And So It Begins

The last few days have been all very festive,

with the lights switch on, the Relief Society Christmas party,

and the first of the carols being sung in Church today.

I guess this is it, the Christmas Season 2014.

I have to confess, I am finding it a struggle.

Facing such a social time as a single parent, fills me with absolute dread.

I guess I need to pray harder and put my focus back where it belongs,

even if I have to consciously do that several times a day.

FHE - Nativity - Mary

Family Home Evening in the lead up to Christmas will be very much centred around The Saviour. I bought this book a few weeks ago and it has been great.

Before dinner I set up an empty stable (aka a basket on its side with some straw, tinsel and a crochet star, because there has to be an element of home made right?)

We made some heart shaped cookies (out of pre-made dough, because its easy peasy), and left them to cool.

(cinnamon topped not bunt)

We read a short story about a mother at Christmas, The Widow's Might, by Elaine Stirland McKay and then we talked about Mary, the mother of Christ, and what it must have been like for her on that first Christmas. 

We also spoke about the love contained in a mother's heart and how special that is.

We read the following scriptures

Luke 1 : 28-48

28 And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.

29 And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be.

30 And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God.

31 And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name Jesus.

32 He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:

33 And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.

34 Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?

35 And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.

36 And, behold, thy cousin Elisabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her, who was called barren.

37 For with God nothing shall be impossible.

38 And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her.

39 And Mary arose in those days, and went into the hill country with haste, into a city of Juda;

40 And entered into the house of Zacharias, and saluted Elisabeth.

41 And it came to pass, that, when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost:

42 And she spake out with a loud voice, and said, Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb.

43 And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?

44 For, lo, as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in mine ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy.

45 And blessed is she that believed: for there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord.

46 And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord,

47 And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.

48 For he hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden: for, behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.

After this we and by we I mean Oscar decorated the biscuits

At last, Oscar put Mary in the stable.

And so the countdown to Christmas begins

Sunday Skirt

Skirt on sale from ASOS Curve

p.s. photo's taken in genuine Scottish Tenement ;) 

Feeling Festive

We have one department store in the village, 

so when they set up their Christmas window display it normally

has lots of little children crowding to in to see it.

I managed to get Oscar in front of it in a quiet spell and take a couple of pictures.

It is mechanical and plays strange European music, but the kids like it.

I am not sure it was quite cold enough for hot chocolate, but to be honest, there is never a wrong time for hot chocolate is there.

Black Forest Gateaux hot chocolate

And a mince pie and cream, for me

And a brownie hot chocolate and Christmas cluster for Oscar, from Costa.

Poundland yielded some bargain Christmas music

£1 each

And even the charity shop was in the festive mood

Morrisons Christmas crackers, originally £6.99, £2.99 from The British Heart Foundation.

It may only be November, but it will be Christmas Eve before we know it !

Winter Colours

Its not just the weather that feels a bit grey just now. 

I have felt a bit grey myself too. With a 3 for 2 offer on at Superdrug I decided to brighten myself up with some winter colours.

Barry M Nail Paint - 273 Raspberry

Barry M Lip Stain - 414

Bourjois Eyeshadow - No 13

I had to take Oscar to drama class at the end of the day, and we were delighted to

see the the winter colour outside had improved significantly

from earlier in the day.

Yarn Along - A Little Bit Creative

I have felt seriously depleted of creativity lately.

I assume this is because I have a restless mind (marriage breakup, giving away the pets, moving house, yep that will do it).

I know that I am a much happier person when I am creating something, 

and oh how I wish that I were one of those artists who take their pain and throw 

it into their work.

One very miserable looking portrait aside ( as seen HERE ), that does not really seem to be my way of working. A little easy crochet project was exactly what I needed to kick start me, and so I have been making crochet stars for the ladies in my church

The children think they look more like snowflakes, but never mind. Maybe they will stretch to a more pointed shape when blocked (maybe?). I have about 60 to make, but they only take minutes each so its easy enough.

I couldn't find the original pattern to link to, but I found THIS one, which I may switch to because they look a bit more pointy. The yarn is from POUNDLAND 3 for £2.

And on a further creative note, this is what I have been reading.

Watercolour portraits are my passion. After years of dithering around it has finally

resonated with me that this is what I want to be when I grow up. 

A painter (portrait, figure & life).

I am going to be running some classes locally, as well as actually putting my head down and working for myself, and this book has been so inspiring. 

AMAZON do a preview, but I myself can highly recommend it.

Joining in with GINNY for yarn along.

A Little Bit OH LA LA

I have only been to Paris once and it was quite a while ago, but it certainly made an impression on me.

I have been craving a little trip away (not surprisingly), but with the cost of moving and 

fixing up the new apartment and not forgetting Christmas just around the corner,

it seems very unlikely that I will jetting off any time soon.

By way of compensation I have let a little bit of French iconography

slip in to my surroundings.

Some French themed dish towels

because anything that makes the washing up less boring is a good thing.

A black felt beret

Especially good for bad hair days

An Eiffel Tower keyring

Because, new house, new keys, new keyring.

Not quite a substitute for a real trip to Paris,

but  agréable tout de même

Dish Towels - Primark o Beret - Ebay o Keyring - Ebay

What Do You Drink?

Often when I mention to people that I don't drink tea or coffee, 

they are initially baffled as to what I can possibly drink instead. Once I start listing, 

fruit teas, barley drinks, hot chocolate, milk, water, juice, cola, they look a little sheepish and say

oh yes.

Most member of my church ( LDS ) who grow up without tea or coffee tend not to substitute it with something hot to drink. For converts though it seems to be more difficult to go cold turkey (especially here in the UK when putting the kettle on is the answer to every crisis.

I drink herbal tea ( Rooibos ), one or two cups a day. Sometimes though I find myself

craving a coffee.

Barleycup is what a lot of church members drink as a coffee replacement, however

I really don't like it much.

Eventually after a bit of trial and error I stumbled apon Teeccino on Amazon,

and it is really nice.

It comes in a few flavours, but hazelnut is my favourite so far. 

This is about £11 per bag but a bag will last a long while, 

and I see it as more of a treat than a daily drink.

One little cup of this, a few squares of chocolate and a (The) good book and I feel like I 

am in heaven.

More Information - why Mormons don't drink tea or coffee

Fireworks Night

The 5th of November again, it seems time goes so fast.

As always we went down to the seafront to watch the fireworks

from a great distance ( See this post here ), and as always we had mittens on and

hot chocolate to drink. It really feels like winter now.

I asked Oscar to smile nicely for the photo, I guess it must be interpretive