December Catch Up

Hello lovelies! Gosh it has certainly been a while. I've wanted to pop up here so many times. I've started posts then deleted them. I seem to be having a small blogging identity crisis 😅.

But then I remembered why I started blogging...to share ordinary days and those bits of life that are special to me. I think I over think things sometimes! 

Anyhoo, December has brought about some really chilly weather which has been LOVELY! I really do love the frostiness and the fireside evenings.

I do hope that we get a good snowfall or two this winter. I have to say that I am huge snow lover, I just find it so magical. Must be because I was brought up in a country of hot summers and mild winters. I relish the cold northern winters.

December is always full of festive business isn't it? Although I am finding that the month is flying by in a bit of a flurry, I am enjoying the occasional festive delight. December kicked off with the one of my favourite liturgical events, the Christingle Service.

The Christingle (pictured above and below) is a symbolic object used in the Advent, Christmas and Epiphany services. 'Christingle' is a word of German origin and means 'Christ Child'.

It is used to celebrate Jesus Christ as the 'Light of the World'. It is always a lovely service and one I look forward to each Advent season.

Wreath making workshops are always popular this time of the year. Our church hosts one annually as an outreach event and this year I volunteered my services to help arrange it.

It was a huge amount of work but so worth it. It was very festive and jolly and everyone had a lovely time and made some beautiful wreaths to take home.

Sadly I did not make a wreath as I was too busy with all the background organising and cleaning up etc. Perhaps next year I shall attend the even as a guest.

What have you been up to this advent season? Anything festive and fun? 

I do hope that you are taking some slow moments to enjoy thinking about the true meaning of Christmas. I always try to slow things down this time of year and not get caught up in the worldly hype - not easy in this day and age!

Anyhoo lovelies. I must dash for now but hope to see you back here very soon.

Blessings in Christ

A Homespun Tree

Our tree is up and it looks beautiful in all its homespun glory.

I absolutely love this years tree, in fact, I think that it has to be my most favourite yet.

We made these little fan rosettes from pages of sheet music. I think these are my favourite because they stand out from afar and add such interest.

These card baubles were made by my eldest daughter a few years ago and we put them on the tree every year. This year I feel that their presence is enhanced by the other handcrafted tree decorations. 

And of course, the little cones that we were busy with last week. 

We dehydrated orange slices (which took ALL day in the oven) but I have to say they look so sweet. I love the way the Christmas lights shine through the orange slices like stained glass. There is so much I love about his tree and best of all it was just about all handcrafted around the dining table with my daughters.

We've done away with the rest of the Christmas paraphernalia and it feels good. Clutter-free, simple, relaxed and just right. We've finished all our gift shopping and all the tasty Christmas fare is in the freezer waiting for our celebratory meal. My daughter is busy printing our Christmas wrapping paper with her original designs and with only a week to go I am feeling relaxed and happy that we have 'done' Christmas the way we wanted. We've kept it simple and within budget. I don't feel like I've been swept along in the Christmas madness.  Lovelies...I pray that you are experiencing the true peace of the season that comes from seeking Jesus and from the love we share with others. I'll leave you with this beautiful video that I have shared with you in the past. 

Wishing you all a calm and peaceful week. Blessings in Christ...

Wishing My Readers a Merry Christmas!

Lovelies! I know I haven't been here much this month but its been Cra-zee! I'm sure you have found the same. I wanted to just check in and wish you all a very blessed Christmas and have a little catch-up.

Our trees went up early (for us) this year on Saturday the 9th because we hosted a festive Christmas party on the 10th. I usually wait until around the 15th but have to say that this month has whizzed by - I can't believe its Christmas-Eve Eve!

We set up a real tree in the conservatory, all decked out in rose golds, golds and crystals. It's very pretty and rather modern. One daughter loves it the other not so much. Fortunately, the other tree pictured in the first photograph on the right is very traditionally decked out in golds and reds. So both tastes catered for.

I happen to like them both :)

Below you will see even our bedroom got a little touch of Christmas cheer. I love the grey and reds. It makes for a cosy space.

This year, we hosted a Christmas party for friends and family. We had such a lovely time. I wanted to show you the food because it was SUCH fun putting it all together.

I was totally inspired by Pinterest. Isn't it great that even the most ordinary of us can set a pretty party table thanks to the great ideas of those creative domestic goddesses and Pinterest 😂

Just by shaping ordinary food into Christmas trees and adding a few sprigs of rosemary makes all the difference.

You can check out these and other ideas on my foodie Pinterest board.

