Well of course, in my part of the world, it's the longest day and the shortest night. We look forward to summer and beaches, swimming and summer fruit and veg.
But I've made my mum's recipes for Christmas cakes and biscuits, mayonnaise, brandy butter and Christmas Pudding. Previous generations served such beautiful food and its a privilege to keep those recipes going. As well as adding in new ones from around the globe.
Thank you for your posts and here's to a calm and safe Christmas for everyone.
The agricultural year part went right to my heart. Living on a small farm ( something I longed for since childhood and in my DNA) has been so grounding in the best possible ways. Every season has its trials and delights. The daily routines and how they adjust with the seasons. .. I’ve been rushing around but looking forward to a lot of tea and reading for January. Merry Christmas
Okay I never made the connection between Edmund’s love of Turkish delight and the war rations. That is SO INSIGHTFUL! I like the stuff but it was definitely an acquired taste and I don’t think I’d sell out family members for it. But this is a whole thing.
Thank you SO much for sharing my essay, Erin! Your St. Lucia photographs are adorable. As for the tarps...I wholeheartedly believe they will help suppress early weeds! 💚
The St. Lucia’s pics are priceless…you are the only folks I know who go all out to celebrate the feast day 😊 I loved your wise suggestions for dialing down the holiday…using the magical word “no” covers so much…and opens a window of time for lighting that candle.
I appreciated the links you shared too…all the lovely and thoughtful pieces are bringing more meaning to my Christmas. Even the entertainingly curmudgeonly observations from C.S. Lewis! Wishing you and your family a wonderful Christmas!
Forgot to mention the tarps! A lot of people use them around here—I did something similar with sheets of black plastic a few years back. It does suppress weeds. Unfortunately, I left them out too long, and the plastic degraded. I spent many hours picking bits of plastic out of the soil so the birds wouldn’t think they were bugs to eat!
You can wait till just before spring to put out the tarps. Otherwise, winter weather wears them out. But they work great! We also use tree-chip mulch, which better than the tarps, returns nutrients to the soil.
Ahhh this was such a comforting piece - as always, you put my spinning thoughts into words!
Beautiful St. Lucia pictures...how fun!
Well of course, in my part of the world, it's the longest day and the shortest night. We look forward to summer and beaches, swimming and summer fruit and veg.
But I've made my mum's recipes for Christmas cakes and biscuits, mayonnaise, brandy butter and Christmas Pudding. Previous generations served such beautiful food and its a privilege to keep those recipes going. As well as adding in new ones from around the globe.
Thank you for your posts and here's to a calm and safe Christmas for everyone.
The agricultural year part went right to my heart. Living on a small farm ( something I longed for since childhood and in my DNA) has been so grounding in the best possible ways. Every season has its trials and delights. The daily routines and how they adjust with the seasons. .. I’ve been rushing around but looking forward to a lot of tea and reading for January. Merry Christmas
Okay I never made the connection between Edmund’s love of Turkish delight and the war rations. That is SO INSIGHTFUL! I like the stuff but it was definitely an acquired taste and I don’t think I’d sell out family members for it. But this is a whole thing.
Thank you for sharing my post! It's fun to explore winter celebration food, isn't it? 😊
Thank you SO much for sharing my essay, Erin! Your St. Lucia photographs are adorable. As for the tarps...I wholeheartedly believe they will help suppress early weeds! 💚
The St. Lucia’s pics are priceless…you are the only folks I know who go all out to celebrate the feast day 😊 I loved your wise suggestions for dialing down the holiday…using the magical word “no” covers so much…and opens a window of time for lighting that candle.
I appreciated the links you shared too…all the lovely and thoughtful pieces are bringing more meaning to my Christmas. Even the entertainingly curmudgeonly observations from C.S. Lewis! Wishing you and your family a wonderful Christmas!
Forgot to mention the tarps! A lot of people use them around here—I did something similar with sheets of black plastic a few years back. It does suppress weeds. Unfortunately, I left them out too long, and the plastic degraded. I spent many hours picking bits of plastic out of the soil so the birds wouldn’t think they were bugs to eat!
You can wait till just before spring to put out the tarps. Otherwise, winter weather wears them out. But they work great! We also use tree-chip mulch, which better than the tarps, returns nutrients to the soil.