Pre-Christmas

Have you put your tree up yet? Maybe a wreath on the door? No, me neither. Nor have I written a single Christmas card. Not because I don't want to, but I just haven't had time yet. Christmas is entering this house quietly so far this year: baking mince pies at the weekend, making a few decorations, doing a little easy pre-Christmas crafting. It's very soothing. 

I have been drying oranges. Slice them approximately 1.5 cm thick then bake for 3 hours at around 120 degrees C, turning once halfway through. You can put them on a rack or on greaseproof paper, both work. Low and slow is key though, otherwise they catch a little. The house smells amazing while they bake - like marmalade.

I will turn most of these into garlands, but I used one to make a little hanging star decoration. I can't remember where I bought the metal star, but I wanted to turn it into something a little more decorative. 

I sawed off a couple of sprigs of greenery from the artificial tree in the loft, added some fake red berries from an old door wreath, then a dried orange slice and I much prefer it now.

I spent a lovely afternoon making paper stars with Bella last weekend. She doesn't usually want to do stuff like this with me anymore, so when she seemed keen I jumped at the chance. This video shows you what to do. You can use paper bags for large stars or those small money envelopes for smaller ones. You layer them on top of each other, glueing as you go, then cut the top into a point, open it out, and.....

...hey presto! Aren't they beautiful. Probably some of the easiest and most effective crafting I have ever done.

I've just made a quick crochet star garland (it's blocking at the moment) and a very easy piece of embroidery hoop art to hang in the hall temporarily. I find that Christmas always brings out an urge to get creative and do some crafting. I think it's to do with trying to carve out small moments of calm in such a busy time of year. I know that this Christmas isn't busy with the usual socialising and packed calendar, but I still feel pressured with work and my course.

We are planning to buy our tree this weekend but I have been up in the loft, bringing down little decorations like the advent calendar and nativity scene.

I bought it when Bella was a baby and we get it out every year. The children used to love playing house with it when they were small, and I'd regularly find Playmobil figures and toy cars in the manger. When I brought it down, they both really wanted to unpack and arrange it. I thought it was quite sweet.

I made more mince pies from this recipe, and will be making them every weekend between now and Christmas. The recipe gives the most biscuity, sweet pastry and, since they are baked in a muffin tin, they don't overflow everywhere when they bake so you don't have to chisel them out of the baking tray.

We lit the advent candle on Sunday night. This is another one of my favourite, quiet, pre-Christmas things to do. We always light it when we sit down for our Sunday night dinner.

Crochet socks are almost finished. I am taking so much pleasure in using up every last scrap of wool. I divide my leftovers into two, and crochet both socks simultaneously. This way I know I have enough yarn for matching socks, and I don't get bored by the thought of crocheting a second sock.

This one is suddenly obsessed with draughts and the board game Othello. We have had quite a few games on the coffee table in front of the fire. He always beats me.

The weather has taken a distinctly wintry turn this week.

The drop in temperatures seems fitting though, given how wintry the local countryside is looking at the moment.

This was taken on walk last Sunday afternoon. Happiness, apparently, is swinging on a dodgy looking rope swing out over a really large crater in the woods while your mother looks on, horrified. 

Heatwave Holiday

Hello! We are back from a wonderful break in East Sussex which happened to fall during one of the hottest weeks in the UK for some years. We are all tanned and I keep finding sand in the bottom of bags and shoes - I feel like we've been abroad. It's lovely. We stayed in a self catering house in Camber Sands (nice beach, not so sure about the rest of it) which was about five minutes from the beach. Our days fell into a gentle rhythm of exploring the local area in the mornings before it got too hot, going home for lunch, then heading over to the beach in the afternoon for a couple of hours.

Sometimes we'd go back to the beach again in the evening when it was cool for a walk, although by the time we'd staggered over the dunes there and back you didn't feel very cool.

Probably my favourite part of the holiday was our visit to Dungeness.

It's a huge shingled beach (Britain's only desert!) which is home to a nuclear power station, and is often called "bleak", but it has a strange, otherworldly charm and and sparse beauty. I was quite taken with it. A long road runs for a couple of miles from the village to the lighthouses, with the sea on one side and shingle on the other, and along this road are lots of single storey wooden houses - some almost shacks - with power cables running from one to the next. 

A few are holiday homes but many are lived in year round, and a community of artists has evolved over the years. 

One of the most well known properties here is Prospect Cottage, formerly home to film maker Derek Jarman.

It's certainly a place to go if you are seeking solitude. Scattered across the huge beach are boats - some in use, others abandoned - and fishing detritus, shipping containers and all manner of strange and fascinating things. 

Rye was also a treat, the prettiest town absolutely packed with history. 

We really enjoyed wandering around the cobbled streets and exploring the lovely independent shops, stopping for iced coffee. It was so lovely we went twice and I'd happily go again tomorrow.

This photo below is Rye Pottery where we made a few purchases - I will show you another time.

I think Bella and Angus enjoyed exploring these new places as much as the adults. Angus had found a free map of Rye in the holiday let we were staying in and was very keen to tell us where to go.

They both enjoyed popping into shops, spending their holiday money on sticks of rock and books and other random bits and bobs, and so long as there were frequent opportunities for ice creams or milkshakes it was all good. 

Rye is one of those places where around every corner there is something interesting or quirky or unusual to catch your eye. This window was a particular delight.

The night before we went to Hastings the unbearably humid, hot weather led to some thunderstorms during the night.

I tried to get a photo of the storm but this was the best I could do from the balcony. The storm didn't really clear much of the humidity and the weather in Hastings was still hazy and oppressive with grey skies and rain out to sea.

I wasn't sure what to expect from Hastings (a friend of ours grew up there and rarely had anything positive to say about the place) but the Old Town part felt vibrant and was buzzing with people sitting outside cafes or wandering around the streets. We bought Cornish pasties for lunch and ate them by the car near the beach, surrounded by sea gulls. 

They are a bit of a pest in this area; noisy, very bold and aggressive in groups. But so long as you don't feed them (or leave your lunch out while you go for a swim!) you're ok. 

It was a really wonderful, relaxing week away. I took lots of craft projects with me and didn't do much of anything as it was too hot, but I read a lot and relaxed and feel rested. I think that the children have had a good holiday and it was especially lovely to watch them swimming in the sea every day, something we rarely get the weather to do in the UK. Now that we're home, the weather has been quite wet and changeable (just when I want to do lots of washing!) but the rain is welcome and the garden already looks greener. We had a bit of work done on the house while we were away and I will show you photos soon, along with the holiday souvenirs we brought home with us. But now we have two weeks of holiday left before school and work start up again and I am determined to make the most of them, starting with some blackberry picking today.