here and there

Here: where the fields were lit by golden light and walking brought peace among the bustle of Christmas. Our focus is on quiet traditions, the things that bring us joy each year ~ the carol service, meeting friends, drinking port by the fire while reading the Christmas issue of Country Life, icing the cake and making Plum Duff for Christmas morning breakfast.

There: we brought the boys to the Planetarium in Armagh to find out about the Christmas Star. It was a magical cosmic journey back in time to unravel the mystery of exactly what the Magi followed to that stable and, as the sun set over the cathedrals we left the city to go northwards to the sea. 

December days

A month of low light levels and candles, Christmas cake for breakfast and homemade door wreaths. I'm trying hard not to get caught in the bustle of it all. We are busy, yes, but making time too for fireside reading, making cards and gifts, seeing friends and, as we recently acquired a projector and screen, planning for Christmas movie nights with the boys...

first day

First day of December. The car windscreen is completely iced.  Freezing fog is lifting slowly from the fields and lake. I say to the boys perhaps we should have an adventure one morning and walk to the school bus. Back home I light the fire, put my porridge on the stove and decide to make a cake with the fresh eggs my friend gave me yesterday. Her chickens are still laying. I heat the water for coffee and use some of it to boil an egg. Egg and buttered toast - one of the most comforting foods. The advent calendar I made three years ago has been strung up in the dining room. The pouches are filled with gold foiled chocolate coins. One for each of the boys. William says homemade is best. Homemade is best. I nod.  In fact home is best.

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve: chocolate tiffin for gifting, early morning candlelight in the dining room, the Landrover full of wood, walking the hills at Loughcrew (it snowed!), ancient stones, new coat and blue skies. It is now evening and the children are in bed. We read A Child's Christmas in Wales and The Night Before Christmas and we watched Nativity. We left out a mince-pie and a glass of port for you-know-who and a carrot for the one with the red nose and now it's time for peace and gentle anticipation...wishing you all a Happy Christmas x

Christmas wreath

This year's wreath is ivy and rosehips from the hedgerows, euphorbia from the garden, a string of cranberries and some gold sprayed ears of wheat. It is one of my Christmas traditions I look forward to most. There's a quietness to the selecting and picking of the plants I need and the careful work of creating the wreath. It hangs on our rain soaked front door and its glossy green, cheery red and rich gold announce this festive season...it's Christmas time...

December days

bliss

Post Christmas bliss - homemade sloe gin, Stilton & crackers, sister-in-law's chutney and enamel hot chocolate/coffee pot (a favourite gift) and the peace to enjoy it all...

wishing

image from pinterest

So here we are the night before Christmas Eve. All is as calm as it can be in a house with three young boys. Presents are wrapped, the cake is iced (this in itself is a miracle), the turkey and ham arrive tomorrow, friends will come for brunch and we will spend Christmas Eve at home with the air fizzing with excitement and expectation. Bedtime will come soon enough and we will hang the stockings and read A Child's Christmas in Wales and 'Twas the Night before Christmas together on sofa and then finally, finally their sleepy heads will rest on their pillows and the rest is magic... Wishing you a Merry Christmas...

Christmas wreath

Yesterday the sun came out so the dogs and I took a walk around the lanes to forage a bit of ivy for the Christmas wreath. Funny how the dogs are willing accomplices and the children are not. They enjoyed their amble, sticking their noses deep into the hedgerows and I enjoyed the sun on my face and watching the crows flinging themselves around the blustery sky. Back home I snipped the last few hydrangea heads and some greenery from the garden and then spent a blissful few minutes out by the back door weaving the ivy and the flower heads together to create our wreath. This is one of my favourite Christmassy things to do...I love the faded dusty pink of the flowers, the shiny lusty green of the ivy and the euphorbia and that touch of silvery grey from the stachys. Yes, the Christmas wreath reminds us there's no beginning, no ending, life growing and fading, we would do well to remember that.

precious days

These are the precious days- the last few, when all the preparations will come together with hopefully no stress. We have shopped local (for the most part) this year so most of our present buying is done. It's time to slow down and enjoy the moments as they happen. I light the candles early in the morning - it helps against the winter gloom and their light casts shadows from an early-opened Christmas present (dear friend, you chose well!). The boys are nearly beside themselves with excitement and yesterday we kicked off our holidays with a trip to The National Concert Hall to see The Snowman performed by their orchestra. There was live puppet animation by Matthew Robins- it was just beautiful with intricately cut paper puppets and, of course, there were lots of carols and Christmas songs which we all joined in with. We bought paper cones of fantastic maple and pecan popcorn from the vendors at the side of St. Stephen's Green and enjoyed watching the hustle and bustle of people as we strolled through the park. Today we are at home with nothing more pressing on the agenda than making pancakes and having a family movie night. These are the precious days.