Now lovelies, where ever you are, I want to send you and your family the very warmest of Christmas good wishes from me and mine. May your time with your families and friends be blessed and peaceful. Keep safe and warm and I shall see you back here in the new year. Thank you for sticking with me here at Under An English Sky, I really appreciate every one of you and have made some truly lovely friends through this blog. 

"Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night!" 

~ From the poem A Visit from St. Nicholas by Clement Clarke Moore

Hygge ~ The Art of Practicing Coziness

Hello my lovelies! Are you ready for Christmas? I've just returned from doing my final Christmas shop and - WOW! - How hectic are the shops right now? I kind of just plastered a smile on  my face and adopted that slow shuffle that really is the only way to move around the stores at this time of year. What I find interesting is how other people respond to these low-level stress shopping situations. 

Some are clearly over-whelmed and irritable and really don't cope well,  thus make their own, and others, shopping experience more traumatic. Others just stare straight ahead and accept their fate of braving festive crowds, displaying not an ounce of emotion on their faces. 

And then there are those who are super courteous, chatty and smiley. I like those kind of people, they make the crowded shopping experience a little more bearable. And because I appreciate such people I try to be one myself. I must have exchanged 'grin-and-bear-it' pleasantries with at least 4 unknown-to-me fellow shoppers. I'm convinced the best way to get through the holiday shop is to cling to the thought that there is a cup of tea to be had once you have braved the crowds and reached the sanctuary of home.

So yesterday was the Winter Solstice, the days get longer from here on out. Oh it will be a while yet until we start noticing the difference, but it's the knowledge that the light is returning that makes me happy.

To chase the dark and winter doldrums away in our home I embrace my Danish heritage and practice the art of "hygge". 

Hygge is the Danish ritual of creating atmosphere, embracing all things gentle and soothing and steering clear of annoying and stressful things (like crowded shops LOL). It's about friends, family and graciousness. It's all about simple pleasures.

In practicing the art of Hygge in my home I light candles - lots of them. I ensure that we have plenty of warm, snugly blankets lying around and that I have all the makings for gorgeous cups of hot chocolate, coffee and cups of tea. I bake delicious cookies and infuse delicious smelling oils to make our home smell amazing, make homemade bread and warming soups. I look for ways to make the ordinary just that little more special.

The art of hygge, in my humble opinion, goes a long way in creating a sense of well-being for those who suffer the side effects of a lack of light (I would count myself in that group), and considering that the Danish have a word for describing the act of coziness, I gather that this a wide-spread belief, at least among dwellers in Nordic countries.

I found an absolutely FABULOUS blog which centers around the art of living hygge. It is a delight to read and well worth a visit, its called Hygge House.

So my sweet readers, as I finish off this post I just want to wish you all a very blessed Christmas. My your celebrations be filled with peace, family, love, shared moments, happy laughter and a whole lot of hygge.

Pssst!

I hope you wont get too mad if I mention the "C" word (that's Christmas folks)

Well I was browsing through Pinterest as I do, and came across the cutest little 'gift idea' that looked easy and quick to make and would be perfect to wrap and pop into an envelope and into the post.

I have lots of friends that are along way away from me and to be able to send just a little something at Christmas time would be nice.

It's a little teabag wallet. Quite a handy little addition to ones handbag I would think. It was really easy to make and was done in a little over an hour.

So I shall be making a few more, perhaps I shall have a little basket of small gifts like this all wrapped up by the front door. It would be wonderful to have a gift on hand for unexpected guests who pop in, wouldn't it?

You can hop on over HERE for a tutorial on how to make one like I did, or you can check out this collection on Pinterest. There are all sorts of different ones, in fact I think I'm going to pin a few of them ;)

Have a lovely day everyone...

A Flowering Beauty... Small Joys

Each year there are little things that I do that are part of the natural rhythm of my life. I love to observe the seasons, both natural and liturgical. There is so much to love about life isn't there?

Each December I buy a single Amaryllis bulb. I pot it up just before December and the hope is that it will grow and bloom in time for Christmas. 

This year it worked out just perfectly! Each day I watched as it grew taller (visibly taller - these flowers grow quickly!). Soon what looked like a single flower bud, opened up to reveal 4 trumpet flower buds waiting to bloom.

One by one the flowers began to unfurl..

Sure enough, on Christmas day, every single flower was open. I was thrilled - it's such a small thing in life but brings such joy!

In these short dark days, there is nothing more joyful than a bit of sunshine and seeing the cheerful face of a flower in bloom.

Happy Wednesday all... see you back here very soon :)

Advent Begins...

Well hello! My goodness, it has been ages since I was last here. The days just seem to be whizzing by don't they? Here we are December 1st already! Lets have  little 'catch-up' post.

