Christmas tree

I`ve been doing one of my favourite part of Christmas preparations.    Putting up my Christmas Tree.  The decorations are a mixture of old and new items.  Many going back 50 or more years.   Some new, as each year I tend to buy one new item to join the others.

Here it is.

The star on the top, is one my Dad made, it`s just kitchen foil covering a piece of cardboard and fixed on with a thin wire - but I wouldn`t swap it for anything.   I can still picture him sitting drawing with a compass to get the perfect 5 pointed star, carefully cutting it out and making it for me.  

Presents

Thought I`d share with you today a look at the Christmas Presents I received. As you can see there are a lot of chocolates and biscuits!

These are a close up of some of my favourites from the presents.
I think the present that surprised me most was when I went into the office where I work on the Friday before Christmas and found a box of chocolates and a box of biscuits with a Christmas card from my boss. That really made my day as it was so unexpected.

And, below is the oddest present I received. I still can`t work out, why the chap gave me a ball of string and a set of record cards!, along with 2 hand warmers and a set of playing cards. - very odd.



Wonder what other bloggers favourite, surprise, and oddest presents were?

The Twelve Days of Christmas

A friend sent me this, which I didn`t know, and found interesting, so I`ll share it with you all today.

"There is one Christmas Carol that has always baffles us.

What in the world do leaping lords, French hens, swimming swans, and especially the partridge who won't come out of the pear tree have to do with Christmas?

From 1558 until 1829, Roman Catholics in England were not permitted to practice their faith openly. Someone during that era wrote this carol as a catechism song for young Catholics.
It has two levels of meaning: the surface meaning plus a hidden meaning known only to members of their church. Each element in the carol has a code word for a religious reality which the children could remember.

-The partridge in a pear tree was Jesus Christ.

-Two turtle doves were the Old and New Testaments.

-Three French hens stood for faith, hope and love.

-The four calling birds were the four gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke & John.

-The five golden rings recalled the Torah or Law, the first five books of the Old Testament.

-The six geese a-laying stood for the six days of creation.

-Seven swans a-swimming represented the sevenfold gifts of the Holy Spirit--Prophesy, Serving, Teaching, Exhortation, Contribution, Leadership and Mercy.

-The eight maids a-milking were the eight beatitudes.

-Nine ladies dancing were the nine fruits of the Holy Spirit--Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness and Self-Control.

-The ten lords a-leaping were the ten commandments.

-The eleven pipers piping stood for the eleven faithful disciples.

-The twelve drummers drumming symbolized the twelve points of belief in the Apostles' Creed.

So there is your history for today. This knowledge was shared with me and I found it interesting and enlightening and now you know how that strange song became a Christmas Carol.`"

Today`s the Day!

Happy Christmas Everyone!

I`ve written before about my love of stained glass, especially stained glass windows in churches and cathedrals, so, when I spotted this hand crafted stained glass nativity at a craft fayre just before Christmas, I couldn`t resist treating myself to it.

Views of Christmas (2)

My Mum bought me this lovely poinsettia last week. I`ve never had one before, but it`s a real sign of Christmas coming, isn`t it.

It got me thinking - why do we seem to associate the colour Red with Christmas?

is is just because it`s a nice cheerful warm colour for winter, or is there more to it than that?

Christmas already?

Today IS the 15th. November, isn`t it? Or have I lost a month somewhere?

Why do I ask?.......

...........Because......

...opening my mail, brought by the postman a few hours ago, I find my first Christmas card! I couldn`t believe it.

And, no, it didn`t come from abroad, it came from someone in a village about 6 miles away from here!

I`ve not even had my birthday yet, that`s still 9 days away. I definitely don`t expect to receive Christmas cards, before I`ve received Birthday cards. (That`s of course assuming I`ll get some birthday cards!)

So, what am I going to do with the Christmas card? - stick it in a drawer until a lot nearer the time, I`m certainly not going to stand it on the mantlepiece yet, it would look ridiculous so early.

Five Days ago

Is it really only 5 days since it was Christmas Day?..
When someone said to me this morning "Did you have a nice Christmas?", I automatically said yes, and thought to myself that was ages ago, I`ve seen you since then. But then I stopped and thought, no it isn`t , it was earlier this week.

Isn`t is strange how quickly getting back into the routine of everyday work and chores makes you forget that Christmas was only a few days, not even a week, ago. Especially with all the weeks of preparation and thinking about it coming, and now here it is, come, gone and almost forgotten about.

Oh, dear, am I getting old and forgetful already - or do others find the same I wonder?

Not a hankie in sight!

