DH had to go back to work once it was finished, and because the show was longer than anticipated, he was back later than we had planned… and with bad news.  He had ordered my present off of the internet… but since no present was forthcoming in the mail (he had asked for three day delivery) he checked the company out… it was bad news.  They were reknown scam artists… Dh was angry at himself… he always checks the reviews… except for this one time!!  After a great deal of discussion, we went to the bank where he proceeded to deal with the matter… leaving us without a card (cash machine/debit) for the time being.

After which, we went out for our Friday evening meal… Arby’s J.

After hitting the restaurant, we went to the bookstore and Circuit City.  Or rather, I went to the bookstore and Dh went to Circuit City… apparently getting my present with a lot less fuss and at a better deal.  There is some kind of story that goes with it, but I am not allowed to hear it yet J.

Saturday, the plan was to go to a Celtic Christmas festival in the area and to get a tree.

We completed a couple of errands first, had some lunch, then headed out to the Christmas festival.  We were a little shocked at the entrance fee… but persevered.  It was a good choice.  We wandered around the festival, listening to the band Iona play, watching some Celtic dancers and buying a couple for shirts for DH.  The shirts fit so well that he went back and bought some more!  I got some Celtic candles (ok they were not really Celtic) and admired the Celtic hairstyles.  I picked up some things from home… we drank Irn Bru

 

(pronounced Iron Brew), bought a bottle of Ribena

(rye-bee-nah) and watched the band play.  I snickered at the men in plain black kilts while Dh reveled in being in a place where nearly everyone had the same strawberry blonde coloured hair as he does!

After the show, we headed into Cracker Barrel to eat, and had a delicious dinner… and then went on to get the tree.

It was dark, our usual seller was gone, and we ended up in Home Depot where we found a decent deal… and which Dh came back yesterday to pick up (after checking it in daylight) and now the tree looks great!

Sunday was fun.  We went to an Open House at Agecroft Hall… they had costumed interpreters who re-enacted characters from the period… we saw the rooms where they had filmed some of the film The New World and we got to drink some spiced cider, prepared in a huge cauldron over an open fire out back.  It was pretty cold, but the fire and warm cider warmed us up!  We saw some Morris dancers (well sort of… they were local dancers) and made a sweet smelling sachet up with herbs and spices (or the kids did).

We decorated the tree, picked up some stocking stuffers at the dollar store… grabbed a stocking for DD while there… and came back home to enjoy the culmination of a wonderful weekend… getting the kids off to bed at a reasonable time so that we got to enjoy some time alone.   There we were, sitting in front of the wonderful, colourful tree, and watching some guy tell us how to taste wine… if only we’d had a bottle to try ;)

I truly felt as though a guide from above had a hand in our wonderful weekend… it seems so simple and unexciting now… but I look back on it with pleasure, and still feel that tremendous happiness it gave me then, and still gives me now.

In an effort to cheer up a pregnant friend, I have been musing on the life of Mary, with baby Jesus in tow.  A fitting pastime on the feast of the Immaculate Conception!

When she was pregnant, how did she feel?  Did she having morning sickness?  How did she feel, knowing that the son of God was growing inside her?  How did it feel to travel so far from home, so late in pregnancy?

And when Jesus was born, how did she diaper him?  Did she use the ‘Elimination Communication’?  Or rags to clean him?  Did he ever have diaper rash?  Did she use sweet smelling soaps to clean him… did she even use soap at all?  Or even wash him?

Did she lose her temper and yell at Jesus?  Did she suffer those same frustrations we all suffer as mothers?

In pondering these aloud, I created a group of mothers, who were all wondering what her life was like.  Most of us ended up feeling somewhat blessed.  We have washers and dryers.  Warm running water and a cooking stove.  We have resources she could only dream of… right at our fingertips.  And yet, we all identify just a little with the Blessed Mother.  She too carried that baby within her.  We can all remember feeling it move for the first time, the sense of wonder and excitement it brought.  We can all remember the first time we held our sons or daughters, the sense of never wanting to let them go, just in case something happened.

