The Days Between

The Christmas celebrations are now behind us.  The days were spent quietly at home enjoying some great food and good company.  The table was set with our festive red and white crockery and adorned with red roses and white carnations.  

As always, the question is what to eat on the days between Christmas and New Year.  With the busy days leading up to Christmas, my baking did not go according to plan.

I decided to bake a Yule Log.  It has been a couple of years since I made one and I had an excess of (good quality) chocolate in my pantry.  I used the recipe from Nigella's Christmas, which is by far the best that I've tried.  It produced a beautifully moist sponge with a delicious chocolate buttercream icing.  The finishing touches of fresh snow and reindeer completed the picture.

'Twas The Night Before Christmas

When all through the house, not a creature was stirring....

Christmas Eve is finally here and the tree ornaments include this sweet one of mice hanging their stockings.  The presents are wrapped and we have just finished dinner.

Just time to wish you and your loved ones a very Happy Christmas.  

Maritime Christmas

Christmastime is here and what better way to prepare for a Maritime Christmas than by adding some appropriate festive touches to our tree?  This year saw the addition of the sou'wester-wearing snowman.

They still seem to be struggling to add the last of the Christmas lights to the lighthouse.

All before Santa sets out in his rowing boat to deliver the presents to those of us who are less accessible by sleigh.

Yule

Today is the Winter Solstice: the shortest day, with the least amount of daylight hours and the longest night of the year.  It is also the ancient festival of Yule which celebrates the rebirth of the sun and the beginning of winter.

We may have to wait a few weeks before the days become longer again, but in the meantime, we can enjoy the lights at home.  It is lovely to come home to welcoming lights shining in the windows.

This year saw the addition of these candle lights.  I had spent some time searching for these after admiring them in other peoples' windows.  I think that they look wonderful from indoors and they are also pretty from outside, though I haven't had a chance to go out and take a photograph yet.

It may be dark outdoors today, but inside we will have our lights shining out into the darkness.

Christmas Favourites

One of the best aspects of Christmas is bringing out the old favourites to decorate our tree.  Every piece brings back memories of when it was bought or made (I have fabric hearts and knitted baskets).

The chef was purchased in the Christmas shop on Cape Breton and he has been busy making a gingerbread man.

The peace, love and joy people were bought at the botanic garden shop in Ontario and they still bring a smile to my face when I take them out each year.

The Christmas star was a more recent purchase and is a pretty finishing touch.  Once the tree is lit, the joy of Christmas surrounds us.

Steek Issues

So I finally plucked up the courage to cut my steeks and I've run into some issues since, which have yet again caused me to stop knitting.  

The pattern instructions said to cut down the middle of each steek then reinforce by the addition of a crochet chain stitch or machine stitching 1.5 stitches from the cut line.

The problem that I've encountered is fraying.  The crochet chain stitch is not holding well; I'm unable to machine down the edge of the steek because my machine won't stitch this and I'm now afraid that if I'm not really careful, the whole lot is going to unravel along with my nerves!

The solution would seem to be to hand stitch along both sides of each steek, which is going to be incredibly time-consuming, but I have no option if I am to salvage weeks of knitting.  As it is, I hardly dare touch these edges because they are so fragile.

I know that I said that my theme for this month is joy, but I'm not finding much joy in this project at the moment.  Hopefully, there will be some joy to share once I get over this latest hurdle.

Festive Touches

Although we don't have a large kitchen, I do like to add a few festive touches when I decorate for Christmas.  A couple of smaller ornaments on the cookbook shelves.

My mice and holly window ornament in the kitchen window topped off with baubles to catch the light.  The mice always brighten even the dullest of days and in my imagination, they are busy in the kitchen when I'm not around (I wish that were the case, as I could use the help!)

Snowmen also seem to feature in many of my Christmas decorations and these three caught my eye last year and were added to my collection.

This 'window' was a gift this year.  It would look better against a white wall, but I don't have one in our living areas.  It puts a smile on my face when I see it.

I wander into the kitchen and find myself humming Christmas carols - In The Bleak Midwinter is an eternal favourite.  The joy of the season is all around now that I've found time to put the decorations up.