Christmas morn ...

The first thing we do when we get back from Midnight Mass is to place the infant Jesus carefully in our crib at home. Mark is generally the one to do this as he always remembers amidst all the chatter and excitement going on when we arrive home and goes straight to the place where the figure is kept until the 'big day'!

A Blessed and Happy Christmas to everyone!

Wow - super pictures!

I've just received these super photos forwarded by my sister-in-law and just had to share them with everyone.

Northern Lights over Yellow Knife Canada and a Fire Rainbow- A once in a lifetime experience

"This is a Fire Rainbow. The rarest of all naturally occurring atmospheric phenomena. The picture was captured this week on the Idaho/Washington border.

The event lasted about 1 hour. Clouds have to be cirrus, at least 20,000 feet in the air, with just the right amount of ice crystals and the sun has to hit the clouds at precisely 58 degrees."

God's handiwork. Beautiful sight!

Christmas Shopping ...

I've just got back from trying to finish off my Christmas shopping. Why do we put ourselves through this every year? I'm sure there are many people, especially women, who are feeling like this poor woman at the moment. I must say there's an uncanny resemblance between the woman in the cartoon and myself at this precise moment! :)

Even when we've managed to find all the items on our lists, we still have to go home and wrap them all up.

Every year we say, 'never again, next year we're going to keep it simple' and yet by the time Christmas Eve comes around and everything is organised we are so swept away by the Great Feast of Christmas and all that it implies that we really do enjoy it and somehow, all the stress of the preceding days is forgotten. Which reminds me, I still haven't bought the turkey!

Gaudete ...

'Rejoice, rejoice, and again I say, rejoice!'

I'm so pleased I got my rose candles in time for Gaudete Sunday. We all need a bit of light to relieve the gloom at this time of year.

Christmas time is always fraught with pressure - so many things to do; writing and sending cards, buying gifts, putting up decorations and getting the house ready, thinking about the meals, buying the food etc. etc. .... and that's not including what's going on at work. And through all this we're supposed to stay calm and prepare for the Lord's coming?? To quote a popular phrase, 'You're having a laugh, aren't you!'

It's great to take a few minutes to think about what is just around the corner and to use an old-fashioned but particularly appropriate word, 'rejoice'.

I definitely feel a lot more 'HO, HO, HO!' than 'Bah, Humbug!' today.

What a shock ....

What a shock to be told out of the blue that the local supermarket had been burnt to the ground overnight.

Apparently the fire started at about a quarter to nine last night and quickly took hold and, following a large explosion, it soon became obvious that the shop would be impossible to save and the fire crews concentrated on trying to prevent the fire spreading to the many nearby buildings, both residential and commercial. Some local residents had to leave their homes for safety.

Fire crews were still on site on Saturday morning.

We ourselves were in Banstead last night at the parish penitential service but as we don't have to pass through the High Street to get to church, we had no idea of what was happening 'just down the road' whilst we were in church.

It's very lucky indeed that nobody was injured in this serious fire. Nevertheless it will be a great blow to the local community, not just the staff who worked there but all the local shoppers too. There is no other comparable supermarket in the village.

Further details including a video can be see on on the BBC website here

The Company Christmas 'Do' ...

Friday was the Company Christmas 'Do'. They have several of varying sizes, depending whether or not it's just a department or several departments or a 'group' do. This was the one that 'wives/husbands/partners' were also invited to. Due to the 'Credit Crunch' the smaller group outing that I blogged about last year has been reduced to actual 'money-earning employees' this year! Fair enough.

I wasn't looking forward to it too much as I was still suffering with the dreaded 'lurgy' but it was very well done and the venue, an hotel in London, had arranged everything very well. The atmosphere was very good and despite there being over 300 people in the room, they managed to make each table of about 10 guests seem a fairly intimate group.

The entertainment was very original - a group of break-dancers and they were fantastic. I loved the way they just walked in (or should I say swaggered, I'm sure you can imagine) off the street, unannounced in their 'street' gear - hoodies and trackie bottoms. They just made their way through the tables, and started dancing on the small dance floor. Similarly once they'd finished they just picked up their tops and walked out without a comment! They got a good response from the guests, I must say.

Shame the lighting was so low, I couldn't get many good pictures but here's one taken by a professional just to give an idea of the 'ambience'.

Ta-Daaaa!!

See what the nice postman delivered yesterday! A lovely big box of 'rose' coloured candles. That should last me for a few years. Who knows, by the time I've got to the end of the box, the liturgists may have decided that all the candles should be 'rainbow' coloured to be 'inclusive'!

O Come, O Come, Emmanuel ...

Now I'm really getting into the Christmas spirit! - Get out the mulled wine and the mince pies, sit back and enjoy this beautiful Advent carol!

More on those pesky candles ...

Here is this year's Advent wreath. Note the four purple candles! But I haven't given up on getting a pink candle yet. Having tried all the local shops I could think of, I've ordered some pink candles online and I hope those nice people at Amazon will deliver the goods in time for Gaudete Sunday.

An evening out ...

We had another great evening out with friends on Friday. We went to a local Indian restaurant with a deservedly good reputation, The Indus. None of us had far to drive and we were even able to walk the house of our friends who lives very near. They kindly invited us to aperitifs there beforehand and coffee and liqueurs afterwards.

All the ingredients for an excellent evening - good food ... good company .... and a few laughs too!

By the way, no sign of the 'credit crunch' in this part of the world - the restaurant was packed and there were people waiting for tables!