Little House by the Railway Line
Stocking up for Next Christmas
I've just bought 80 Christmas cards online that were being sold off extra cheap. That should be plenty for us for next year (I think we sent about 70 this year, and have a few left over). This is something I've often planned to do, but in the past I've always forgotten until about February when there are none left any more.However, I did last year - also this year - remember to stock up on cheap Christmas food that keeps. This year, the day after Boxing Day, I bought two jars of mincemeat, 2 of cranberry sauce, and 3 of chestnuts. They'll keep till at least December 2010, so will do two Christmasses if we don't eat too much next year. Actually, the real danger is that I'll take it into my head to stuff baked apples with mincemeat next autumn or put cranberry sauce out in March.
While I was buying the cards, I also took the opportunity to buy an advent candle. We've not had one before, but I've always rather liked the idea, so maybe next Christmas will be the one!
We had an advent candle at school when I was about 9. I remember it was quite a fat one, and it took some time to burn down the requisite amount. Our teacher used to burn it during storytime on the carpet at the end of the day, but after a while it was beginning to get out of time - the candle thought it was December 5th when it was really December 10th. The teacher took it home, and said she was trying to burn it down far enough in the evenings. If I remember correctly, eventually she decided it was taking too long, and chopped the top off (leaving the wick intact) with a bread knife!
The one I've ordered is rather more slender than the school one, however, so hopefully we won't have that problem.
Christmas 2008 Review
Since it's Epiphany today, and we're supposed to remove the decorations (although it'll probably be tomorrow, since we're both going out this evening), I thought I'd better record the pictures of the decorations so I can remember what we did for next year.This is our tree:
The lights are coloured, and most of the ornaments came from G's mum. A couple of them were gifts to me in the last few years from a friend at church.
We hung the cards along the bannister. More have arrived since this picture was taken, so there are now two strings on the bannisters, and two long ribbons on the cupboard door.
And this is my old nativity scene, which I'd forgotten I had. I made it out of fimo when I was about 9 or so, and some of the pieces are a little wobbly. Perhaps blu-tack would have helped on that. Everyone seemed quite charmed by it. I'm not sure, however, that in front of the television is the best place for it (well, life would probably be better if we got rid of the telly, but we do use it very occasionally - we watched a DVD of Our Mutual Friend together over the holiday, which confused me terribly), so I'll have to see if I can think of a better place for next year.
Some of those pictures are awful. I think I need to practice with the camera.
Christmas is Coming....
Yesterday evening, I made a lemon meringue pie (complete disaster that ended in tears - I won't go into it). There was a small amount of pastry leftover from the base, and I still had some pastry in the fridge leftover from the butternut squash pie I made last week.Since it is December (and since I was intelligent enough to stock up on mincemeat last year) I thought it would be nice to start on the mince pies. So yesterday evening I made half a dozen mince pies. I can't make mince pies without singing Christmas carols, so I sang my way through See Amid the Winter's Snow and In the Bleak Midwinter while I was working. We'll start them as a snack when we get home late this evening; I must remember to dust them with icing sugar before that.
For the rest of the evening we wrote Christmas cards and wrapped parcels up. We're going to the first Christmas party of the year this Saturday - which means I need to get out some jars of jam to take as gifts and put the little hats and ribbons on them.
I love Christmas.
Day Out in London
On Saturday G and I went down to London to meet up with his brother, whose birthday is this week. We treated him to the entrance to the Courtauld Gallery (where we went to see an exhibition of Turner Watercolours) and to lunch at Garfunkel's Restaurant.We had a really good day. The exhibition was interesting, and not too long. We've been to exhibitions at the National Gallery and the Tate before and I tend to have reached information-saturation long before the end, and have reached the limit of being able to comfortably stand still, whereas this one was small enough to be able to take it all in and not get too tired. The rest of the gallery (most of it, not the modern art bits) was also very enjoyable. Actually, I think G's brother preferred the modern art galleries, but my taste is rather more old-fashioned.
