Wednesday 14 December 2016

Counting the Days



With less than two weeks to go before Christmas, our Advent calendar is starting
to look a bit sparse. Nearly half of the envelopes have been opened, the treats inside
long gone. It is exciting to be getting closer to the big day but also a little bit alarming
that the days, especially this Advent, seem to just whizz by. Maybe it will all slow down
a bit when school breaks up and the holidays start. We don't have much planned for
next week and I'm really looking forward to having quiet, easy days at home with the
girls.There might even be a chance of a lie-in in the mornings - I am counting the days!


We are getting our tree this Saturday. Putting it up and getting out all the decorations
will be a whole afternoon affair. I'll make sure I have a g&t ready at the end of it.
For now, though, the only festive decorations we have are these red dala horses and our
Advent calendar. I'm not sure if dala horses are Christmas things but their colours are
festive so I'm counting them in. They were gifts from my mother-in-law and the girls
and I really, really love the small ones with the wooden dolls. I might make tiny
Christmassy garlands for them. They are so sweet.



It was grey and rainy throughout the weekend then at around four o'clock
on Sunday we had these spectacular colours in the sky. We see lots of brilliant
sunsets but this was something else. Fireballs at sundown. Amazing.


Then it was back to grey and wet from the start of the week plus thick,
heavy fog in hilly areas around the city. This was the park near school on Monday
morning. A short walk down the path is a duck pond and a line of trees but we couldn't
see anything. It was quite spooky, really. It made me think of gothic novels and the
ghastly 10 Rillington Place. I'm sure glad I wasn't walking on my own that morning.


I wasn't going to make any presents this Christmas but last week I decided
I'll make a blanket for a friend's baby. With barely a couple of weeks to go,
it's not a very clever idea but it's only a small blanket, something for the car seat
or buggy. I should get it finished on time, hopefully. I've got fingers, toes
and everything crossed.


We made mince pies for the first time last weekend. We used large mince pie
cases, much bigger than regular-sized mince pies that Lulu laughed and called them
'giant star pies'. She refused to try any but the rest of us rather liked them so I'm going
to make some more but smaller this time. She might give them a tasting chance if
they're a little bit more dainty. And find them less funny.




Thanks for the lovely things you said about our Christmas cards. I hope you're
all keeping well. I'll be back next time with Lulu's finished scarf.

Have a lovely, restful and healthy week!



6 comments:

  1. Your mince pies look lovely. I never make them as none of us like them, or Christmas cake or Christmas pudding, we're a funny lot. Not long now until the schools break up, it seems quite early this year, I used to like them to break up late so they had more time off afterwards when they'd got their new toys to play with.

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  2. I do love your advent calendar, such a good idea. Have fun putting up your tree, it really is getting closer isn't it xx

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  3. Oh the excitement of decorating the tree! that is always a fun day. I am looking forward to school break. We are all ready for a little slower pace. There is always so much to do. I'm trying to balance getting everything done with finding time to relax. I will say that's not always the easiest thing to accomplish.

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