The rest of advent, Christmas and New Year.

Hello! I hope you had a lovely Christmas. Ours was nice. Busy, with slightly more germs than I would like, but still very festive and with lots of time around family and friends.

During the run up to Christmas Day, I was trying really hard to focus on simple, small pleasures to keep me feeling calm. I left you with this halfway through the advent period (I ran out of time) so here are the following twelve.

13. Foraging for greenery for wreaths, mantelpieces and garlands. I snip a lot off the tree but like to find something fresher when the tree starts to lose its verdant green.

14. The annual setting up of the nativity scene. I bought this wooden, child-friendly set when Bella was very small. Both children used to squabble over who got to open up the box and set it all up, and I used to find the figures all over the house, or find Playmobil policemen mixed up in the nativity story. This is definitely one of my favourite Christmas decorations.

15. The joy of festive tea towels and mugs. These serve no purpose other than they are fun and make you think of Christmas while drying up or drinking your tea.

16. A Christmas jumper. This one was new this year (it's from the film National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation) and I wore it loads over Christmas

It replaces this homemade beauty which eventually wore out, as did the novelty of keeping a battery pack in my back pocket for the fairy lights. 

I still have all the crochet fairy lights - I may make them into a garland.

17. Traditions and nostalgia, or the books and DVDs which make me feel more Christmassy than anything else. Some are from my childhood. Others, like Nigella Christmas, came at a time when we were starting to shape our own family Christmasses, and many of the recipes have become part of our traditions. 

18. A day of Christmas shopping and Bella's birthday. We were supposed to go to London for the weekend but cancelled it due to the train strikes. Instead, we drove to Brighton and had a very nice day helping Bella spend her birthday money, and then doing some shopping and having lunch out, wandering around the pretty streets and enjoying the Christmas decorations.

19. Unexpected traditions, like making peppermint bark. Something I did with the children once, and it just stuck, and now they make it themselves if I do not have time to make it with them.

20. Making homemade gift tags from last year's Christmas cards. I have done this for years (my mum always used to do it) but this year I bought myself a 3 inch diameter hole punch which made the tags look a bit neater. I had quite a few happy hours sitting there, cutting out tags and wrapping presents.

21. On the shortest day of the year, winter light and family walks.

22. A festive mantel, full of trees and stars.

23. Making a yule log with Angus in the kitchen on a dark afternoon.

24. For Christmas Eve, the small pleasure had to be the stockings hung for Father Christmas to fill with little presents. I crocheted these stripey ones below a couple of years ago to hang up either side of the fire place.

However, it is these red ones that the children use. I made them when they were both quite little, maybe four and six years old, and they are the ones they used to hang on the end of the bed.

Or, as they now go to bed later than us sometimes, leave by the fireplace.

On Christmas day there were presents under the tree, a muddy walk, a delicious lunch and games of Kahoot.

The days following Christmas Day are my favourite. The weather was a mixed bag but we did manage to get out for walks in the sunshine.

There were leftovers, jigsaw puzzles, books, films and lots of pottering around the house. Bliss. We also enjoyed a trip to the theatre to see a pantomime, then Bella and I attended the  wedding of a good friend of ours (she was my plus one as John was working) and a New Year at home with our friends. 

It has not been the quietest or most restful Christmas holiday (when is it?!) but it has been lovely. I am looking forward to a quiet January please, lots of resting and being cosy and going for walks. 

Happy New Year to you. I hope 2023 is kind to you. 

The first half of Advent

In the midst of the manic pre-Christmas build up, I thought I would try to find something small each day to feel thankful for, something little to cherish and celebrate, whether that is a tradition, or some baking, or crafting. Something to encourage me to pause and savour this season.

1. On the first of December, it is the ceremonial hanging of the advent calendar, which I've had since the children were quite little. Twenty-four pockets filled with chocolates by the elves each night. I've tried other advent traditions over the years but this remains the most eagerly anticipated and the easiest to manage. 

2. A stack of Christmas books by the bed. Some are old and I intend to re-read them, some I bought a few years ago but haven't gotten around to reading yet, but immersing myself in some festive literature is a big part of Christmas for me.

3. The delight of being out and about in towns and cities at this time of year, looking at the Christmas lights and trees. This photo was taken in Oxford on Saturday 3rd December, when I met up with my book group friends for lunch and shopping. 

4. Lighting the advent candle.

5. The tree. Everything about the tree. Choosing it, wrestling it into its stand, the lights, the decorations, all of it. I love it.

6. The baubles of Christmas past. Handmade, inherited, gathered from travels, made by the kids - they don't all make it onto the tree but I cherish them all.

7. The scent of a Christmas candle, full of oranges and cloves, clean and warm all at once. 

8. Christmas cookery books. Every year I love to browse them, making lists of what I might bake.

9. Switching on the tree lights first thing in the morning, watching the warm light fill a cold, dark room. Always magical.

10. The joy of waking up to a bitterly cold, frosty morning, with pink skies and everything covered in white. It's the closest we get to a snow day round here.

11. Baking mince pies. I made these with Angus on Saturday, recipe from here. 

12. Making a wreath with my sister, with willow foraged from a tree near the school, fir foraged from the local forest and eucalyptus from the greengrocers. 

I hope you are finding brief moments to pause in this wonderfully hectic time of year.