New year.

I'd like to wish all my friends a very

happy and peaceful New Year.

2011 will be with us very shortly, and I shall be glad to say

good bye to 2010, for all sorts of reasons.

What might we expect from this new year?

I so hope for peace in all ways.

Peace in countries that are war torn.

Peace amongst families. All over the world people will be celebrating.

In Paris there will be huge firework displays centred around the

Champs Elysees.

In Sydney, where my son lives, there will be amazing displays

centred around the Harbour Bridge.

I think we may be in bed and asleep!

I read in the Daily Telegraph about a family

with such a sensible idea.

They had a celebratory dinner together, then one slipped out

and changed the clock to almost midnight.

Upon which they toasted the 'new year' in......

and went to bed!

Linton in Craven

We went on a trip to the Yorkshire Dales today, with our family.

What a gorgeous village this is.

The photo is a stock one taken in the summer,

and today it didnt look like that at all, being fairly well covered in snow. The little river runs through the centre of the village, spanned by

a pretty bridge. Today the ducks were skating on the ice!

This fascinating building was commissioned by Richard Fountaine in 1721,

who made his fortune as an undertaker after the Great Plague.

It is the Fountaine Hospital, now used as an Alms House,

with a grant for six 'poor' residents of the village in perpetuity.
We had lunch at the local pub, and drove back in the dark, over
the moors. Very Bronte.

Christmas morning

Christmas morning saw us at this lovely

Bramhall Methodist Church.

The church filled up..and up... and literally up into the Gallery.

Standing room only!

The welcome was warm and friendly, and the service was very much a family one.

Children were invited up to the front to show their gifts,

toys, books, and each one said something about their present,

encouraged by the Minister.

One little girl brought her new doll.

" Has she got a name?" asked the minister.

"Yes"

"Are you going to tell us the name?"

"NO"!!

Christmas Carols were sung, the lovely words of the gospel of John were read,

and we left feeling uplifted and ready for the rest of the day.

A blessed Christmas to all.

I'll be signing off for a few days now.

May I wish all my friends a truly blessed Christmas,

with family, friends or whatever you are planning.

Winter weather

And this was how it was!

The moment we got onto the M40 the snow and the fog descended.

I've never driven in worse conditions, but at least

there was no ice.Traffic crawled at zero miles an hour.

It took us an hour and a half to move a mile or so.

Lorries were stranded by the side of the road, with traffic police

much in evidence.

I felt trapped, with nowhere to go but onward.

The strange thing was that by the time we reached the M6 Toll road,

the sun was shining and the snow had gone.
It took much longer than we had anticipated,

but we got here safely. Thank God.

We leave a day early for England to avoid the forecasted snow around Caen.

So I will be off line for a few days.

I'll hope to link up later in the week.

in the meantime....

rush to finish packing,

get house ready for people who look after it,

load the car,

wrap a couple of local presents...

and,

go to the dentist!

Even more sewing....

Lavender sachets again!

I have so much home-grown lavender, and every year

I try to find a new way to present it in the form of sachets.

This year they are all-white (nearly)

(click to enlarge)

They are made from vintage French linen,

some with a little cross stitch motif,

some with lace attached.

White velvet ribbon makes a little hanging loop,

finished with a snowflake button.

They are full of home-grown lavender and smell beautiful.

I'm quite pleased with them, and hope my friends will be too.

Mince pies?

I've been trying to explain a mince pie to a French friend.

Laboriously translated as 'tartelette de Noel aux fruits sec', it still

has little meaning for those who prefer a Christmas meal of Oysters and

Salmon!

Christmas pudding? No. Sometimes a Buche de Noel,

which is a little like a Yule log, a rich chocolatey cake in a roll.

Mmmmmmmmmmm.

These are not my mince pies
I liberated them from google,

but I have made some today, just so that my French friend

can have the English experience!

I do remember shopping in Sydney and trying to find mincemeat.

They kept directing me to the butcher, and it wasnt until a bright

young soul thought of 'fruit mince' that we got anywhere.

Different countries, different traditions, and language too!

Booksneeze review

Those of you who are Booksneeze members will already know that in exchange

for an unbiased review of a book, bloggers can choose a free book

to be sent to them.

This is the latest one that I have for review,

and it was so different from my expectations.

Then Sings my Soul.Written by Robert Morgan, it tells the stories and gives a look

at the inspiration behind the great hymns and

songs sung over several centuries. It is a book that could be used

in a Church situation as each page has the music of the hymn,

or just for personal use.