We really pigged out at lunchtime, though. I had some chicken and chips with vegetables, and then I was very decadent and ate the scrummiest pudding: belgian waffle with vanilla ice-cream and maple syrup with toffee pieces. It's a wonder I didn't get ill from all that sugar, but it was delicious. I think it's probably alright to splurge on pudding and sugar occaisionally, as a treat, as long as I don't get tempted to do so everyday.
(However, G made an apple and blackberry crumble for pudding after supper in the evening, so we ended up having pudding twice that day, which really is starting to sound like excess.)
Christmas Meme
I saw this here and thought I'd like to fill it in, as I love Christmas traditions and enjoy reading about other people's.
1.) Wrapping paper or gift bags? Both. We have lots of bags that we received wedding presents in, and they're reusable. And we reuse wrapping paper till it's torn up all over and you can't see the picture any more. I really like the idea of using newspaper though, so maybe this year I'll try that.
2.) Real tree or artificial? We have a small artificial one in the loft that fits on the coffee table.
3.) When do you put up the tree? Late December. If we have a Christmas do it would go up in time for that, but we're not this year (because we're too busy going to other people's and there are no weekends left), so it'll probably go up the weekend before Christmas.
4.) When do you take the tree down? Official date is January 6th. I think we may have left it up a little longer than that last year though.
5.) Do you like eggnog? No.
6.) Favorite gift recieved as a child? Probably the very large teddy bear I got when I was about 10. I snuggled up next to him every night till I got married (in fact, I got him back out again when my husband was away in the summer).
7.) Hardest person to buy for? My father. He loathes Christmas, doesn't like getting presents, and hates having useless junk. He also tends to buy anything he wants for himself, as soon as he thinks of it, so it's impossible to buy him something he wants (unless I happened to have a few hundred thousand pounds spare and could buy him more machinery for building cars....).
8.) Easiest person to buy for? My husband, I think. He's very unfussy and easy to please.
9.) Do you have a nativity scene? No, but I kind of think I might like one, only I'm not sure where I'd put it.
10.) Mail or e-mail christmas cards? We post them.
11.) Worst christmas gift you ever recieved? I have no idea. Either there never was one, or it was so awful I've blocked it from my memory.
12.) Favorite christmas movie? We don't really watch television, or films. I think I have an old video of It's A Wonderful Life in a box in the loft, so maybe that would be it
13.) When do you start shopping for christmas? I bought the Christmas cards in August / September this year.
14.) Have you ever recycled a christmas present? I don't think so. I've given plenty away to charity shops though.
15.) Favorite thing to eat at christmas? Roast potatoes and parsnips and pigs in blankets and stuffing.
16.) Lights on the tree? Yes.
17.) Favorite christmas song? It Came Upon the Midnight Clear
18.) Travel at christmas or stay home? I prefer to stay home. Actually, I always prefer to stay home, as I don't like travelling at the best of times. This year, we're going to have Christmas Day just the two of us (and obviously all the people we see in the morning at church), and will probably visit my parents on Boxing Day.
19.) Can you name all of Santa's reindeer? No!
20.) Angel on top of tree or star? I think we put one end of the string of lights up there. I have a Christmas Tree Angel that I knitted years ago, but it's a bit too big and heavy for our tiny tree.
21.) Open presents christmas eve or morning? Christmas morning - although I think it may have been afternoon last year, as it was after church while the dinner was cooking.
22.) Most annoying thing about this time of year? All those ghastly shops that open up in empty shop-buildings trying to sell cheap red and gold tatty decorations, and the crazy mania for buying endless stuff that seems to possess people.
23.) Favorite thing about this time of year? Extra church services, time off work to spend at home, and the excuse to bake (and eat) lots of yummy biscuits.
24.) Favorite ornament theme or color? Red is my favourite colour at any time of the year, so my favourite colour would be red. I'm not really sure what an ornament theme is though, but I do rather like all the pictures of robins sitting on fences in the snow that get wheeled at at Christmas-time.
25.) Favorite food for christmas dinner? Roast potatoes and parsnips and pigs in blankets and stuffing. Served with roast chicken or turkey, of course.
