It's Almost Here

Finally it feels like Christmas.  The weather is suitably bleak although the  forecasters are undecided as to whether there's any chance of snow.  The romantic in me hopes that we will have snow as there's nothing like waking up on a  Christmas morning to a world that's covered in  white to make  you believe in magic again. It's almost as good as catching Santa Claus leaving presents at the bottom of your bed. 

The tree is up, the house decorated, the cards sent and the most of the presents wrapped. After a couple

of hectic weeks at work, when I thought I'd never find time to get organized for Christmas, I'm suddenly ready for the festivities. 

 I am looking forward to relaxing, spending time with my family, catching up with friends, sitting in front of the fire in the dark, with just  the glow of fairy lights and the flickering of candles. There's books to be read, movies to be watched and music to be enjoyed.

Tomorrow I'll exchange gifts with some of my dearest friends,  we'll visit relatives on Christmas Eve, and Christmas Day will be just for ourselves, cosy at home, enjoying good food, walks with the dog, and  phone calls to loved ones overseas. A quiet low-key  time, just as we like it.

The message of Christmas, of love, friendship and generosity is found in our hearts, not in the ringing of tills or the Twelve Pubs of Christmas.  I  hope each and everyone has a joyful Christmas with those you love.

Christmas on the Beach

Whilst walking the dog along the beach  I found someone's Christmas today
Washed up with the usual floatsom and jetsam of seaweed and driftwood,  plastic containers and tin cans, dead birds and glass bottles, was somebody's Christmas.

Baubles, some still in the box were they had been carefully  packed away, were strewn on the pebbles.

A little ceramic crib and singing carolers, one minus a head, looked strangely out of season and out of place on the edge of Dundalk Bay.

There was tinsel and fake holly twisted with seaweed.

And a cassette of  'Give up yer aul sins' would never play again.

What had  happened to the owner of this Christmas?  How had their decorations ended up at high tide mark?
Had they moved house, emigrated or passed away? Or did they just decide they didn't like this Christmas any more and dumped it at sea?
My thoughts take flight and turn to fancy. Was it a post-modern art exhibition?
One thing is sure, no bin charges were paid before this puzzling, colourful and cheap plastic ended up
on our shore.

Local is Lovely

I always buy some Christmas gifts at craft fairs but this year I decided to make a conscious effort to do  most of my shopping locally and to buy Irish produced goods.
It's not too hard. There are lots of wonderful Irish craft and food producers which means I can pick up gifts to suit most people.  Buying Irish and buying local makes sense. The money stays in the economy,
the craft and food producers get a much needed boost and hopefully they, in turn, will spend their
money locally. If enough people do the same it might make the difference between shops staying open or closing,  between people staying at home or emigrating.
I was particularly motivated to spurn some high street stories which  are selling items designed to look as though they were hand made, even though they are, of course, mass produced.  At least one UK chain has   'A Mend and Make Do' range which is very pretty and spot on trend, harkening back to another era when money was scarce and people made their own gifts.  Many of the items  are not dissimilar to ones I've seen in Etsy stores, so rather than handing over my cash there and then, I resolved to spent it at craft fairs instead.

A visit to the annual craft fair in Carlingford last weekend proved particularly enjoyable and fruitful.
Despite the cold, damp day, plenty of people had made the journey to the fair, and more  importantly, were buying.

Since I'm planning on baking some foodie gifts myself, I ignored the food stalls, but bought some beautiful handmade Christmas decorations and gifts.

There is also a new shop in  Carlingford, Molly May's, which stocks very nice Irish made soaps, shampoos, handcreams, and candles.

Yesterday I ventured out to Ravensdale Country Market and got some more decorations made by the talented Vivianne of 'Gifts From The Heart'. This was supposed to be a gift but I like it so much that I've decided to keep it.