After Christmas Silence

We've ate, drank and made merry.

Over-indulged in all the traditions of the season that makes this magical celebration.......magical.

Laughter was in abundance.

  

 

 

Recipe books are returned to their bookcase- home.
It's a ritual I go through every holiday,  drag out the recipe books, yet end up making  the same tried and tested dishes as the previous years.

Tradition prevails.

 

The gatherings are over, the house is tidied.

Time to enjoy a few hours of BritBox and  a nice pot of tea and biscuits.

I hope your Christmas was just as lovely.

 

 

Peace On Earth, Goodwill Toward Men

We truly wish each and every one of you, friends and family, near and far, all the blessings of a Joyous and Merry Christmas.

 

May you have the gladness of Christmas which is hope;

The spirit of Christmas which is peace;

The heart of Christmas which is love."

 

~Ada V. Hendicks

 

 

When Christmas bells are swinging above the fields of snow,

We hear sweet voices ringing from lands of long ago,

And etched on vacant places

Are half-forgotten faces

Of friends we used to cherish,

And loves we used to know.

 

~ Ella Wheeler Wilcox

The Longest Night

The longest night of the year,

Winter Solstice arrives 

 

" Lighting one candle

from another -

Winter night "

 

~ Buson

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas

A windy and cold start to our day, the perfect opportunity to finish up the last of the decorating, and spend the day list-ticking.

I'm grateful for home-delivery service, as I venture amongst the masses as little as possible these days.
End of the year doctor's appointments all taken care of, with happy results. 

I'm counting my blessings twice.

 

 

 

Christmas is coming, the geese are getting fat

Please put a penny in the old man's hat

If you haven't got a penny, a ha'penny will do

If you haven't got a ha'penny, then God bless you!

~ Tradition English nursery rhyme

 

 

 

 

Christmas Fayre

The English Christmas goodies have started to arrive, I shall have to hide them, from myself.

Years ago,  it was almost impossible to find English Christmas foods in the U.S. but nowadays with the click of a mouse, or a stroll to the import aisle at Publix, they are easily found.
It surely makes those memories of Christmas in England around the table, feel so much closer.

 

 

Happy, happy Christmas,
that can win us back to the delusions of our childish days;
that can recall to the old man the pleasures of his youth;
that can transport the sailor and the traveller,
thousands of miles away,
back to his own fire-side and his quiet home!

~Charles Dickens, The Pickwick Pap

Making A Start

The Thanksgiving dishes have been returned to the cupboard for yet another year and today I made a start on the Christmas decorating.

A little here, a little there, and before you know it, the house is transformed with the magic of Christmas.

Tthe simmering pot gently bubbles away, filling the air with the heady aroma of cinnamon, cloves and oranges. 

Christmas returns.