26.) Favorite christmas tradition? Walking round the streets after dark with my Mum and looking at all the Christmas lights on other people's houses, and seeing their trees standing in the front windows.
27.) What do you want for christmas this year? A rest! Some time off work with no crazy agenda to spend with my husband.
28.) Who is most likely to respond to this? I have no idea...
Crazy Weekend
G and I had a crazy weekend, which was good fun, but we're extremely glad it's over, and are hoping the next one won't be the same.On Saturday we had arranged to go to visit some friends for lunch and then G had a bellringing district tea at 4:30 in the afternoon. We went to Daily Bread to stock up on nice things (like Raisins and G's favourite muesli and crystallised ginger) on the way to lunch, and enjoyed a pleasant time with friends. They've recently acquired two chickens, which they've called Betty and Vera, and we got to meet them, which was fun. Apparently the deeds on our house forbid us keeping chickens, even if we had the space, but I still think I'd like some one day, if we ever move somewhere suitable. However, the bus back home was delayed, and got increasingly behind as it crawled through town, while G got increasingly agitated about being late to serve the teas. He made it (just) to the tea by 5pm, just before the first people arrived needed to be seen to, and was pretty washed out by the time he made it home at about half past seven.
On Sunday we'd succeeded in quintuple-booking ourselves, so even after some adjustments we were incredibly busy. We went to church and heard a good sermon on Amos 5. I ended up serving the teas and coffees after the service when it became apparent that no-one else was going to do it, and nearly ran out of tea cups. We think we need a "one cup per person" rule to sort this out, as it happens a bit too often lately. Either that, or more teacups. Then we had a guest coming for lunch (engagement one), and at two o'clock I was picked up and went on a walk with some friends in Thetford Forest (engagement two), which was wonderful, and then drove back to prepare the supper - for which G joined us. Meanwhile he'd had to go and ring the bells for Remembrance Sunday (engagement three) and then been to a support group meeting for some trainee missionaries we're supporting (engagement four). (The fifth engagement was another lunch engagement which has been postponed for a couple of weeks. Whew!). After all that it was rather fun to sit around with friends all evening and enjoy a good meal, but I was pretty exhausted at the end of it all.
The other week I was reading an article in the Banner of Truth magazine about the important of quietness of life and not being overrun with different activities. I think I may need to read it repeatedly to get the message through. That, and make sure our diary is always up to date so we don't make too many arrangements for the same time!
Looking after Mum
I took the day off work yesterday, to stay at home with my mother and "look after" her while my father was working up north. To be honest, she doesn't really need looking after; it's more a matter of not wanting to be alone all day and a small amount of not quite being confident to go in the shower/go for a walk / lift things in the kitchen without there being someone around.We had a very pleasant day together. I stayed the night before, which meant I got a lovely long lie-in in the morning and didn't have to get up until almost half past eight. We went for a long-ish walk (about a mile; long for Mum but rather shorter than I'm used to) and called in at the greengrocer, the butcher and the village library to buy things and chat to people, and then spent the afternoon chatting while I tried (with some measure of success, but a fair amount of failure mixed in) to bind some new song books for the hymn-singing/services we do at the old people's home. We cooked dinner together and then G came back to eat with us before he went off to ringing practice.
It was most peculiar, staying the night in my parents' house, because it's where I lived for most of my life (21 years out of nearly 26), and so it's home, and yet it isn't. I have a long history in the house, and yet I spent most of my time then in my room, which is now a spare sitting room / exercise room, so the most familiar places no longer exist there.
I managed to get the village butcher, which I've been wanting to do for some time (there isn't a butcher in the village where I live now), and bought some of his best sausages and a rabbit. I think "local wild rabbit" must be one of the most sustainable sorts of meat there is, and it was very reasonably in price, seeing as it'll make enough to have company round (always assuming people are prepared to eat it). I've never had it before and was intrigued to try it. I nearly bought some fish from the fish-van, but wasn't sure what G would like best, nor when we would eat it / how long it can be frozen for.
