It’s December 1st, the first day of advent. It’s the day I like to start decorating for and thinking of as Christmas. The first thing that ever I put up is my Christmas wreath. Middle of the front door, for all to see. A real sign that this house celebrates Christmas. Not that I need to advertise that. I’ve been told by visitors to my … Continue reading All is Calm, All is Bright: Hygge
I love the Hygge Nook. If you’re into positive, calm, welcoming, friendly places on the internet, you could do worse than join it, even if you have to join Facebook for the purpose. It is one of the kindest, most inspiring places I know, so much so that I have the link straight to it on my home page. I no longer need to see … Continue reading All is Calm, All is Bright: The 24 words of Christmas.
Choco-lit Reading, for me, is that branch of romance novels that sits well alongside a big mug of tea and a bar of something sweet. Chocolate, for preference, but a decent slice of cake or a couple of biscuits works well. It’s sometimes sneered at by the well-read Literati, including one writer whose work I admire, who wrote this weekend ” Book Title Trends I … Continue reading My Christmas Choco-lit Reading List
It’s here again, that time of year when savvy shopkeepers up the sales factor and people start labelling items with tags to increase their saleability. Random objects get labelled on Amazon as ‘Great Christmas Gift’ or ‘Perfect for Winter’. In the last few years, items have been labelled as ‘Ideal for Hygge’. If anybody ever tells you that you should get X, Y or Z … Continue reading If somebody tells you to buy something to boost your hygge, tell them to take a running jump.
Wassailing used to happen in Britain around Christmas time: it was a custom for groups of people to gather together and share a large bowl of warmed drink, usually a warmed or ‘mulled’ apple cider, with the call ‘Waes Hael!’ meaning good health being shouted before everybody drank it down. The original wassail cup had mulled ale, curdled cream, eggs, roasted apples and spices. Using … Continue reading Waes Hael! Good health in an apple drink!
It’s properly Autumn now, with chilly mornings that brighten into golden showered days when the Sun smiles with a last gasp of heat. Days when the sky flashes between the blue of a robin’s eggs into a silver streaked grey that lowers and threatens to rain. In the countryside, nature’s harvest falls thick and fast, with conkers, acorns, beech nuts and seeds aplenty scattered along … Continue reading Ten Easy Ways to Pamper Yourself in Autumn for Around £10
It’s a peculiar thing about my life that Wednesday seems to be my spinning tops day. You know what I mean, the day when everything happens or seems to creep up and you spend the day in a tizzy wondering what to do next, or following a list that you had the foresight to write out the night before and getting three entries in before … Continue reading Spinning tops? No, I prefer spinning wool.
I’ve been browsing quotes about Autumn, and September, October and November as I get the next edition of Cosy Happy Hygge ready to go. There are so many to choose from… and not all of them nice. There is nothing in this world that unites everybody: that’s human nature. Say you like chocolate and most people will nod and agree, but there’s always somebody stood … Continue reading Oh, Autumn, how I love thee!