We had gifts given or sent to us, and one can only imagine what it must have felt like to have the grand Wise Men visiting with their Kingly gifts, or the humble shepherds with their flock.  I know I am always proud to show off my children and their work… one can only imagine, that the Mother of God felt a justifiable pride in her son, and enjoyed showing him off too.

Of course, it was not all happy for her.  As Jesus grew older, he grew wiser and closer to his death.  I can only imagine the despair that she felt at the foot of the cross… and I hope that I will never live to see the like with my children.  But, she had the satisfaction of seeing His first miracle with the Wedding at Cana, and knowing he was doing the job his Father had set for him.

She was truly a mother worthy of being looked up to!

It is often strange to me, the customs and things I see over here in the United States, that are totally foreign to me.

This time of year, really brings it home, because the things that are done here in the States are so different.

For instance, the holiday season starts with Thanksgiving,  a holiday just not celebrated in England.  It is similar to the custom of the Harvest Festival that my Catholic Primary School used to do every year.  We would collect all kinds of foods, have a harvest mass thanking God for the bounty, and then baskets would be filled and taken to the elderly shut-ins in the area.

Thanksgiving is not quite the same thing, as you can see.  Here, my celebration of Thanksgiving is immediate family only.  For the past two years I have also cooked the Thanksgiving dinner, which I usually try to make as traditional as possible… within the limits of my husband’s taste palette.  Why do I try to make it so traditional?  Because the holiday is not mine, I think it behooves me to actually attempt to do the thing the right way!

Speaking of Thanksgiving... I think you might enjoy this: Turkey Shoot

There is no clear cut start to the season in England.  Typically the first week in December will start the season for us all.

We are a nation with a national religion, so advent is taken quite seriously.  There are advent calendars to be found in all the stores, and the first Sunday of advent, will also find the local shops to be open.  Usually there are ‘Sunday Trading Laws’ which cause most shops to be closed, since you need a special license to open then.  The four Sundays (and in some cases, six Sundays) before advent, actually are exempt from that rule.  The shops are open on Sunday, for the maximum allowed 6 hours, and business is brisk.  Most shops are open late nights at least once a week, if not every day except Sunday.

That is not such a big deal here in the USA, where a town is a ‘small town’ if everything closes at 6pm, and more usually the malls are open until 9pm.  This is very convenient to the immigrant English woman!!

Christmas decorations are another area where we differ.  The traditional ‘Christmas Lights’ found on many American homes (not to mention the giant, inflatable snowmen, snow globes and Santas) are considered quite ‘tacky’ on an English home.  You may find the odd house with an outdoor Christmas tree all decked out, but usually this is not the case. 

Instead, Christmas trees are placed near front windows (if the radiators allow them to be so placed) and the houses are festooned inside with tinsel, crepe bunting, and various ceiling trimming.  Mantels are festooned with more of the same, and most houses (at least the Christian ones) will have a crèche set up in a corner (if you don't have one, there is a cool one you can make here).  I'd like to say it looks like colonial Williamsburg, but that would be a lie... and an insult to Williamsburg... which has fabulous decorations!  Don't believe me?  Check them out here!

The only outside lights that are a big deal, are those in the local High Streets of town.  That is to say the main street of the town... or the shopping district.  Like Oxford Street and Regents Street, London.

Old York, Town Centre

           

An attractive tea room, dolled up!

The Christmas tree is more likely to have presents laid out underneath it, than a nice train set, and Christmas crackers are often displayed on the tree itself.

Which brings me to the whole Christmas cracker thing…

Yes, we have something called a Christmas cracker.  Think of it as a toilet paper tube with foil paper wrapped around it and tied at each end.  Inside is a small ‘fire cracker’ style bit of paper, which makes a loud BANG when you and a partner each take an end and pull.  Inside you will find a Christmas crown (which you wear through dinner), a (usually bad) joke and a ‘gift’.  The gift value depends on whether you get the expensive crackers (pens, metal things…) or the cheap ones (stickers and plastic toys).

