I think a blog post with this title is becoming a bit of a tradition, I have a habit of ignoring the pressure to “start early for Christmas” and go through much of November with my fingers in my ears humming “not Christmas yet” to myself.

We returned from Ireland to a very Autumnal scene, with many leaves still on the trees.

In mid-November, we headed North for the weekend under glowering skies.

We always enjoy our visit here, planned to include Olga’s Choral Society concert on the 16th and appreciating the chance to catch up with our friend Linda at the Cartford Inn too. And whilst I still enjoy perusing Tony and Olga’s bookshelves, on this occasion, I noted that one of them is no longer in need of a Serbo-Croat textbook ;-)

The final stage of the journey home was through the woods, which are particularly beautiful at this time of the year, even if a few drops of rain on the windscreen spoiled my picture!

Once home, I decided to retrieve the last stems from my birthday bouquet. These Chinese lanterns still looked lovely and I was loathe to throw them away. After all, it’s still Autumn, isn’t it?

Well, maybe it’s still November, but my shopping trip soon reminded me of approaching events. For a start, I thought it was time to begin making my Christmas cakes and puddings, in case you’re wondering why I needed such a supply of rum and currants! Then I picked up a copy of the supermarket’s weekly newspaper and the title page left me in no doubt.

And then it snowed!

OK, not so much, but nevertheless, enough of a flurry to spark a conversation,

and the first breakfast porridge of the year, served in my favourite bowl and especially good when eaten with the bear spoon too.

It was also a good reason to get on with some baking.

Two cakes, three puddings and as many days later, everything was done.

Once again, I marvel at my Grandmother, who would bake twice as many cakes and puddings as that entirely by hand - no stand mixer or ready-prepared fruit to make it easier. It would take her more than a week, during which time she’d plan her other daily tasks (cleaning, laundry, everyday cooking and shopping) around her Christmas baking, which she did for her whole family. It must have been utterly exhausting.

With those jobs completed, I took the afternoon off to go to a friend’s 90th birthday party (delightful!) and to Jolly Nice that evening, where there was mulled wine, cider, and some delicious things to eat in a lovely, seasonal atmosphere.

I stood with another woman marvelling at the beautiful arrangements here, agreeing that they’d need to be made at last minute to look so fresh and no, we probably wouldn’t manage to create anything quite so perfect!

So I put some colourful cyclamen on the garden table and felt satisfied with the simple blast of colour instead!

I drove through the most horrendous rainstorm (Storm Bert) into Wales last weekend, to judge a competition depicting “A Christmas Song”. The winner (above) was exceptional and judging the two crafts there in the exhibit, I gave both full marks. Not only was the spaceman able to stand unaided, he was beautifully knitted and constructed using some complex shaping. The beadwork in the necklace was similarly exquisite using very carefully chosen beads to achieve a perfect finish. I imagine my colleagues judging the cake, the preserve and the flowers reached similar conclusions for the competition was very tough indeed.

The Christmas song depicted with the Spaceman was immediately clear, but when my steward brought me the above craft entry, I puzzled for quite some time. Eventually I went over to see it in context. Did you guess?

There was the elf with a black space in her mouth and the tooth fairy box on top of the cake as clues…yes, “All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth” !

Wishing our American friends Happy Thanksgiving yesterday, this week’s supermarket shopping confirmed that we are undoubtedly full into the Christmas season now.

Arthur, you are going to need all the sleep you can get for the excitement of your first Christmas!