Skip to main content

Christmas is coming...

...and we have a Christmas tree! This is the first Christmas tree we've had since we got married (you may all say "awww" now) so we really splashed out and bought the decorations from Walmart. Seriously though, it is a responsibility. I'm pretty sure many of my parents' Christmas decorations date from the early days of their marriage; it was a humbling feeling to be sizing up baubles with the knowledge that we might well be digging those very same baubles out of their dusty box in the attic in 30 years time. Nothing does longevity like a Christmas ornament.

In which case, of course, we also need some dusty photos to dig out along with the decorations, to show the very first time they were used. Thus we have Graham decorating the tree, and Martha decorating the mantelpiece. The ones of Graham with baubles dangling from his ears and Martha wrapped in tinsel will not be appearing on this blog. Some things should not be shown to future generations (or present ones for that matter).




I hope you agree that the finished product is pretty sweet.


It's a little early to say Merry Christmas, but today is the first Sunday in Advent. So a blessed Advent to you all.

Comments

Anonymous said…
Well that antler on the mantlepiece has already seen a few years since it left the Isle of Mull! May all your Christmases be well-decorated.

love Dad

Popular posts from this blog

A baker's dozen of beautiful moments in 2025

2025 certainly had its times of difficulty, sadness - it seemed like lots of people died - and frustration. But as I read back through my diary, I noticed many moments of beauty and joy, too. I was going to pick twelve, one for each month. But after all, I am a baker: you've ended up with an extra moment tucked into the top of the bag for free. photo: Pixabay 1. Birthday cake in the snow I'd invited some friends to join us for a snowy walk near Cromford just before my birthday in January. At the top of the hill, my friend Jane produced a birthday cake, candles and all! That was a very special surprise.   2. Barn owl and beautiful music It was just a regular drive back from my Thursday Bible study meeting, until a barn owl flew across the road in front of me. I slowed down and watched it soar out of sight. As it disappeared, the haunting strains of Peter Maxwell Davies' Farewell to Stromness came on the radio. The ten-minute car journey had become extraordinary. 3. Songs an...

St Editha's Way, day 2

For the first day of St Editha's Way, see here . I had walked from Polesworth to Tamworth and stayed in Tamworth overnight. Today, the journey continued to Lichfield. I think I was the only person staying in the hotel last night. Certainly I was the only person having breakfast. I felt a little sorry for the two men who had had to get up early to cook and serve it to their one and only customer. Tamworth Castle, Monday morning St Ruffin's Well was mentioned on the pilgrimage brochure as a place to see. I hadn't found it yesterday, so I went back to the castle area to take a look. I don't think there's been a well there for a long time, but there is a plaque tacked on to the wall of the shopping centre, giving an approximate location. I also wandered over to Borrowpit Lake while I was waiting for St Editha's Church to open. St Editha's, Tamworth, is a very impressive building. Tall arches, painted ceilings, and modern wooden partitions for cafe and shop areas...

Speedy Steamed Pudding

One of the highlights of being in catered halls for a couple of years at university was the sponge puddings. Great big sheets of chocolate or vanilla sponge, carved into hefty blocks and doused with thick custard. The main courses were edible at best, but those puddings would fill you up for a week. Good solid puddings, whether baked, steamed or boiled, have been a mainstay of English cooking for centuries. Something about the cold, damp, dark winters inspired British cooks to endless variations on suet, jam, currants, custard and other comforting ingredients. Once I left the nurturing environs of my parents' house and university halls, pudding stopped being an everyday affair and became a more haphazard, if-I-feel-like-making-any event. And steamed puddings especially, with their two hours over simmering water, don't really lend themselves to spur of the moment dessert-making. However, technology has moved on since those first days of puddings. I'd been vaguely ...