It's Beginning to Feel a LOT Like Christmas!

The Halls are most definitely decked with boughs of holly and lights and paper chains.  What a lovely day we had yesterday, bringing Christmas to our cottage.  It glows with a gentle warmth and twinkles merrily.  It looks happy and I wonder what kind of Christmases it has seen since it was first built somewhere in the 17th century.  I hope we don't let it down.

We began our day by dragging the boxes of decorations from the outbuilding and playing our favourite Christmas music a bit too loudly.  Each time we do this, I feel as though the days in between hardly existed at all.  Time shrinks and we talk of 'this time last year' in amazement of all we have achieved in the year.  To begin with anyway, then the novelty wears off and arguing about who is putting the top bit of the tree on this year takes over.  H2 claims he has never done it.  Hm mm, a likely story.  Pea insists she should do it as she is the tallest.  Can't argue with that, though they do.  H1 exclaimed in wonder that the tree had shrunk since last year.  Er, could it be that you have grown, darling boy?

Pea crocheted this little snowman a few years ago when she broke her foot.  She had to have a couple of days off school and I taught her how to crochet amigarumi.  One of the boys made the robin at school in a by-gone Christmas.  Our decorations are full of memories of my children growing and changing through the years.

Tree done and looking a bit thinner than we remembered, we turned our attention to the rest of the room.  Having a tall daughter has it's advantages as Pea was able to reach the beams and poke pins into the ceiling to hold up bunting, banners and paper chains.  We always have paper chains hanging up.  They remind me of my childhood and are old-fashioned comfort.  Not for me electric blue lights that give you a headache as soon as you look at them.

My felt stars found a home dangling from the beams and look very pretty too.

We have a lovely inglenook fireplace that needed some Christmas love and attention.  It would have been a beauty many years ago, but now just has an electric fire standing on it's hearth.  I must confess I am quite glad about this.  We had a real open fire in our previous house.  They are wonderful and cosy and nothing beats sitting by a roaring log fire on a cold night.  But I spent so many freezing cold nights crouched in front of a pile of wet wood and coal that clearly was not going to light, no matter how I tried; and going out in the dark to fetch in more wood and coal when it would light, that I am quite content to flick a switch for warmth.  I know, I am a disgrace.

I find that candles go a little way to replacing a real open fireplace.  It is a flame, albeit a small one, and humans have a fascination with flames.  I was always quite content to stare into the open fire and lose myself in it's dance.  Now the glow and movement of my own handmade candles satisfies that need within me.  I am proud that I created that light and brought it's warmth, comfort and scent to my children's home.  In fact, if you will excuse me, I need to go and melt some wax.  I feel a long cold winter coming on!

Cosy up to the ones you love and enjoy! xxx