The Christmas meal is as big a deal as Thanksgiving over here.  It is an intimate, immediate family gathering most of the time, and has at least two courses.  The dessert course will of course feature the ‘Christmas Pudding’, which is lit on fire when being brought to the table.

On Christmas day, everyone listens to the Queen’s speech at 3pm, watches the variety of T.V. on for the day (the whole season features lots of old films and Christmas specials of family favourites).

The whole country knows the following day as ‘Boxing Day’.  This is the day most of us choose to visit with extended family and exchange more gifts.

The rest of the season is actually surprisingly similar to the post Christmas one in the USA… New Year’s eve is celebrated with wine and parties… only instead of Times Square, we all watch Trafalgar Square.  Instead of the Glass Ball, we listen for the chimes of Big Ben.  And yes, I truly mean Big Ben… as that is really the name of the great bell inside the clock tower of the Palaces at Westminster!

Anyway, I hope you have enjoyed this glimpse into an English Christmas!  I'll leave you with another photo from freefoto.com, that of my favourite holiday scene:

The Fire.

On such a beautiful autumn day, how can I fail to go outside, if only for a few minutes!  And what a glorious few they were.

The golden, afternoon sunlight was reflecting off the golden leaves of the sweet-gum and paw-paw trees, bathing our yard in dappled golden light.  A maple off to the side is beginning to show crimson in its uppermost leaves, and the waft of the breeze in the warm afternoon sun was pleasant to the skin.

A small stroll to the front of the house, and a look up and down the road, showed trees in muted golds and reds.  The autumn colours this year are faded because of the hot, dry summer and autumn we have had, but still, the colours of nature are glorious to behold.

Sitting on our patio, I could see the last of my cayenne peppers turning red, and an odd tomato also reddening.

The coleus was killed by an earlier cold snap, and it's dead stems provide places for finches and chickadees to play hide and seek.

The tiny autumn butterflies, skippers, are very prevalent in our garden at this time, and a discarded dandelion hosted a pale grey one for a few minutes in gorgeous contrast to it’s vivid yellow bloom.

Ladybird beetles, commonly called ladybugs, fly around the garden, landing on the back steps or the window screens, ready to have their spots counted, or for me to recite the poem:

Ladybird, ladybird, flyaway home,

Your house is on fire and your children are gone,

All except one, and her name is Anne,

And she crept under the frying pan.

The best spot of the day came when we saw a bird circling overhead.  It wheeled first one way, then another, then flew in ever wider concentric circles, higher and farther away, until it finally disappeared from view.

We at first thought it was a vulture, but the distinctive white head belied that, and we watched, mesmerized, as a Bald Eagle circled the area.

These majestic birds can often be hard to appreciate.  They fly so high, they seem much smaller than they really are, and in a neighbourhood where vultures are common sights, it is easily overlooked.

I have seen one here once before, and since then, I have not been that fortunate.  Today, we realised that there must be a nest nearby for our unexpected visitor, and speculation ran rife as we discussed where. 

In the meantime, I am wondering how I can get it to take the neighbour's rat... err... I mean dog...

I have always been intrigued by Ayn Rand... but have never read any of her work. My interest started when I found out the the song 'Fountainhead' by the band 'The Bluetones' was actually the title of a book. I loved the band and the book intrigued me, but I am not really much of one for modern literature... so many of the modern literature books I have read have been disappointments to me.
So I didn't read it. Then the other day, on another blog (Classic Adventures) Someone metioned the book 'Atlas Shrugged' by her. Atlas (the Greek Titan this time) came up in another conversation elsewhere, and I decided that this was a sign... not to mention another discussion of Ayn Rand occurring then too! So... considering all the signs, I went ahead and ordered the book from the library.
I was a little astounded at the size of it... when a book is over two inches thick, I start to view it with a little trepidation. Even my voracious appetite for literature has a tough time finishing that big a book in the short time allotted to me by my library (and I have it good... two lots of four weeks a book! And unlimited numbers of books... and my librarians are fantastic and have stretched the rules for me a few times!). So, it was with a little wonder that I started the book.
I always read the back first, to familiarise myself with the contents of the book. I like to read the author biography too... it helps me to place the setting of the book.
Neither the blurb on the back or the author bio helped in this intance, so again, I felt the tremours of trepidation trickle down my spine (LOL sorry, got poetic there )
I opened the book, and I read the first chapter. I'm hooked. I am still not sure what the book is about... it seems to be about people... but I love the way it is written. Her prose and descriptive language are definitely a good thing. I just hope I can do the book justice!
And of course, I now have a new saying! Who is John Galt?