Sunday was the start of Advent. On Saturday I packed away all the autumn decorations and got our Advent wreath ready.

I popped a few wintry looking candles onto the mantle and scattered about some pine-cones.

They are just so cute don't you think? If you live in the UK you can grab your own from Tesco for £1.50 each. 

Today, being the 1st of December, it is the official start of baking season in our home :) The first batch of mince pies have just come out the oven and the whole house smells Christmassy - lovely!

Last week I got an early start on my Christmas card writing. I'm pleased to say that all that's left to do is post them off. I thought I would wait to pop them into the post box until next week, after all, December has only JUST started ;)

I really do love writing out cards for friends and family each year. It is good to take time out of a busy day, sit quietly with a cup of tea (in my new winter mug - I just love it, so pretty) and pen warm messages to those who are dear to my heart. This is one of those 'small pleasures' that I often mention about enjoying and savouring :)

I just had to squeeze in a picture of my daughters latest Polymer Clay creations...

She's made the prettiest buttons. I think that they would look fantastic on a little hand-knit jumper. After having chosen a few for my own stash, we listed the rest in our Etsy Store. I'm not sure if there is a market for them but I thought they were cute enough to give it  go.

Well my lovely friends, that's it for today, I'm about to dash off to take dd2 to a trampoline class. I'll see you back here tomorrow for a Yarn Along post :) 

Have a lovely evening.

Approaching Christmas

If you have been reading my blog for any length of time you know that although I love Christmas, I cannot stand the consumerism that threatens to overwhelm this holy time. It honestly drives be bonkers. 

For many a year in our home we have refused to give into this consumerism disease. We set a modest - cash only - budget for gifts and our food choices are based on what we actually like to eat and on a scale that we can eat without having mounds and mounds of food left over. 

This holiday is, after all, about the birth of our Saviour. It's about Jesus.

For our family it is not about personal gain (expensive gift wise), it's not about  over-indulgence, it's not about having my house outshine my neighbours with lights and decorations. Please don't read that last bit as we don't decorate because we do, we just don't spend vast amounts of money each year on decorations. We re-use the decorations we have had all our married life each year. 

I have to say that the attack from all sides seems to start earlier and earlier each year. Christmas decorations have been in stores since September. Television adverts are setting picture-perfect, simple heart-warming scenes, all to entice the consumer to spend on their products. Christmas movies have been playing on the dedicated Christmas movie channel since October.

As I was pondering over these things, I came across this wonderful article written by a lovely blogger on doing Christmas your way. She addressed almost all the issues that we all face over this Christmas season, she shared how they deal with it. I found it quite encouraging (her article but also her readers comments afterwards) to see how many people resist the seasons trappings and feel free to do what is important to them. I was especially encouraged on the charity collection bucket side of things. Lets face it, they are everywhere at this time of the year. Personally we have two Christian charities that we support that make a huge difference in people's lives, but I still feel like a horrible person when I choose not to contribute to every single open bucket at every single shop entrance! But honestly, it's just not possible to support every-single-collection. I found her statement on how she feels about this issue comforting in a way, and I will try to remember what she said every time I feel overwhelmed with guilt for not popping in some cash or committing to a direct debit for the next year!

Anyhoo, my point for this post is (apart from my own thoughts being clarified through the act of writing it down), that I really want to keep this season focused on Jesus. I want to keep it simple and real, yet make it special for all the right reasons! I don't want our Advent and Christmas to replicate a Hollywood Christmas movie. With Advent being two and half weeks away, I think that now is a good time to reflect on and clarify what Christmas truly means to us as a Christian family and how I'm going to encourage that in my own home.

Blessings to you all...

Snow On This Feast of Stephen

Hello dear readers.

 Have you had a blessed Christmas? We have had a lovely time. the crib service was absolutely lovely, Midnight Mass was so pretty all lit up - although we only crept into bed around 1.30 am so we were a little tired Christmas day. But all worth it and part of this wonderful season.

I had to show you this cute little picture of one of our kitty cats...

She has an absolute obsession with plastic packets. She licks them and loves to jump inside and just chill. Here she was 'helping' out while I was wrapping last minute gifts on Christmas eve :)

So, on this Feast of Stephen, we are expecting our first low-level snowfall of the season...

yes it is on it's way and there is much excitement in our home as we are snow lovers here at Under An English Sky. So not quite a white Christmas but boxing day is a close second isn't it :)

Have a lovely boxing day all, will see you all back here very soon.

Christmas Greetings

Wishing all my lovely readers a very merry and blessed Christmas!