Merry Christmas! 2023

Merry Christmas to you all! Didn't it feel as if everyone put their Christmas lights up really early this year? We put our tree up on 3rd December, and felt quite behind the times. Still, that was the day it snowed, so at least it was seasonal. After that it poured with rain for the rest of December.

As if to compensate for the early Christmas lights, the school term insisted on running up to the 22nd. The boys were barely staggering in for the final weeks. I had a very busy last week at cafe (record takings!) so I was pleased to reach the end, too.

Plus, I'd rashly booked in new carpet to be fitted on the 21st. That meant taking up the old stair carpet and the one in Toby's room, painting all the skirting boards, and clearing out Toby's furniture. Then replacing it all in time for Graham's mum to occupy the spare room the next day. It'll be fine, I said.

out with the old...

Well, it was. With grateful thanks to Graham's friends Rich and Simon, who came over on Wednesday evening and helped us pull up carpet and move a bed, and to my parents, who came over on Thursday and helped trim the doors and put Toby's room back together. And the new carpet looks lovely.

...and in with the new!

We fitted in our usual traditions: the Illuminations at Lichfield Cathedral, and the Christingle service at Findern church. Graham sang in the choir for the carol service at our church. I pushed small children in roughly the right direction at the nativity service. There was a mix-up with the angels, and a last-minute panic about the innkeeper, but Herod put on an excellent show of evil plotting.

with Graham's mum at Lichfield Cathedral

I made a Christmas cake, of course. I loved this pudding design I found - very simple and effective.

Christmas Day felt like lots of cooking, but in a relaxed kind of way. Breakfast was cinnamon Christmas bun, inspired by this Waitrose recipe. Definitely one to remember! Vegetable soup for lunch, and the full turkey dinner later on. Graham's mum was here for several days, and my parents came over for Christmas day, so we had seven of us round the table.

Christmas breakfast table

Toby and Theo voted this one of the best Christmases for gifts. This was partly because they both got a phone. But also new clothes, Lego sets, Amazon vouchers, and much more. We spread out the present opening over the day, at their request, and they were very appreciative of everything they got.

And so were we. After a difficult year, and with so many people around the world still struggling, it was a blessing to have a safe, healthy, friends-and-family-filled Christmas time. And a good rest.

The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

Comments

Portway: Bramcote Hills to Stanton-by-Dale

I parked in the free car park at Bramcote Hills Park and set off, naturally enough, in the direction of where I'd last been. Up some steps through the woods, along the edge with marvellous views northwards, and down past a school to pick up Moor Lane again. At that point I realised I was supposed to be walking this route in the opposite direction. Oops. Well, it didn't make much difference. It just meant that the Hemlock Stone would come at the end rather than the start. Also, I was doing a figure of eight, so I could switch paths in the middle. That sorted, I pressed on along the disused Nottingham Canal. This had varying amounts of water in it. There were good views back up to the double hump of the Bramcote Hills. Nottingham Canal Also Nottingham Canal Just before I got to Trowell garden centre, I crossed a bridge and walked across a green space to a partly built housing estate. The Boundary Brook had been aggressively re-wiggled. I'm sure it will look better in a year...

The Portway: Lenton to the Bramcote Hills

It was cold. My fingers were cold, and my phone was cold too. The OS map was totally failing to find my location, and the more I prodded it the less feeling I had in my fingers, so I gave up, shoved both my phone and my chilly hands into my pockets, and set off. After all, I knew where I was. This was Wollaton Park. And the path was very obvious. Just follow the avenue of trees... ...past the deer... ...and out through the fancy gates. Crossing a busy road brought me into a neat little housing estate with unusual round street signs. This was built when Wollaton Park was sold to Nottingham City Council in 1925. The old gatehouse, Lenton Lodge, is now estranged from the rest of the park, and stands by itself next to Derby Road. The bridge used to go over the Nottingham Canal, which has now been turned back into the River Leen. The unfortunate river got shoved out of the way whenever someone came up with a new building project. This is not its original course. My hands were warming up sli...

Advent 2025: Mercy

I'm going to read the whole Bible. The question came up in my homegroup recently (have you ever...?) and even though large parts of the Bible are embedded in my brain, and even though I'm pretty sure I have read all of it at some point, I have never set out to read the whole thing. My friend Dave read through the Bible several times. He was one of the most Christian men I know, in all the best ways, and he died recently. So. This is for Dave, too. Today is the first Sunday of Advent. I was going to start on December 1st, and I was going to do the obvious thing and start with Genesis, alongside the Psalms. Then I saw something that mentioned reading Luke in Advent (24 chapters: 24 days) and then I had some spare time today and thought why not? so here I am, a day ahead of myself already. Luke 1 is hardly a voyage into the unknown. In the sixth month the Angel Gabriel was sent by God, the Magnificat and the Benedictus ... all woven tightly into the liturgies of the church. But ...

Martha's Marvellous Munchies

Search This Blog