Not a hankie in sight.... lots of nice presents again this year, my favourites being a wooden carving of two dolphins playing. I love the sight and feel of well carved wooden items, as well as being a joy to sit and look at, they make me want to touch and feel them whenever I walk pass them. There`s just something so calming about stroking wood.

My other favourite was a book by Alan Titchmarsh entitled Nobbut a Lad. I`ve not started reading it yet, I`m saving that pleasure for after the Christmas holidays for the long days of January.

Other presents included, an electronic Suduko game (don`t think I`ll do that for long - not that I can`t solve the puzzles, but I can`t see how people can be so hooked on those puzzles - give me logic puzzle books anyday, now those I can spend hours enjoying!), chocolates, toiletries, and other bits and pieces. But it struck me, how there was not a box of handkerchiefs in sight.... yet as a child one Christmas I opened parcel after parcel and found hankies after hankies after hankies! Infact I`ve still got many of them in my drawers - there were far too many to use - and thinking about it, what a present to give a young child - I wonder what todays children would say if they were given lots of hankies!!

Now it`s Christmas

Now it is Christmas.... I`ve just come back from a midnight Communion service - and yes, it does feel like Christmas.

There is something so special about the atmosphere at that service, that makes it mark the real start of Christmas to me.

Something that struck me so strongly during the service this year, (I know I`ve heard it many times before, but tonight it came to me so much), that Christ was born for ME. Not just for those sitting around me or people in general, but individually for ME too. What a great Christmas present.

HAPPY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE

Christmas Eve

So this is Christmas Eve.

Yet, it doesn`t feel like Christmas Eve.

But why not?....

...Is it because it`s a Monday, and a normal start to a working week for me - off to work 7.30 to 5.00.

...Is it because everything has been Christmas orientated for weeks, on tv, in shops etc... so that there`s no excitement over it.

...It it because I`ve got everything done! the tree and decorations were ofcourse up a week or so ago, the puddings made and waiting to be put in the steamer to heat, all the parcels are delivered, all the cards posted or hand delivered. The large serving dish has been unearthed out of the back of the cupboard waiting for the goose to be delivered.

.....And....for the first time ever... the Chritmas cake is decorated before Christmas Eve!

.....But..... have I forgotten anything, it seems too good to be true that everything seems to be prepared before today!?

A Letter to Father Christmas

"Dear Father Christmas

Help!!..... I urgently need a new radio alarm clock. I know I should have put it on my long list of things I`d like for Christmas which I sent you at the beginning of December, and which I`m sure you`ll have been busy preparing for me, but until this morning my clock was working fine. Now it`s given up the ghost. It was flashing away at me when I woke this morning, but now won`t set to the correct time no matter what buttons I presss. Without it I shan`t be up in time to go to work each day.

I`ll put plenty of carrots out for Rudolph and the other reindeer if you can do this for me. I am sorry it is such short notice

Ivy"

Why presents?

Why do we give presents?

I don`t mean what`s the history behind giving presents, what I mean is why do we give presents to who we give presents to.

The answer to that, for me, has to be that I give presents, especially at Christmas, to relatives and friends for one of two (or often both) of these reasons -to show my love for them, and/or to thank them for help and support they`ve given me during the year.

These last two or three years I`m becoming infuriated. Why?...... because of the way charities for overseas work are trying to cash in on the idea of giving presents, by advertising that instead of giving gifts to our families and friends we give them the money to buy tools, livestock, seeds, even toilets for people overseas and just give our friends and relations a card saying that that is their present.

I`m not going to mince my words (and I apologise if I offend any readers) but I HATE this scheme and think it so greedy on the charity`s part trying to make people feel guilty about giving to their loved ones here, that they should be giving to them instead. It really puts my back up, and gets me so mad. And I certainly won`t be supporting them in any way.

Yes, I know that charities need the money, but surely once a year its good and better to acknowledge our friends and relations and show them how much they are appreciated by giving them a gift, however small, but a "real" item, not a bit of paper. (unless of course its a £20 note!!)

My suggestion to the charity`s is that they suggest that on our list of people to buy presents for that they suggest we add them (or give details of names of people and items needed), to the bottom of our Christmas Present buying list. Surely that would be a better advertising way?

Christmas Tree

One of my favourite parts to the Christmas preparations is decorating the Christmas Tree. Opening the box of ornaments, unwrapping the tissue paper from them, and deciding where to put them on the tree this year. Not, for me the modern way of colour co-ordinating the tree, but ornaments of all shapes, colours, sizes, sorts - many of them from over 45 years ago and others bought more recently. How I`d love to know if anyone else has some of the unusual old ones like we have - the twisted plastic icicles and angels which hang on sort of coathanger fixings and then on the tree. Not expensive, I guess but probably all there were available in those years.
Wonder if anyone has done the history of Christmas Tree ornaments??