We sing carols, often , but maybe without thinking about the inspiration for them.

For example, I love the carol 'O holy night'.

I had no idea that the words were written by a Frenchman, Placide Clappeau,

whose hobby was writing poetry.

'O come all ye Faithful' was written by John Francis Wade in 1745,

a Roman Catholic living in Lancashire. Persecuted for his religion, he fled to France,

where he taught music.

In 1700 'While shepherds watched their flocks'

was written by Nahum Tate, living in Dublin.

On his migration to London he wrote poetry and was named Poet Laureate in 1692.

What a long way back some of these Carols go.

I think that for too long I have simply taken some of these hymns

for granted. This book has shown me a new way of looking at them,

and it's a book that I will dip into time and time again.

I received this book free from the publisher through Booksneeze.com book review bloggers programme. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions

I have expressed are my own.

Christmas lights

I remember the first time we spent a Winter in Canada,

in British Columbia with my daughter. They lived

up in the mountains, and one night close to Christmas, they said

'We're going to take you to see the lights'.

I had no idea that we would be seeing street after street of houses

lit up, covered in decorations.

I'd never seen anything like it!

Edit.....Do take a look at Judy's Front Porch

whch has some amazing photos of Canadian lights.

Here things are very discreet.

The most exciting thing we see in our village is a horrid

blow-up Father Christmas climbing up the wall of a house.

Unfortunately he usually stays there till next March or so, deflating gradually!

I noticed that our nearby town has its trees lining the roadside now,

all covered in sparkly white. The streetlights are going up now too.

I think Christmas is arriving in Brittany!

.

Shopping for UK.

Our Christmas will be spent in England, with family near Manchester.

Naturally, we do a bit of shopping to take with us, partly as gifts,

partly to fill my daughter's list of goodies from Fraance.

These are just a few! At the back you can see a wrapped up present.

Then there is a pretty tin of 'gavottes', a crunchy chocolatey

biscuity thing. Two bags of Guerande salt, the best you can find.

Some garlic. Sadly it isnt the right season to find the lovely strings of garlic.

Then we saw the box of candied fruit!

The box itself is lovely, made of wood, with a tiny flower decoration on each side.
It's full of apricots, peaches, figs, dates and crystallised citrons.

My husband's mouth is watering already!

Second candle

Today in church we lit our second Advent candle.

I always thought of it as the 'Peace' candle, but

it can have several significances.

The Bethlehem candle

reminding us of the Saviour's birth in Bethlehem.

The Preparation candle

reminding us of our time of preparation up to christmas.

"Prepare the way for the Lord,

make straight paths for Him" (Luke 3)

A bit more stitching.

During the time that I was confined to the house with shingles,

I did manage a bit more sewing. It was done little by little,

sometimes painfully....but it got done!

This is a lap quilt for a very dear old friend, who has had to go into

a Nursing home in Cornwall.

It's just made up of bits that I had in my fabric chest, and backed with a

light polar fleece. I found it so warm and cosy,

and it will be something a bit different for him.

Nursing homes are somewhat impersonal, and I wanted him

to have a nice bright quilt. My husband had his eye on it too!

Footprints

More snow this morning meant that the car stayed at home,

and I walked up to our local shop.

The 'snow trekkers' we bought last year are such good value, and

I didnt slide or slip at all.

Beatrice in the shop was very intrigued to see them

(oh la la, qu'est ce que c'est??)

And below are my footprints,

alongside those of a visiting bird.
You might need to click to enlarge.

Mine were the first footprints on the lane this morning.

I wonder what people thought they were?

Edit...you can get the grippers on line at QVC

Hungry birds

Poor birds. We fill up the feeders with nuts and seeds at least

twice a day. This morning there were

dozens of little bluetits, greenfinch and chaffinch

desperately fighting between the three feeders.

Then came the Woodpecker, looking for a meal.
Even the starlings have learned to stand on a fence rail and reach for the nuts.

Every morning their water is frozen, and every morning I replace it,

only to see it freeze over later.

The moment I stepped outside to take a photo most of the birds

flew off, naturally. Sometimes when I go out to replenish

the water they stay, watching me. They have become very tame now.

Advent calendar

If you know of the Jaquie Lawson card website, you may have seen this lovely

Advent calendar which she has produced for Desktops.

I treated myself to one...yes you have to pay, but only £2.00 for one

or less if you send some as gifts.

Every day there is a new window to open, and like her other beautiful cards, this one

is very special. The angel appears in another of her cards.

Have a look at the website