On a lighter note, I noticed the library also had the first in the Jan Karon Mitford books... about which I have heard a lot of good things... so I checked it out too... or I tried! Paperbacks in our library are loaned on an honours system... you know, replace the book if you keep it kind of thing, no note on your record. So I was very surprised when I told the librarian I had one paperback to put on her tally, when she responded with... 'Oh you can take it... keep it!' THANKS!

and decided that I would attempt to write a K-3 account of the founding of the country at Jamestowne.
Imagine my surprise to learn that the establishment of the Plymouth colony was actually done by a member of the Company who funded Jamestowne... he was the one who talked them into giving them a land patent. A hearty wind blew them off course from their promised land near the Hudson river, and they end up in the COLD northeast. brrrr

I have a new heroine... Tasha Tudor... she loves everything I do and her paintings are fantastic! I first came across her when it came to gardening... something I enjoy doing ;)
I noticed her in the 'heirloom crafts' section (a term for which we both hold a dislike) and I kept seeing her mentioned in the context of children's books.
When I recently read a book extolling her virtues as an illustrator and author, I decided to get one or two of her books from the library.
They were beautiful! DD loved the A is for Annabelle doll's alphabet. What more could there be? She has a whole bunch of beautiful children's books, and some adult books.
Worth a look for the little ones at least!

I have often wished I no longer needed to vacuum the house. It's not that I like for it to be dirty, I don't... but I just don't care to vacuum.
You see it is very hard to vacuum when your 18 month old is either trying to grab the vacuum from you so she can take over, or holding your leg so you'll pick her up.
It's hard to vacuum when your 1st grader decides that he's terrified of the vacuum and if oyu so much as come near a toy of his on the floor (which he was told to pick up) he screams, yells and panics that it will be 'eaten' by the vacuum.
It's a pain having to wander in and out of rooms with the thing, being careful of your DH's antiques and miscellaneous misplaced furniture and toys that have somehow missed your not so eagle eye in the preceeding tidy up phase.
However... it was not with delight that I viewed the demise of said vacuum cleaner.
You see, we had ants... and children. The two do not mix. Children leave food crumbs on the floor, ants eat them. Personally I don't like ants in my house (they are the so called odiferous house ant apparently)... and it took long enough for us to get rid of them.
I am not holding my breath... they seem to keep coming back... so I really dont want food crumbs on the floors of all the rooms in my house.
So the sudden (and instant) death of the vacuum, was not such a thrill after all. Yes, i don't have to fit in the vacuuming into my schedule. But now, with the cost of petrol increasing more than our wallets would prefer... we have to fork out for a vacuum cleaner.
You might wonder what is so bad about that... the truth is, my husband and I have exacting standards. We are not thrilled with the vacuums that don't clean, we don't like the ones that die in a few years. As frequent users of the vacuum cleaner, we'd prefer to have one that lasts a while... and there is only one brand we know of that does that... and it is not cheap.
So... now we ponder -- a new vacuum cleaner... or hardwood floors?

Finally... my final order, the Story of the World Book 1 audio CD, cam ein the mail today! I played the first CD for DS who really enjoyed it.
We set up a reading nook in the corner of the schoolroom/bedroom and he is currently rearranging it to suit him!
I am enjoying my latest read, a lot lighter fare than the Plato and Simmons that I have been reading, add to it a couple of mysteries from the library, and I am all set to go!
Much to my amusement, DS has really taken to Latin a lot. He tells Lenore 'Salve' when he sees her, and to 'Surge' when he wants her to stand! He keeps asking me why people spoke Latin, and I swear I have told him a dozen times already!
A pretty quiet day today... not too shabby!