merry christmasDecember 25th posted by Hannah
Today we hosted Christmas lunch which was a team effort, arriving seamlessly in various dishes and boxes from Appleby Road and Gowan Close. We were very grateful to Rob for getting up at six to put the turkey in, Caleb made the crackers, Jon did the veg and Mum made the chocolate log. The turkey was sensational - the finest bird ever to have stood on it's two free-range, organic legs. It was almost too large for the oven because I slightly miscalculated the weight when ordering (we could have fed the five thousand) but we will squirrel away the leftovers for curries and soups. After lunch Jon and Hannah Mc took to the piano and Daniel and Elliot serenaded us while we washed-up and Rob slept. (serenaded being a generous term as you will see if you look at this video)!
angels from the realmsDecember 24th posted by Hannah
On Christmas Eve we were in our own village church for the crib service. This was a joyful and delightfully homemade affair featuring local children. Daniel took part for the first time and processed in front of the three wise men, bearing aloft a silver foil star. There were angels on sticks, cardboard crowns and a proper doll in a blanket for the baby Jesus. The highlight for me was playing duets of Christmas carols before the service with some of our young pianists.
christmas cakeDecember 21st posted by Hannah
We have spent the afternoon decorating the Christmas cake with Caleb, Elliot and Rach. As we will be feasting together on Sunday it seemed appropriate to share the cake decorating too. We made a wintry scene of polar bears and penguins inspired by a picture in one of my Mum's magazines. Elliot, Daniel, Bethan and Libby made a penguin each to put on the cake, and Caleb made the polar bear. It was a jolly afternoon and we were accompanied throughout by Daniel and Elliot singing various versions of 'Jingle Bells' at full volume.
kirkstoneDecember 14th posted by Hannah
Nine years ago when we were first house hunting in the lakes we drove north on a glorious day, just like today. Having left the south-east at some ungodly hour of the morning we had a diary full of viewings and significant pressure to be back in the south for the evening. It was a crazy day but I remember that we allowed ourselves a drive up Kirkstone Pass at lunchtime, to take a break and say a quick 'Hello' to the hills. It was the most beautiful day and there were people sledging. We were bowled over by the landscape and everyone looked like they were having so much fun. Nine years on, we are the lucky ones who can pop out for the afternoon on those same slopes. More photos here.
little donkeyDecember 9th posted by Hannah
Today was the annual infant nativity play. Yes, it's that time again, but this year was a bit special for us because for the first time we had two small people on the stage and two Grandparents in the audience. This year Daniel was promoted to the part of 2nd Wise Man which he acted with great enthusiasm. I spent many hours making his cloak which I was pretty proud of. He was a vision in green and gold, stiffened spectacularly by the upholstery fabric of one of our armchairs (don't ask too many questions about that), but he wasn't nearly as pleased with his costume as me because, he wanted to wear red and gold which are Gryffendor colours and not green and gold which are the colours of Harry Potter's arch rivals in Slytherin house!
in the bleak midwinterDecember 6th posted by Hannah
It's not long now until the shortest day of the year. The first snow is with us and the sheep are looking chilly. It's properly dark now by 4pm, infact the sunset time for today is a ridiculously early 3.52pm - too dark even to go to the park after school. We've dusted off the sledges ready for action and been rediscovering the pleasures of hats, gloves and scarves.
coventryDecember 4th posted by Hannah
We spent the weekend in Coventry, riding escalators and travelators with Mark, Naomi, Isaac and Weef. We had fourteen rides in total, mostly courtesy of Ikea, which has a vast lift system to transport you up to the sixth floor and three long travelators to take you back down. Yeehaa! Dan and Boo had never been to an Ikea before so Mark and Naomi decided that while we were there, they should be introduced to the famous meatballs which were greatly enjoyed. We had a nice potter around the city, shunning the merry-go-round at £2 each and feeling like we'd had rather good value out of the escalators. It was great to spend the weekend together and have a good catch-up.
countdownDecember 1st posted by Hannah
The great advent countdown has begun and we are having to get up even earlier than usual to allow enough time to open, read, eat, velcro and admire our various different advent calendars. I'm extremely grateful that we don't have the much coveted Lego Star Wars calendar aswell because this would put a serious question mark over whether or not we would get to school at all! We might have to go back-to-basics next year!
