December 21, 2024

This & That | The First Day of Winter

Nicole this and that 2 Comments

Welcome to the first day of Winter, Dear Readers! And here we are, only a few days away from Christmas now. Today I’m sharing a bit of what I have been up to these past few weeks, and what I’m looking forward to this holiday season.

Reading:

I am planning to read Shepherd’s Abiding by Jan Karon next week. It’s the Christmas Mitford book, so it will be nice to curl up with this little cozy holiday read and look at the snow outside, while the lights on the tree twinkle comfortingly inside.

Loving:

Pretty editions of books! I found this lovely copy of The Secret Garden at Home Sense of all places. They had so many beautiful Classics there this time; I think they’d gotten them in for Christmas. I always forget to check out their book section, but I’ll have to remember to from now on. Doesn’t this edition fit seamlessly in with my other old books?

I also, on the same trip, picked up some velvet ribbon and a wooden twine stand. I saw these last year and didn’t buy one, so when I saw they had them again, I knew I had to. And the nice thing about velvet ribbon coming back into style is that it is widely available everywhere, and it’s perfect for crafts!

Making:

I made a pair of little wool felt boots and mittens for my nephew. We went out to cut a Christmas tree a couple of weeks ago, and he wore the new boots, but I didn’t have his mittens made in time. Now they are ready, but the weather has been too cold! Hopefully we’ll get a few warm days next week and can take him out on the sled.

I also made a beeswax candle. I save the ends and pieces of my beeswax candles and then when I have enough, I pour a new candle. This time I poured a votive, but the wax cooled too quickly (the house was a little chilly when I made it) and so the wax cracked. Next time I make one, I’ll have to keep it in a warmer place while it hardens. (I also made a tiny decorative matchbox with scrapbook paper, so the matches don’t look ugly sitting out)

Watching:

This is one I am looking forward to watching next week on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day: the 1951 version of A Christmas Carol starring Alastair Sim. This is our family tradition, and we can pretty much quote the entire film. I’ve never met anyone in real life who also watches this version at Christmas…have you ever watched it? It’s very good!

Eating:

Another one I’m looking forward to next week: cranberry tarts and coconut tarts. We haven’t done much Christmas baking so far, apart from some squares for a party and cookies while we decorated the tree, because we’ll just eat it all before Christmas. But when my brothers come home, we’ll get busy with baking and I can hardly wait!

Finding…

…out which verse is next on our advent calendar. We hung the advent calendar on the wall again this year and it’s always fun turning over the next card.

Listening to:

Christmas hymns. I really love this rendition of O Come, O Come Emmanuel sung in Latin (Veni Veni Emmanuel) by Clamavi De Profundis. I love that this song has been sung for over a thousand years. I’ve never really been that much into curating a playlist for myself, but I should buy some more Christmas songs  since Christmas carols are some of my favourites, and having to listen to ads in between songs kind of ruins the mood!

And that’s pretty much what I have been up to for the last while. I’m looking forward to next week when the days will be, hopefully, filled with baking, good food, family, holiday movies and reading. We are also planning one day of opening our old family photo albums and browsing through those, since we want to do a family history photo album next year.

I hope you have a lovely first day of Winter, and enjoy your weekend, whatever it is you have planned!

What are your plans for Christmas? Do you have any special traditions you look forward to?