Geez Louise

The new heating should be going by Christmas (or so we’ve been told) and our new (to us) dining table should be here as soon as we’ve got the dining room walls sorted.

Its been crazy busy here what with the big move taking place, Christmas round the corner and hanging doors, wallpaper etc…

So that’s where we are. No Christmassy post, in fact NO Christmassy things at work and sadly only a few at home. I adore Christmas, but when we have to choose between putting a few decorations for a little while and using the energy to decorate the house for real I have to choose the latter.

On Friday we are downing tools and sprinkling tinsel over anything not moving in a bid to hide these boxes, so bah humbug until then! (eeek only joking, I’m really, really not like that at all!!)

I was lucky enough to head off to Edinburgh earlier in the month, so my very sorry contribution to all of the pretty pics in Bloggyland are here, hurriedly loaded up and all!!

Bertie

“Nothing in the world is quite as adorably lovely as a robin when he shows off and they are nearly always doing it.”

― Frances Hodgson Burnett, The Secret Garden

The Magic

“And above all, watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places. Those who don't believe in magic will never find it.”

― Roald Dahl

Winter Time

Hello winter, hello frost and smoky chimneys. Hello low suns and clear skies, winter fêtes and crnchy ground. The leaves from autumn yet to be cleared are no longer damp and brown. They are white; everything is tinged with brilliant diamonds with a million facets. The earth does not smelly musky. The air stings my nose and what little I can sense is logs and coal.

Christmas Commandments

1. I will not buy great big presents because I feel bad for not visiting people enough.
This is something I do an awful lot of. I forgo visiting good friends and having a wonderful time with them, I undoubtedly feel bad about it and try to make up for it with expensive and elaborate presents. This is ridiculous and a punishment to yourself twice over. It is silly and not something that I’m doing this year….hopefully. I have another little post in a wee while once my project is finished that I can show off. It’s the first make this year and although it is little I’m quite excited as it is going to be made by TH and myself together.

2. I will give what I believe is appropriate and not what others expect.
Every year there is a friend of a friend of a friend who comes to a party that we receive a present from and in turn give something back. I would never dream of giving any gift that is not intentionally mean for that person. They like books and are allergic to perfume, you don’t get them perfume, you get them a book, right? Wrong! This person continually gives inappropriate gifts and in turn complains out loud at whatever you give them. I know that I should have the strength of character to deal with this and put a stop to it, however I am aiming this year to have the strength of character to not put up with this charade.

3. I will not attempt to live up to a Disney fantasy.
We all love the Christmas movies, but attempting to live our the perfect blazing pudding scene when you have had very little sleep is silly if not dangerous.

4. I will not organise ‘fun’.
This mostly leads on from commandment number three. I love Christmas for many reasons and one of those is that you get to play silly games which normally you wouldn’t entertain. This is wonderful…however, it does not make or break the day. This is a lesson I had to learn from last year where I was much too tired to go to Christmas Markets. TH got horribly ill and rushed away by the Drs and we still attempted to visit every fare in the region. Its not important. Its not one bit important at all, so I will not give it the time of day. I will give the time of day to other things which leads nicely on to..

5. I will know what it is about.
You may not be religious or have a Christian faith, but I do and I know what Christmas is to me. I know what it was to me when I was younger and that’s what I want it to be about now.
You may know that it is about family. You may know it is about friends. You may know its about charity. You may know it’s the only time you can eat until bursting point. As long as you go into it, as long as you go into anything with something good in your heart, that’s ok. That means you’ve got it. It can be any number of things or none of those at all, but as long as you go forward knowing that its not ok to be put down or stressed or in any way upset then that’s when you’ve got it.

Moving the Stress

Moving is super stressful…(for me)FACT. Christmas is (sometimes) stressful…FACT. What makes these two things less stressful? Prep! Failing to prepare is preparing to run around the house shouting at people who are trying to help then falling into a corner and crying.

I can’t magic any of this to be less stressful, but we’re trying to do everything we can to make the new house as homely as possible in December. I do not want to be stuck in a rut at Christmas of all times.

We do have the new house to ourselves as we try to get the worst of it sorted. There is an awful lot that is to be considered under the banner “the worst of it” which we are trying to get our teeth into now. This means that technically we can move some possessions over in the run up to move in day, but we really have to get the whole place painted, bits of it papered and then get some carpets down too.

Our hope is that I can tidy away the last tenant’s belongings (part of the reason this is working out to be a good deal is the time involved) and move some things that I wouldn’t normally need.

When it has not been stressful, and when we feel that we have done an awful lot and sit down for a wee rest we look into the crackling fire or take our cup of tea out to the garden to get a better view of the forest.  This picture is at the houses quite near to us, so although just about a mile away...they'll be our closest neighbors! We walk around and breathe. We don’t just breathe to survive, we take great gulps of fresh air. We sigh and stamp our feet in the cold. And we can’t wait to be in for real.

Holidays are Coming

The other day I set out for lunch time like any other day. We’re allowed to take lunch between 12-2 and we can take the whole two hours if we want to, just as long as we make up the time. On Thursdays I normally go to the lunch time concert at the Art Gallery which is a building beautiful beyond belief and has always been my place of calm whether physically there or whilst meditating when getting a reiki. Anyway….i set out to get to my concert in time when what did I see?

The coca-cola lorry! THE holidays do start when I see that advert. Oh that and the Irn Bru one, the John Lewis one……..
This has to mean the beginning of Christmas. I can’t wait to start seeing all of the other things that mean we’re well and truly in the jolliest season.