rain stops play

image from pinterest

Oh heck! We were supposed to go up the lane, the boys and I, after school to go foraging for holly and ivy for our wreath. At three o'clock when I collected them from school the rain was pit-pattering and now, an hour later it's pouring down and it's dark. There's nothing for it then - light the fires, light the candles, draw the curtains and wait until tomorrow...

Christmas traditions

breakfast time by Becca Stadtlander

This is going to sound daft but I do love a good breakfast! Hot coffee is a must, cream is an optional extra, porridge with brown sugar, toast with marmalade or honey. Weekend breakfasts might include buttermilk scones, pancakes with maple syrup, homemade granola or sometimes eggs and bacon. We've a lovely pre-Christmas tradition of inviting friends for brunch on a morning as close to Christmas day as possible. We'll have something sparkling and bubbly to drink, cinnamon poached plums with greek yogurt, smoked salmon with eggs and, in a starring role, plum duff fried in butter and served with smoked bacon, this is possibly the best breakfast of all with the clatter of excited children and the laughter of friends around us making us feel very lucky indeed.

lately...

So here's the thing. We have been without the internet for some time...why does it seem like weeks, it's only been a matter of days... And apart from the stress of having to go to friends' houses and the library to work I have to admit it was quite nice not to have it. In the meantime there has been much Christmassy activity here. We have decorated the house from top to toe - lots of sparkling lights and holly and the tree is a most welcome addition to our home. We had a big family lunch with lots of visiting babies and got a mammoth job finished in the garden in time for planting in the Spring. We are looking forward to Christmas day itself but the countdown is so exciting, don't you think...and there's plenty more fun to come!

beginning to look a lot like...

It's the beginning of December. A starry, Christmassy month scented with cinnamon, spices and tree sap. A month of preparations and tinsel, glitter and baking and yes, a certain amount of dashing around. We are certainly getting in the Christmas spirit. The Advent calendar is up (same as last year) and we'd a mammoth cake baking session at the weekend. Five cakes later we are feeling slightly sultanaed out. The sloe gin is nearly ready to be decanted and given as gifts and Santa lists have been written. Today the boys arrived home with their Christmas cards- drawn by them and then printed (as part of a school fund-raising project) they feature those well known festive characters - Wally walrus, Santa's er, lighthouse and camels, as well as a Christmas cat. Anyway I know it's easy to get frazzled by all the fuss and bother, but really this year I'm planning to enjoy every single second of it. The boys are at lovely ages where Christmas is so magical and I know that doesn't last forever. Happy Decembering!

endings

Yesterday was Little Christmas, a day usually set aside for Irish women to be looked after by their menfolk. It's also the day that marks the end of the festive season - it's the day to take down the Christmas tree and put away the decorations for another year. Oh my, the end of the tree and all things Christmassy. It's always a little sad and it wasn't helped by the gloomy, squally weather...however we have managed to retain a vestige of Christmas Spirit thanks to fairy lights...

So light the last of the pine-cone shaped candles, lift out all those boxes filled with age old tissue paper and

 admire, for another while at least, the glass decorations brought back from Belgium so many moons ago

and, when the deed is done, be grateful that the tree provides a source of heat as its branches burn in the stove

All is calm

 

Christmas day walk, fading light on powdered frosted fields, a new bike...

...and three little golden foiled reindeer waiting patiently beside the hot chocolate...

Christmas eve

The snow has just started to fall from the leaden sky making this Christmas Eve even more atmospheric. We are tucked up in our little house, grateful to be warm and safe. The boys' bedrooms are finished and it's so wonderful to have the extra space for playing!

We have made the wreath (this year only using hedgerow finds), we have baked our cake and plum duff, we have swapped gifts and good wishes with family, friends and neighbours. We have snuggled deep into the sofa, by a roaring fire, to listen to A Child's Christmas in Wales, easily one of the most wonderful of our Christmassy traditions.

                                     

In short, we are ready for Christmas Day.
We wish you a Merry Christmas, wherever you are and however you are celebrating!