What happened to Christmas? — An Elegant Sufficiency

Much as I enjoy Christmas, I have a habit of closing my eyes and ears to everything Christmas-related until that first door of my Advent calendar is ready to be opened. That’s fine - until we choose to take a few days off in Berlin at the start of the month and return to find there’s quite a lot to do!

Home again, there were several Advent doors to open and, my Lindt chocolate teddy calendar had a QR code which opened a fun little video each day. I think the bears had been enjoying a snowball fight in this one. Very cute!

Thankfully, we’d already bought our tree and on our return home one of the first jobs was to bring it indoors and decorate.

The old favourites were all there; the bear in the velvet stocking

and the Berlin Ampelmann, more appropriate than ever this year.

The days flew, food was prepared, brought to the table and enjoyed with friends and family and somehow, here we are on the 28th December and I’m feeling thankful that at least I remembered to take some photos!

It’s always so lovely to gather round the table with friends for Feuerzangenbowle each year and begin the Christmas season in spirit!

I was still busily making our Christmas cards well into December this year, but the extortionate cost of first class postage was all the encouragement I needed to make the deadline for getting them in the post with a second class stamp. I folded sixty or seventy stars in all, each using a page from an old (but unread) book on my shelf. I think just one of those stars revealed the clue to the title - the name Swann.

I cranked my sewing machine up one day, when Bernina offered a free embroidery file to download and I was curious how it would stitch out.

But though I completed the embroidery and cut out the shapes, they’re still on my desk awaiting the final step of finishing and constructing the bauble. Early for next year?

The dreary weather has continued day after day and though we’ve been thankful to miss the horrendous storms that have battered parts of the UK, the wet and misty outlook made being at home all the more cosy and welcoming.

I survived this busy December on a raft of lists as usual, applying my habit of (very) early morning shopping which paid off every time.

Not only was I the only shopper at Marks and Spencer’s Food store in Cirencester at 7am one day,

I was able to pull up at the side of the road in the Market Place and jump out to take a photo of the Christmas lights too!

As well as the more traditional versions, we have enjoyed the digital Jacquie Lawson Advent Calendar, set in Paris this year and have spent hours playing silly games and fun activities, like dressing “paper” dolls, which were not “dolls” in the usual sense of the word, but…

the French Bulldog bore a close resemblance to our Grand-dog Oliver, and I giggled as I dressed him up in what I thought was a very appropriate get up!

Sadly, the “real” Oliver spent a miserable Christmas wearing a cone following treatment for ear trouble. He felt rather sorry for himself but is doing well and hopefully will be back to his usual self before long.