merry christmas

The theme at this week’s Gallery at Tara’s place is love.

It’s easy at this time of year to get caught up in the presentwrappingtoyfindingfloorsweepingdecoratingwashingtidying panic of it all. Believe me, I know. Yesterday when sane people were snuggled up at home with their children making home made cookies, watching family films, playing board games* and being sensible, I was sliding around a car park with three boys in the back of the car. Last minute Christmas shopping isn’t my idea of fun, especially in a foot of snow.

But Christmas isn’t about all that. Tara’s theme is perfect – it’s about love. It’s my little sister driving up from Surrey on Christmas Eve with Chris Rea on the radio. It’s my lovely niece and my daughter having a sleepover at my mum’s house. It’s my boys making paper chains in the kitchen. It’s the standing joke about the red onions (that even the starving, half-frozen birds in my dad’s garden wouldn’t eat). It’s giggling every year over the Christmas we spent up at Dad’s house where we grilled the turkey for two hours because we didn’t know how to work his oven, and dinner was served so late that everyone was plastered on champagne. It’s The Royle Family (have you had your tea?) and Jenga and waking up at five because I can’t wait to hear the children when they realise HE has filled their stockings. It’s going to the Christingle with my Mum and Chris and seeing all the friends we have in the village and their children, and kissing everyone and exchanging cards on Christmas Eve. It’s being on Facebook at 1am on Christmas Eve and friends from the village sharing last minute wrapping updates and ‘help I’ve run out of sellotape – has anyone got some spare?’ messages.

And most of all, it’s this lot. Look, no1 has her arms wrapped around her brothers. Half the time they want to kill each other, but this picture says it all.

Love at Christmas.

*if there’s a secret to doing those things without it ending in World War 3, please let me know. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m off for a bit of comfort reading – a copy of Jump by Jilly Cooper and hide from the children.

Christmas

As I write this it has just started to snow. The children are finishing school at lunchtime, and we’re planning to spend the afternoon watching A Christmas Carol and eating popcorn until we feel sick.

Scratch that. As I wrote that the school sent a message to say they were closing early because of the snow. So now all of them are back home, waiting for me to finish a blog post where they feature ‘instead of all those photos of trees an’ stuff’. (I quite like my trees an’ stuff, actually)

So here are some of the things we do at Christmas here in the village.

We decorate the playhouse with sparkly lights so we can look at it at night time.

We go to the Christingle service on Christmas Eve. And on Saturday we’ll be singing carols by the Christmas tree on the village green to raise money for Clic Sargent, the charity for children with cancer. My friend Sarah is running the London Marathon next April for them – pop over and have a look at her blog and cheer her on. It really helped me last year when I was training and writing marathonmummy, my running blog.

We leave a mince pie and a glass of malt whisky for Santa (who is rather partial to a glass of Laphroaig, incidentally). And carrots of course, for Rudolph and co. And we always have new pyjamas on Christmas Eve.

On Christmas Day the children bring their stockings to our room and open them on our bed. Then we do breakfast, and once we’re dressed and have had breakfast (yes, that’s another tradition carried over from my childhood) then we open the presents. And I force the children to sit down so I can take a photograph, and someone always whirls about and is blurry.

Then we have dinner – and we always wear our paper hats. It’s the rules.

Then on Boxing Day we all go to Stowe and have a walk, and work up an appetite for more leftovers (yum) and chocolate and party games and television and lying around reading our Christmas books. I can’t wait.

***

I thought I was too late, but lovely Ella from notes from home let me sneak in to her Christmas Carnival. I do love a bit of linkydoodling on a Friday. Have a read below at some other lovely Christmassy posts. Best read with a mince pie and a mulled wine. Or in my case a glass of wine. Hooray for Friday nights.
Here are the other entries in this Christmas Carnival:

Cass at The Diary of a Frugal Family shows us how she makes snowglobes.

Nova at Cherished By Me posts her family’s Christmas traditions.

Jenny at Gingerbread House writes about her new family’s Christmas traditions.

Jax at Making it Up writes about the Season of goodwill.

Maria at Fab Mums posts a Christmas poem.

Kelly at A Place of My Own posts about giving thoughtful gifts.

Chris at Thinly Spread writes about her family’s Christmas traditions.

Jessica at Jessica Milln’s Blog writes about Round Robin letters at Christmas.

Ella at Notes From Home posts her family’s Christmas traditions.

hoar frost

When we woke up yesterday morning the whole village was sparkling white, covered in hoar frost. Then again this morning: even more hoar frost. I love it. I love winter, mainly because it brings the promise of skiing.

All the way to school the trees were sparkling white against a beautiful blue sky. I headed straight out to walk the dog, with camera in hand. Note to self: don’t forget gloves when it’s -6 C outside, or the tips of your fingers will get very cold, very quickly. Brrr.

Off to tidy the house before decorating for Christmas. Yippee.

christmas is coming

This is my favourite time of year. I love the smell of pine, the candles, the yummy food, the forgiving clothes (handy after lots of the yummy food) and the two weeks off school when we batten down the hatches, curl up on the couch and watch DVDs together. I’ve got my brand new copy of Jump! by Jilly Cooper and I intend to disappear into a world of horses and the gorgeous Rupert Campbell-Black. Sigh.

I’ve always been desperate to do the whole American ‘go to a tree farm and choose your tree’ thing (too much reading Martha Stewart Living again) so I’m really excited to discover that thanks to Joseph and Ingrid Hodges at Claydon Christmas Tree Farm, that will soon be a reality.

Well, it will be by 2015. Right now the Christmas trees are little seedlings, but by 2015 you’ll be able to visit, choose your tree, decorate it – so you can remember which one is yours – then take it home for Christmas.
Meanwhile whilst the trees are growing, they have pot grown and cut trees for sale, and a shop with gorgeous decorations, wreaths, English mistletoe and free mince pies.