Henry V at the theatre
G and I went out last night to go to the local semi-amateur theatre to see Henry V. I watched a film of it years ago but couldn't really remember it that well, and G had never seen it, so it was new for both of us. We were given some money as an anniversary present from my Grandparents, so the tickets and the meal out only ended up costing us £3.19.It was a student performance on tour, with very minimal set and costumes, actors playing multiple parts (distinguished by the colour of their cap or what sort of necklace they were wearing), and it was really fantastic. There are a couple of battle scenes, which they did more as choreographed dance sequence, very military and precise, which was very effective. The chorus (who were the same people as the main actors - only Henry V himself wasn't part of it) did all the scene changes, saying their lines whilst they moved the packing cases around the stage.
Shakespeare is always much easier to understand when it is acted out, it seems to be, than when read on the page (although I've enjoyed reading plenty), presumably because you are assisted by the actors' movements and expressions in working out the meaning and don't have to listen to every single word. It's harder work to watch then most modern things, but also usually more rewarding.
All in all, it was a very enjoyable night out.
Anniversary Weekend Away
Yesterday was our first wedding anniversary! Since the first anniversary is paper, we decided to buy each other books. I got G a copy of "Practical Religion" by JC Ryle, and I don't know what he's bought for me yet, as Amazon haven't delivered it yet. We had a box of chocolates as well.Quite coincidentally, we planned to spend the weekend away visiting family. We spent two nights staying with my grandparents just outside Birmingham, and then two more nights staying with G's parents in Shropshire.
My grandfather has been rather ill of late and is having difficulty eating and keeping food down. I think it's getting to the stage where he's so afraid of being sick that he makes himself sick. However, he seemed to cope alright while we were there and seemed encouraged by our visit. He's also bought himself a train set - one of his unfulfilled childhood dreams - which is going to arrive on Wednesday, so he looked a lot happier when we left than when we arrived.
We were able to meet up with one of my old schoolfriends for lunch in Birmingham, which was really lovely, and then went to the Birmingham Back-to-Backs, which was absolutely fascinating. I always find the social history of the poor more interesting than the stuff about rich landowning gentry in their fine houses, although that can be interesting in its place. There are four houses, each done in the style of a different period, where you can see how they lived and worked (as often they worked from home).
Whilst in Shropshire we also visited Dudmaston, unfortunately in bad weather that prevented us exploring the grounds. It was a strange house, as the parts on display are still inhabited, so there are modern day photographs and balloons mixed up with the old-fashioned underlying house. Most of it was actually an art gallery, full of beautiful botanical drawings of different speciesof auricula. Not at all what I expected, but pleasant none the less.
We also got a bit of walking done and saw a goldcrest while out - which I hadn't seen before, so I was very excited about that. I certainly feel very much refreshed and rested after the break from work and household tasks.
Christmas thoughts....
When the weather starts to turn cold I invariably begin to think of Christmas-things. The leaves are turning colour now, and some must be falling as I can see far more birds than a few weeks ago, and the temperature has dropped sharply (tomorrow we're switching to the thicker duvet). So my brain has automatically switched into Christmas mode. I'm mentally trying to plan menus (which is impossible given that I don't know what we'll be doing or how many people will be involved) and worrying about how to hang cards up and how many different sorts of biscuits should I make and how many dozens of mince pies we'll need (answer: we don't need any, but would probably enjoy a couple of dozen).I've just ordered 50 Christmas cards, so they should arrive next week and if I'm really organised I can put the addresses on the envelopes. I could, I suppose, try and work out who we ought to give gifts to and what they might like. Perhaps that would be a suitable job for the weekend, if there's time.
One thing I should do really is try and learn to play some Christmas carols on the piano. The only Christmas carol book I ever had was one called "Easiest Christmas Tunes" that I had when I was 8 and had been learning for about three months. Earlier this year we invested in a really good hymn book and I should really utilise it and learn some proper carols (that is, ones that haven't been marmalised so they all fit neatly in five notes per hand touching on middle C with no accidentals).
G suggested writing a "round robin" letter or something, which sounds like a daunting task such as will put me right off the thought of Christmas and back into dreaming about apple pie.
