On the first day of Christmas...

I've been amazingly slack in updating this blog, but I'm going to put it down to the general run-up-to-Christmas chaos. So, it's no longer officially the "first" day of Christmas and the partridge and pear tree has been a No Show, but we have been experiencing our own Advent Calendar with a new activity almost every day.

Highlights?
1. The evening service at Pamber Priory (warm mince pies and mulled wine nestling nicely with our new warm coats, 12th century oak effigy and candle-lit Norman architecture),
2. The Christingle service for the kiddies at St. Andrew's (rumours of oranges, candles and skewered jelly babies left us a little confused in anticipation of what exactly this could have to do with Christ and Christmas, but we're satisfied now! Check out www.christingle.org if you are just as curious about this widespread European activity as we were...
3. The Nativity play performed by the infants students of Sherborne St. John school. Special applause for the little chap on the left!



I've also come to the conclusion that C & I don't really have a Christmas 'tradition' that we look forward to each year. This may be because we haven't had a predictable Christmas Day since we have been married. The only thing we have done consistently is NOT had a Christmas tree and, instead—whether because of lack of planning or an overabundance of enthusiasm for something a little different—we have had the Christmas "Twig".
This year, despite being in an environment where a spruce, fir or pine would not look out of place in one's living room, we continue to decorate a twig. Welcome to our world!

Even Sasunnach looks underwhelmed at the whole twig-dressing debarcle...