Moving right along

Though I have a little pile of Bernina goodies staring at me, begging to be opened and explored, there was no way I could allow myself to open them up until I’d completed this year’s December journal.

I got started easily enough.  I’d spotted a pad of 12” paper which was heavily reduced in Michaels when we were in Washington and though I’d told myself I needed no more Christmas supplies for now, it proved to be my go-to design for much of the month. 

My December journals are never right on trend. I choose not to follow the pocket methods which so many have adopted because not only do I keep my Project Life going throughout, but messing about with a glue stick and a pair of scissors is quite therapeutic at this time of the year.  So, though I admire the cool designs and very considered approach, mine will always be somewhat haphazard and be rather more personal. 

I don’t pre-plan and begin each page as it comes, though I try some some consistency by including a common design feature to each page – this year, it was the date stamp.

At times this year, it was really hard to keep it going.  For much of December I felt below par having picked up some kind of lurgy which made me cough and cough and cough some more.  But looking back over previous years, I knew I just had to complete it.

And hooray, I did!  My 2014 December Journal will take its place in the basket alongside those from previous years and I know that we’ll love revisiting the events during the run up to Christmas 2014.  For every page in there which records something new, something particular to 2014 there are others which tell the same story as every year.

That’s why I love it.

Bye Bye Christmas

Once Christmas is over, it’s over for me.  Suddenly, all the red and green begins to look tired and the carols we were singing oh so recently bring no more tears to my eyes.  I’m done with it for this year and today was a good day to take out the tree.  After all, it’s been in the house for more than three weeks and was beginning to droop.

So, we said goodbye to the Brio layout for another year.

Goodbye to the favourite Christmas books; to Kipper’s Bear and the Jolly Postman.

All of Grandma’s legendary untangling skills were called upon when it came to sorting out the lights.

Eventually, it was all boxed up again and placed into the loft for the next eleven months or so. 

On a dreary December afternoon, there was quite an empty feeling.  Surprising how quickly one gets used to having things around, isn’t it?  Still, we are looking forward to our usual houseful of friends who “have no better offer” than to spend New Year’s Eve with us.  We word our invitations the same way every year and I always hope that no better offers do come along, for we’ve become quite a gang of regulars!  As a result, I’ll make arrangements for the “same procedure as every year” and having removed all the red and green, will replace it with silver and glitter, to make a very sparkly time for all.

But hang on a minute…who said I needed help with that?

We’d felt thankful all day that we appeared to have missed out on the white stuff that was falling here and there around the country but in the time it took to take the tree out, to clear up and then come back for the Christmas tree stand, look what happened.

We’ve shut it all out for the night and hope that by morning, it will all have melted.  In the meantime, our little twinkly tree is doing its best to fill in the space left by its huge predecessor on what seems like a very dark night indeed.

I might have had enough of red and green, but I’m not quite done with glitter and twinkle, yet.

Christmas Eve

There’s no wonder that delivery people have difficulty around here when they try to deliver stuff in the dark.  I could hardly find the gate when we set out at 6.30am to get our turkey this morning.

We’d checked online for the opening times, being determined to avoid the craziness of trying to park later in the day.  Anyway, it’s one of our traditions to be there as early as possible, to “sally forth” as Delia says in her Christmas book, and be home again before breakfast.

7am opening this year then and though we were there well before then, we weren’t the first.

Thankfully, it was a good-humoured crowd waiting patiently for the doors to open.  My hero headed straight for the turkey delivery desk whilst I continued with my list in my hand.

Though generally speaking the shelves were well stocked, there’d been a run on prunes already and all that was to be found was a “Frozen” card there instead.  For a short while, it looked like Edward’s plans to make prunes in port for Boxing Day might come adrift but thankfully, we found some in the baking section.  They’ve got stones in them, so will give us the added fun of playing Tinker Tailor Solder Sailor too!

The time on the photo of the shopping in the boot of the car is 7.49am and having more than we could possibly need for the next few days, we are now at home.  There’s a mincemeat streusel cake in the oven, Swiss Radio Classic is playing in the background and Edward has just emerged from the bathroom.  Peace reigns.

Wishing you a peaceful Christmas, too!

Lost and Found

In Cirencester this morning, to have my hair done, I called into Crew Clothing to peruse their bargains.  As I waited to pay, a woman came over to speak to the assistant, describing in great detail her son who had gone missing.

“He’s wearing a red and green check poncho, a cap with earflaps turned up and jeans”.  She added that he was pretty vacant at times and had a habit of wandering off when she wasn’t looking.  Oh, and he was eighteen.  If he came back to the shop, she asked, would they tell him she’d gone back to the car.  I must admit, she sounded pretty exasperated but only after she’d gone did we all look round and say “mobile phone?”

I did what I had to do, pottering around bakers, butchers and card shop (whose idea was it to have a birthday in early January?) and finally, checking that there were supplies of sugar mice on hand for Christmas stockings.   As I started back to the car, I found myself walking alongside a young man fitting the description his mother had shared in Crew Clothing at least an hour earlier.

“Excuse me, but did you come out shopping with your mother this morning?” I asked.  “If so, she’s gone back to the car”.

“Oh, thanks!” he said, with a grin.

I hoped she’d been able to have a nap, listen to something good on the radio or even gone home without him

One called Peter, one called Paul

The last couple of times I’ve driven out of the drive and up the lane, I’ve glimpsed a couple of robins on the gate which leads to the allotments.  I’ve been watching a couple more through the kitchen window recently and have enjoyed the seasonal show they’ve put on for me.

I think it’s been a robin Christmas card year, too, because we have quite a collection on the theme.

But a closer look yesterday morning made me think that it could be time to visit the optician.