The rain it raineth every day

Although the torrential rain and strong winds have lessened and we have even had one or two lovely sunny days, I don't think there have been many days recently where it hasn't rained. Indeed it has mostly rained constantly every day.  I'm aware that to some people around the world having some rain for a few weeks isn't a major issue when you have hurricanes, snow or drought.  However for our generally temperate non-extreme corner of England, it feels rather excessive. 

The garden is so wet and marshy only the birds and the squirrel are braving the lawn.  I've still not planted my tulip bulbs other than a few in a pot in the front garden, and I have no clue what is happening to the end of the garden other than the fence panels have mostly blown down.  Both we and the garden feel rather beleaguered right now.  After the light and brightness of Christmas, January and its incessant rain and wind is quite dull and drear.  The old house even has a few leaks and it feels as if we cannot escape from the rain.

All this rain reminded me of a verse of a poem called Winter Song by Katherine Mansfield:

"Rain and wind, and wind and rain.
Will the Summer come again?
Rain on houses, on the street,
Wetting all the people's feet,
Though they run with might and main.
Rain and wind, and wind and rain.

In all the gloom, I am continuing with my patchwork picture, slowly putting the hexagon patches together.  I don't know whether I am imagining it but I think my sewing is getting a little bit tidier as time goes on.  I don't think I will post a close-up picture though!

 

"Winter, a lingering season, is a time to gather golden moments, embark upon a sentimental journey, and enjoy every idle hour."

-  John Boswell

  

Due to the rubbish dull weather I haven't taken many photographs lately.  I did take a few pictures on the couple of lovely winter days, my favourite of which is this one.

Rather than depress everyone with my negative ramblings, I want to end this post with a lovely positive quote from one of my favourite writers, Jerome K Jerome:

A new life begins for us with every second

Let us go forward joyously to meet it.

We must press on, whether we will or no,

and we shall walk better with our eyes before us

than with them ever cast behind.

 

The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it

We would like to wish everyone a very merry
Christmas from us both at Hazel Cottage

The Holly and the Ivy

We are finally at Christmas Eve, that most lovely of days when the greenery is brought into the house.  Before the advent of the Christmas fir tree in the nineteenth century, Christmas was celebrated starting with the holly, ivy and mistletoe being brought into the house.    In the middle of winter when nothing much is growing and the trees are bare, we still have these plants to help us bring joy.  Holly was sacred to druids who associate it with the winter solstice.   The bringing in of the holly and ivy has been taking place in England since at least the fifteenth century and probably even before that.

 

Then candles are lit to bring light into the darkest days of the year.  The Christmas symbols, the pagan holly and ivy and the Christian symbols of the season are just wonderfully intertwined.

 

 



"When we recall Christmas past, we usually find that the simplest things - not the great occasions - give off the greatest glow of happiness."

- Bob Hope

I also make pomanders out of oranges and cloves to decorate the mantelpiece each year.  The smell is intoxicating!

"Christmas--that magic blanket that wraps itself about us, that something so intangible that it is like a fragrance. It may weave a spell of nostalgia. Christmas may be a day of feasting, or of prayer, but always it will be a day of remembrance--a day in which we think of everything we have ever loved."

- Augusta E. Rundell

 

 

"At Christmas, all roads lead home." ~ Marjorie Holmes

Shortest day musings

Last weekend we spent a lovely day at Buckland Abbey, once the home of Sir Francis Drake.  They put on a very funny mumming play as well as the usual Christmas decorations and food.  The mumming had a Sir Francis Drake theme -  the hero was Drake and his enemy was The King of Spain! 

 

For those who aren't aware, mumming is a very old English traditional Christmas play, which was usually a way of raising extra money for Christmas.  The speeches are in rhyming couplets and the action is mostly comic and exaggerated.  Father Christmas often appears at the end after everything has ended well. 

 

We spent most of our time looking around the marvellous kitchen, which had an open fire going, and lots of lovely Victorian Christmas items and a particularly grand dresser.

The kitchen smelt of herbs, spices, Christmas pudding mixture (which we all stirred as we walked past) and the fire.  We wanted to sit there all day.

 

Due to the particularly inclement weather we didn't get a lot of chance to go on a long walk whilst we were there.  We did briefly get some fresh air and the weather was very misty and windy with frequent showers.  The weather hasn't improved much since then.

 

 

On our return home, we decorated our tree, which we think is looking rather nice.  Decorating the tree is one of my favourite parts of the festive season and now that we have reached the shortest day, it finally feels as if Christmas is almost upon us.

Before

 

After

"Happy, happy Christmas, that can win us back to the delusions of our childhood days, recall to the old man  the pleasures of his youth, and transport the traveller back to his own fireside and quiet home!"-  Charles Dickens 

A misty winter's morning

Walking on a misty December morning, all was silent other than the birds echoing in the trees around us.  The sun struggled to rise about the trees, the mist shrouded and clung to the ground and it felt as if the world had stopped briefly. 

Suddenly the leaves are almost gone from the trees and winter is seeping in.  Before all the midwinter celebrations, before Christmas and all of its light and warmth is upon us, its a time to stop and watch the seasons change.

A time for lighting candles

It has been quite a busy couple of weeks.  We had our local Christmas Fayre at the end of November and I was selling Christmas decorations, some of which were quite old, possibly 1950s.  The vintage decs sold very well, so did the traditional red and green baubles.  The modern looking blue baubles were mostly unsold.  It was a fun but exhausting day though and I managed not to buy all of my own stall.

 

One of the positives from the Fayre was that a friend won a new bird table which they didn't want, so they sold it to us.  Within a day of the new table being put in place we had seen wrens, the robin, blue and great tits, blackbirds and a pair of magpies.  Then the other day the starlings who circle the area landed, making a complete racket!

We are really enjoying having a bird table that we can see from the house all year round.  It is more entertaining than watching television most of the time. The leaves on the hazel tree are falling more and more each day now.  It wont be long until it is bare.

 

Almost everything in the garden is dying back except for the winter jasmine which lights our way beautifully and reminds us of the spring that will come eventually.

Now that the days are dark and shorter and getting colder we are spending more time inside of the house.  The mincemeat, christmas pudding and christmas cake are all made and waiting expectantly in the larder.  Now that it is the season of Advent we are lightly candles each evening until Christmas.  There is something special about lighting candles.

How far that little candle throws his beams So shines a good deed in a weary world.
William Shakespeare

Quince Jelly and Dr Who

Its such a busy time of year, it feels frantic at times, and I feel as if I have ignored the blog for a long time, even if it has been less than a fortnight.  We have made our Christmas pudding which now sits in the larder until Christmas and I'm hoping to make our Christmas cake this coming weekend.  We had an unexpected donation of quinces this year, which I made into some lovely quince jelly.  Here are the before and after pictures!

It was more fragrant and subtle than the japonica quince jelly I've made beforehand.  I'm even starting to wonder if I could find room in the garden for a quince tree...  On another unrelated note we held a family party to celebrate 50 years of Doctor Who and made everyone dress up.  We also put together some Doctor Who related food:-

Cassandra Lasagna

Adipose marshmallows and jelly babies.  We also made a tardis cake!

It was such fun.  I found most of the food ideas on line.  We have our local Christmas Fayre this coming weekend, which takes up a lot of time and energy.  After that however, I hope the frantic nature of the season will lessen a little and we get a chance to relax and enjoy the season.  If only I had a clue what to buy anyone for Christmas!

Let’s approach Christmas with an expectant hush,
rather than a last-minute rush.
 Mother Teresa