I had a dream...

I have had 'flu this Christmas.
I don't recommend it.
This was the real deal
where you look and feel as though
you have done 10 rounds in a heavyweight boxing match.

On Christmas night I slept feverishly,
floating on a sea of Lemsip Max.
In the middle of the night
I had a moment of terrifying clarity:

I had forgotten to buy any presents for little Joshua.

I saw his trusting, jolly seven year old face
and I knew that this experience would scar him for life.
He would remember going down stairs on Christmas morning
and finding an empty stocking
until he was an old man.

He would sit in therapy as an adult
and agree with the therapist
that this moment defined him
and separated him from people who were
loved by their parents.

How could it have happened?
How could I have been so busy that I forgot
to buy any presents for my own child?

I lay there and racked my brain for emergency presents;
a spare calendar with pictures of Geisha,
a box of chocolates from work
a pound coin,
a tangerine.

In the end it was all too much for me
and I fell asleep.

When I woke on Christmas morning
my first thought was of little Joshua.

The overpowering sense of relief when I realised
that I did not have a seven year old called Joshua
who would be going downstairs to discover an empty stocking
was possibly the best gift of all.

Christmas Cards

One of my quiet pleasures at Christmas
is arranging the cards as they arrive.

I stick them to our door frames
and they make the house look instantly festive.
I love to make the arrangement pleasing to the eye
and so I try to balance colour, size and theme.

Every year we get a few cards that are extra special:

This was from one of the Little Girl Cousins.

This was from a friend who has just become a grandmother.

Sometimes I keep very special ones from previous years.

I love this image of a house...
it captures the dream of the perfect Christmas home.

I bought this one because the design appealed to me.
I would have used it for my own cards
if there had been more than one box left in the shop.

Instead, it is my virtual card to you

I wish you all a peaceful Christmas
full of quiet pleasures and happy memories.

Christmas Shopping

Why are MrsM and MissM and Kristina
loitering around the bookstall on the South Bank?

Don't they know it is Christmas!
There is so much to do!

Food! Decorations! Presents! Wrapping!
Have they no sense of their responsibilities?

MrsM sees the ideal Christmas present...

but Kristina is not convinced.

MissM starts arranging the books
so that the covers match.

We could be here a little while.

It must be time for tea.

*****

p.s. look what came home with us...
thank you, Kristina, they were delicious!

Checking off the list.

MissM and MrsM spend a companionable evening
writing Christmas cards.
This year, for the first time,
the envelopes will be addressed in
MissM's small, neat handwriting.
MrsM explains the subtleties of addressing envelopes
to take account of all
the combinations of family circumstances.

MissM is impressed.

Advent Carols by Candlelight

It is perishing cold.

Behind us an Archbishop waits for Eternity,
magnificent in his marble robes.
Around us the medieval splendour of the Cathedral:
columns, arches, gilding, fretwork.
For a moment this icy space is dark and silent
and the draught from the oak door
curls around our necks, freezing the warm skin.
Then the first candles are lit
and the light passes from one person to the next.
Two and a half thousand candles create a warm amber glow
and the voices of the choir rise
out of that light into the darkness.

There is a flower sprung of a tree
The root thereof is called Jesse
A flower of price:
There is none such in paradise.

This flower is fair and fresh of hue,
It fadeth never, but ever is new;
The blessed branch this flower on grew
Was Mary mild that bare Jesu;
A flower of grace:
Against all sorrow it is solace.

"There is a Flower" by John Rutter

Christmas has begun.

An Anniversary Album

This is my local nursery.

It doesn't look much from the road
but inside the plants jostle for space

and the colours shimmer under the glass.

They are celebrating the 70th anniversary this year,

the kind, friendly people who welcome me every summer.

I am invited to a party with a five piece band
(and the mayor will be there too!)

It is a family business
and it was started as a way of escaping from factory work.

I took these photographs to make a gift album
because I have enjoyed every moment
I have spent in these tranquil greenhouses.

For the first time I realised
how much more confident my photography has become.

This time last year
I would not have asked for this photograph.

Easter Saturday

Wishing you a peaceful Easter weekend

"In the Springtime of the Year"

- this phrase is the title of a book by Susan Hill which I have re-read many times -

Good Friday

Breakfast

Just for today

it is

The Hot Cross Bun Plate.

Paddy's Day at The Mad-Stad

It was a cold, cold day at the Mad-Stad
.

That wasn't going to stop us having fun.
Oh no!!

There was music,

Irish Dancing,

the traditional hat throwing competition,

big dogs,

stylish dogs,

lots and lots and lots of Guinness

and some Rugby.

There were 23,709 people there

and most of them were wearing hats....

Hats

Hats are important - they complete your outfit.

I bring you

The Spring 08 Collection
...

This is Traditional Irish

Here we see a magical theme - London Irish meets Harry Potter.

A family outing for the dressing up box?

This is Brother Peter of The Order of the Odd Shaped Ball and his hoodie

There is a good ecclesiastical look going on here

Wigs are IN this year

with hats,

with hats and beards,

or just by themselves.


I just had a woolly hat to keep my head warm
I must try harder next year.

Christmas Pudding Charms

Coin of Fortune, Wishbone, Bachelor's Button,

Bell of Betrothal, Lucky Horseshoe, Thimble of Blessedness.

MrM found the Coin of Fortune in his pudding

which bodes well for 2008.

MasterM found the Bachelor's Button which worried him

but as he also got it last year it must be a reverse psychology thing

i.e. get this and your days of bachelorhood are over.

I was not quite so happy that MissM found the Bell of Betrothal

I am hoping that there was a mistake

and she was supposed to get the Thimble of Blessedness

because 16 is too young to get married.

I found the Wishbone

but just at that moment I couldn't think of anything to wish for

because I had everything,

everything that I wanted.

Christmas Day

Creamy white bread sauce

Pale green brussels sprouts

Bright orange carrots

Ruby cranberry sauce

Golden turkey

A feast for the eyes.