..to persuade my phone to speak to my laptop at the moment, so no photographs of the beautiful bowl with Love & Laughter and Family & Friends written on it in gold (Thank you M!),  of marzipaan stuffed dates in a little french cheese box which nake a nice gift, of my small growing  tree with the red berry lights...

My had is so full of so many things I want to say, but for now I will simply say sorry!

..alternatives.  I found these charming headdresses at Edinburgh Christmas Market many years ago.  A circlet of starry tinsel also makes a lovely party hat, and a wreath of ivy for the men and boys goes down well!

There is usually some scented wax left in a tin candle after it will no longer light, and placed on top of the woodburner or a radiator it will still give off a gentle  aroma for many hours.

This one is very  Christmassy. (Thank you L.)

I know some people have their reasons for not sending Christmas cards, but it is a small joy I am not willing to give up. I love them - choosing them, writitng them, receiving them - little packets of love and kind wishes, updates and staying in touch even if only at this one time in the year. Tiny gifts are sometimes enclosed - seeds perhaps (thank you L!) or a sachet of a bedtime tea to a friend who is having trouble sleeping, or a few glittery stars, just for fun. Sometime just saying you are remembered, I think of you.

I clear off the table, scour he house for pens which still have ink in them, find the address book and stamps and put on some Christmas music and another log on the fire. I pour a glass of wine or make a mug of hot chocolate and avoid thinking of the postal strike - they will all reach their  destinations eventually I am sure!

When it all gets a bit too blingy and shouty for me..

it's nice to come home to my own simpler version.

So far I am enjoying a very minimal look..but that may change.

Have you put up decorations yet?

..and music everywhere!I In the streets, shopping malls and department stores pople were singing and making music.

Not to mention jumping through hoops of fire.

Oh and it snowed for at least four minutes in Byers Road!

..of Christmas. Every year these people, working as they are under great pressure, find time to sing in the Glasgow Hospitals Christmas Concert to raise funds for Young Lives vs Cancer. They rehearse from October.

I always consider it to be the real start of Christmas. It is absolutely beautiful.

Repurpose, re-use... a bit of glinty tinsel and a few lights and we have changed season. It is frosty and beautifully starry tonight and I could hear the owls when I went out to take the photograph. It's beginning to feel a little like Christmas! Love it.

..of lists! I love lists. I found myself making a list of the lists I need the other day! One for cards, one for presents, one for food shopping, one for shopping when I am in town, one for when I am in the city, one for online shopping, one for meals stocked in the freezer (sardine and lemoon terrine next)...

The optician's window display made me smile.

We judge each other all the time. It's what we do, and necessary for survival, but we are often expected to express an opinion when, it seems to me, we are in no position to judge and social media encourages us to be simplistic (thumbs up/thumbs down) on even complex issues.

Try, just for a day suspending judgement. Just let things be. Give yourself a break from it, from turning everything into an ethical dilemma for example. Or from judging yourself, perhaps harshly, as well as others.  When I tried this I was quite shocked at how many of my thoughts were very judgemental indeed!

After a few hours of not judging I felt very free and relaxed, and since my private judgemental thoughts rarely if ever make any diffference in the real world it seemed like a very good idea to try it out more often.

What do you think?

I got the Christmas box out from under the eaves to retrieve the Advent calendar..

Fruit loaf for the freezer. Instead of sultanas I used mixed dried fruit with peel for a slightly more festive version.

I am enjoying this. Next, venison in red wine.

..for holiday season visitors. I lined three containers with double layers of cling film as I won't be serving 8 - 10 people at once.

I used bought meringues, popped them intto a bag

and enjoyed bashing them with a rolling pin!

I nixed the neringue with the whipped cream adding strong coffee and raspberry liqueur. I plan to serve it with raspberries, pomegrante seeds and a spoonful of the liqueur.

Drizzled some of the strong coffee on top, folded over the clingfilm and put on the lids.  Three desserts now in the freezer.

(There is a link to Sarah Raven's original recipe on Saturday's post.)

With perhaps just a hint of Christmas? Too soon for baubles and twinkly lights but preparing the candles for the season..

.
Starting to think about table decorations and making lists. Might get a little early baking done and in the freezer. A long slow run up to Christmas might be the thing this year. Leisurely.

Have you begun preparations yet?

..some early Christmas gifts from M&S. (At least one of them is for me!)

Christmas decorations come down, but I will keep out a few which I think of as winter decorations rather than specifc to Christmas. Listening to the lashing rain I know that lights and flowers are needed to get through more dark days of winter.

However, for four days in North Yorkshire I enjoyed lovely weather, country walks and the company of good friends.
I hope you also had a happy start to the new year.

I am filled with gratitude for a family Christmas that went according to plan! I hope yours did too.

..I wish you smiles and a little bit of silly!

This card put a big smile on my face as soon as I saw it (thank you H). Ever the questioner I thought Why?

I realised it's because it so unashamedly lighthearted.

Our hearts  have been so heavy for so long it seems to me. How could they be otherwise in a pandemic?

So, if only for a little while each day, and especially on Christmas day, I wish you lots of things to smile about and lightness of heart. 

Happy Chritmas X

This one makes an enchanting tinkling sound as the angels turn. I love it. (Thank you M.)

The shop windows  in town were more festive than the weather..

..quietly writing Christmas cards.

I love Christmas cards. Choosing them, sending them and receiving them. Do you?

of some of my favouriite Christmas things..

Needs a little tweaking but I like it.

Little bit of red by little bit of red I am quietly progressing towards Christmaas...

I hope you can pour youself a lovely drink, snuggle down for half an hour on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day and listen to  The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and The Horse.

(also available from Penguin on A)udilble)

Brilliantly read by the author and illustrator Charlie Makesy, this is utterly enchanting.

My special nessage to anyone who is alone - please look after yourself beautifully!

Happy Christmas and I hope you will all be as cosy as this fox.

These triangle lights remind me of a very happy winter trip to Stockholm where almost every window had either these lights or a large star. I loved the city -wide simplicity of that.

If I coulld keep only one decoetion it would be these. I have them in every window, and if I come home in the dark the sight of them warms my hearrt.

What's your favourite? The one which warms your heart and makes this nidwinter season seem special?