our new advent calendar is selling fast!
Read More
All articles filed in advent calendar
twenty four
There could only be one choice for the final door of the advent calendar — Jesus! This is Jesus’s tenth Christmas, but he is still as sprightly and daft as when he first moved in with us. For the first few years of his life, we lived in several different places, and he accepted each…
Read Moretwenty two
Cake time! Well, not quite yet: time, rather to apply the marzipan . . . then icing. The smell when we unwrapped the greaseproof paper was utterly delicious.
Read Moretwenty
You will note that this advent calendar is turning out to have a determinedly snowy theme. Behind today’s door are some images from our lovely weekend away in the woods and hills. I do enjoy the snow — both for walking, and for photographing. I love its eerie quietness; its crazy, sculptural qualities; the incredible…
Read Morenineteen
Now, I looked for an ass, but there were none to be found — no doubt they were all sensibly hunkering in a stable somewhere. I knew where I could reliably find an ox, though. This is Hamish, and at all times of the year he can be seen outside Kilmahog woollen mill. Hamish is…
Read Moresixteen
help . . .
Read Morefifteen
My own neighbourhood is my favourite place to walk, at all times of the year. The We Love Leith movement is currently encouraging more people to walk, bicycle, and enjoy their local patch. I am very fond of these banners, which currently festoon Leith Walk, and which celebrate Leith’s exuberance, variety, and history. This one…
Read Morethirteen
Christmas before the Victorians got their hands on it.
Read Moreeleven
I’ve always liked the Dalahäst, and was really pleased when my horse-themed stamps turned up here yesterday. This one is designed by the Mayberry Sparrow and I love it. The Dalahäst reminds me of a wintertime trip that Tom and I took to Stockholm a few years ago, one of the highlights of which was…
Read Moreten
I was fascinated by the shadowy look and tinkling sound of the water under the ice on our Highland walk last weekend — however, the higher we got, the more ice there was, and I became less interested in its aesthetic properties and more concerned by not throwing bambi-like shapes upon it . . .…
Read Moreseven
To continue the snowy theme, behind the seventh door is a snowman, back (I think) in 1984. The coat I am wearing was handmade by my Ma, and the hood by my Grandma. It was the era of the knitted snood, and Grandma had clearly given this one a Tyrolean theme. We built this snowman…
Read Moresix
Behind today’s advent calendar “door” we have a couple of studies in green and gold. First up, the not-so-secret ingredient in Tom’s Christmas ale. We are already looking forward to this festive brew! I’ve always been intrigued by Lyle’s Lion and Bees trademark, and only today discovered that “out of the strong came forth sweetness”…
Read Morefive
The first snowy walk of the season. As I had a vague idea of attempting a solo mountain walk in a few weeks time, Tom suggested I should test my navigational skills on a familiar route. The tops of the hills were swathed in cloud as we approached, giving us little sense of how wintry…
Read Morethree
New storage jars. We bought three — my Ma wanted one too. I find their design both pleasing and evocative. A packet of leaf tea fits inside them perfectly, and their heads are carefully shaped to accommodate a spoon handle. Their characterful shape reminds me of moomins, or perhaps barbapapa, but most especially of this…
Read Moreone
The days aren’t too easy here — there are some things I am really struggling with. But the start of December always feels like the turning of a corner. Last year, three of my favourite blogs featured their own versions of the advent calendar. I loved tracing the month through Alexandra‘s wry and subtle photographic…
Read Moretoys
This in response to Colleen’s post. I’ve been enjoying her advent calendar immensely, and today she writes very evocatively about the toys behind advent calendar doors; the promise they contain; and the associations of such objects with domesticity — that is, the way toys act as a sort of preparation for one’s adult life in…
Read More
KDD & Co 