chat - it is an old Norfolk term] So out early, to put up the big gazebo, and another bring-and-share event. Bob had his little gas BBQ stove, and was warming up mulled wine, Another guy had an extension cable and an airfryer- and was heating up sausages, arancini and cheese balls in the back of his SUV!  I was too cold to take any pictures. Louise invited me to the farmhouse to show me her front door.

She'd been to a workshop and made a decoration with foraged greenery [holly, ivy, rosemary, bay etc] Years ago, people got moss and wired it to a frame, or wrapped a wire hoop with straw, to make the basis for a wreath. Then everybody bought 'oasis' floral foam and it was easier. Then this plastic, non-bio degradable product rightly fell out of favour

I was intrigued to discover that this decoration is made with a potato at the centre. It was placed with its flattest side down on the table and then holes were made [with a bbq skewer] and gradually more and more greenery was added. What a clever, moneysaving idea- and it can all go straight into the compost bin after Christmas! Here's a video showing you how to do it. Louise's daughter had also used a spud as the base for a lovely table centre [ easy to bore a hole for a candle if you wanted to]

Wreath Lecture

For reasons beyond my control I arrived rather late at my Craft Group Christmas Social. Everyone else was well into making their cinnamon stick trees. I was giving slightly misleading instructions and there seemed to be a limited number of fabric strips available. So my tree doesn't really look as it should.
I was told 'tie your strips all round to make a tree shape'  but you are supposed to put all the knots at the front so it is a flat tree - like this one

I will know next time! But there wasn't time to retie everything, because we were onto the second craft. Janet, our host, has this brilliant idea for repurposing the IKEA scarf hanger from her wardrobe. She only ever uses a few of the rings, so she cut off the bottom 16 rings. They were natural string colour, she dyed them brown with ox gall.

We were each given a ring, and selected greenery and trimmings from the baskets on the table to make mini wreaths. Our trees and wreaths were all hung at the window to make a pleasing display whilst we ate our bring&share lunch. We had a really good time together and lots of laughs

I was much happier with my mini wreath and that is now hanging up in the hall under my Mum's picture! I was glad I took my tin of little bells - quite a few friends used one for their wreaths.

I really should tidy up my scarf hanger. I am afraid I pull out a scarf and wear it, then just push it back in later. They look so much tidier when hung properly.

Have you made any new decorations this year?

Sweet Smells Of The Season

A while ago I put an autumnal display on the coffee table - a wooden platter, lined with fabric maple leaves, with piled up with various cones and some shiny conkers. I moved it out of the way when I put up the Christmas decorations. Then last week, when I felt I needed some Vitamin C, I ate loads of 'easy peelers'. I left the peel to dry out on the window sill. I cut some star shapes [and threw the trimmings into the compost bin] I used it to make a seasonal pot pourri.

There were bits and pieces from my spice drawer, and from the garden. Cinnamon sticks, star anise, cloves, rosemary sprigs and sage leaves.

I lined a small bowl with four leaves, adding conkers and smaller cones, scattering all the other herbs and spices over, and finally tucking in rosemary sprigs and my golden citrus stars. So much nicer, cheaper and prettier than a chemical air-freshener!

Why Don't They Read And Write More Carefully?

First rant: three people have spoken to Bob this week about our Nativity Tableau. Specifically the signs along the main road with arrows pointing "To the Manger". All three said they thought they said "To the Manager" [hospice contributions now at £240 for which we are grateful]

Second rant: we treated ourselves to a box of cereal this week. Porridge is a good, warming breakfast, but sometimes sweet crunchy stuff is fun. But surely somebody at Sainsbury's should have proof-read the blurb on the back of the packet? Oats, cornflakes, peanuts, honey... but what are cereal cripsies? [it's wrong on their website too]

Third rant: if you are sending out an important document, do check what you are saying is sensible. My dad said that during WW2 he saw a sign about what to do in an emergency. At the bottom it said "If you can't read this, ask a policeman". I asked Dad how someone who could not read would work that out... 

Bob had a letter from the NHS on Saturday.  Halfway through, top of page three...

Please address all complaints to the Manger...

Gaudete!

 Rejoice- I bring good news of great joy! said the Angel. I can joyfully announce my voice is back, so I can go out to preach this morning. The church to which I am going has asked me, not surprisingly,  to take Joy as my theme. Some far right groups have recently been suggesting that the churches in England have not "put the Christ in Christmas." The Churches 'Joint Public Issues Team' have some helpful comments on their website. They have also re-released the materials from the 'Bus Stop Nativity' Poster Campaign.#JoyForAll  This is the poster going up outside our chapel

I hope someone has pointed out to Tommy Robinson/Stephen Yaxley that

• Jesus was not a white Englishman
• Jesus and his parents had to flee as refugees to Egypt to escape Herod's soldiers
• Jesus always respected women, whether Jew or Gentile. This cannot be said for some of the people TR/SY holds up as role models

The angel said “Don’t be afraid. I’m here to announce a great and joyful event that is meant for everybody, worldwide: A Saviour has just been born in David’s town, a Saviour who is Messiah and Master. This is what you’re to look for: a baby wrapped in a blanket and lying in a manger.”

At once the angel was joined by a huge angelic choir singing God’s praises: Glory to God in the heavenly heights, Peace to all men and women on earth who please him.

They Made An Impact...

My #365 for 2025 has been Impact. My thanks to blogfriend Jan for sending me a clip this week about 10 ordinary women who made an impact 40 years ago. The Irish Grapefruit Ladies. 

I confess I do not remember this story [I was very pregnant at the time - and that summer was mostly clouded by brain fog]
But I watched the video, and checked out the story. Yes, it did happen as the guy [David Nihil] says - and he tells it well . 

Thank you Jan, for reminding me that even ordinary people who are determined can make an impact. Galatians 6:9 is a good encouragement...

So let’s not allow ourselves to get fatigued doing good. At the right time we will harvest a good crop if we don’t give up, or quit.
Right now, therefore, every time we get the chance, let us work for the benefit of all

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.