Day Out in Wisbech
On Saturday G and I decided to have a day out together, just the two of us, and we went to Wisbech. We went chiefly to visit Peckover House, a National Trust property. G had been before, but I hadn't, and since we paid our membership dues it seemed sensible to take advantage of it.We could have gone either by bus or by train. The train was quicker, but more complicated, and the bus was cheaper. We went from our house to Wisbech for £5 each! It took about 3 hours each way, but that wasn't a problem, since the main purpose of the day was just to spend some time together. I was very impressed by the price of the bus.
(I often think the main reason we are so comfortable financially is because we don't have the expense of running a car. We are very blessed to live in a town that is well-provided for in terms of public transport - from our village into the town there are 12 buses every hour, and it's not too difficult to get to other places as well.)
Peckover House was very interesting. There was a superb knitted bedspread on display in the bedroom, and there was a library full of fantastic old books. You couldn't actually take them down to look at, but I had fun reading the titles on the spines anyway. By far the most interesting part of the house was the servants quarters downstairs. There was a lovely old range cooker and lots of other cooking equipment on display, including the biggest pestle and mortar I've ever seen. There was also a rather intriguing butler's pantry that we could peep into.
However, much more interesting that the house was the garden. There were all manner of interesting plants to look at. Orange trees that have been in the orangery for 300 years (with lots of little green oranges ripening on them), damson plum trees, several varieties of pears, a couple of different sorts of quince, lots of different varieties of roses, some more fragrant than others. There was topiary done in the shape of peacocks, there were courgettes being grown up a frame (this is an idea we may try and copy next year, to avoid it sprawling all over the ground), some very intriguing varieties of morning glory, lots of dahlias, fuschias, begonias and all manner of other things. We had a fantastic time.
When we were finished looking round the house and garden we went off to explore the town. The church was a very interesting place - two naves and two aisles, and the chancel wasn't even slightly in line with the nave. We walked around it with our guidebook and traced which bits had been built when and what they'd had to change to accomodate it.
We found a couple of interesting postboxes and a post office that G rather liked, so I photographed them and he took notes for his collection. I love being married to a man with genuinely interesting quirky hobbies (and I've got used to photographing pillar boxes without wondering if someone's going to think I'm a nutcase).
We had a drink and a jam doughnut in a Baker's Oven shop, and then caught the bus home. A tiring day, but absolutely fascinating. Now I'm on to planning the next day out....
Back from camp
I've done a week at camp, and came home late yesterday. Greg's still there, until Friday, and the house feels very empty without him. It's the first time we've been apart for longer than about 10-15 hours (during a work day) since we got married. Hopefully I'll be able to phone him later this evening, but it depends what time the children at camp have their hot chocolate, as he has to wash up afterwards and can't get back to the tent till he's done that.
I really enjoyed being at the camp, and it was refreshing to be around children that are, on the whole, well-behaved. Such a change from the children that come to the Youth Group in the village, who generally seem to have "winding everyone up" as their primary objective. I think part of the reason it was so pleasant was that all the electronic gadgets had to be handed in, so they had no phones, i-pods, gameboys and so forth.
Cooking for 140 people was an interesting experience. Far too much stodgy, salt-laden foods - partly because it simply isn't possible for three people to make enough pastry (for example) from scratch for that many, so everything was out of "just add water" mixes, and of course they're full of strange additives. I'm also not used to having meat three times a day - we generally have it about three times a week at home. I would have preferred to have more clear ideas about what I was supposed to be doing at a given time, but enjoyed working with the people. I really enjoyed being with a large group of like-minded Christians working together; every morning we had staff prayers before the campers got up, which I found helpful despite my normal reservations about prayer meetings (I'm hard of hearing, and find it almost impossible to hear prayers in meetings, which tends to leave me feeling a bit like I'm on a different planet to everyone else). It was encouraging to hear the staff who were actually working alongside the campers talking about the questions the campers were asking and how they were working through their thoughts about Christianity.
The most difficult part of camp was the complete lack of washing facilities. I think I'll have to get more practiced at washing while squatting on the floor (because the ceiling's too low to stand) in a washing up bowl with a milk bottle full of cold water if we're going to do camp next year.
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