Pausing by the sea shore

After a week of being virtually house bound due to illness (tummy bug) and bad weather (it's been raining, a lot) it was good to go for a drive, on Saturday, to a nearby beach.

The sun was shining, finally but there were plenty of clouds in the sky and not all of them had silver linings.

There was definitely a grey underside to some.

The wind whipped the waves and created some fabulous white tops as the the tide rushed in.

It also cleared my fuzzy brain of the fogginess that always descends in December, not my favourite month to be honest.

Although there were no fishing boats as far as the eye could see it was obvious that some enterprising sailor has been out earlier if these discarded scallop shells at the base of the pier were anything to go by.

When anxious, uneasy and bad thoughts come, I go to the sea,

and the sea drowns them out with its great wide sounds,

 cleanses me with its noise,

 and imposes a rhythm upon everything in me that is bewildered and confused.

Rainer Maria Rilke, Poet.

Good company helps, too.

Joining Angela for A Pause in Advent 

and

Judith for Mosaic Monday

First Sunday in Advent 2014

Advent, from the Latin word adventus which means arrival, 

is the beginning of the Christian New Year.

Like many others around the world one of my favourite Christmas traditions is to prepare evergreen wreaths to decorate the front doors of our home.

Over the years I have decorated many different styles of wreaths, some with fresh greenery cut from the garden and also sometimes faux.

These are the two very simple ones welcoming visitors to our home this year.

The faux fir wreaths were purchased at IKEA
the berries and other faux greens came from my Christmas decorating stash.

I was inspired by a wreath featured in the LL Bean catalogue
and made copycat versions.

In 2009 the wreaths were created using fresh greenery and tree bark from the garden,
 pine cones & faux berries from stash. 

The double front doors lead straight into our home's entrance hall
which has also received a small seasonal makeover this weekend.

I may add a runner to the top of the chest of drawers and perhaps a Santa or two?

But, at the moment I'm liking the clean lines with just the smallest touch of glitter and gold.

The mantle piece in the library is also one of the first areas to be decorated for Christmas.

This year I'm using cherished antique pieces to decorate the mantle.
Gilded cherubs, a gift from a dear friend in Bavaria many years ago;
two engraved glass German bier steins, also a gift
and in the centre a French clock.
The silver and glass angel is a modern piece
bought whilst shopping with an English friend a few years ago.

 Every year a small amount of tweaking usually takes place before I'm completely happy with it.
I'm thinking that the two miniature Christmas trees may have to go,
 or be embellished somehow.

It's looking a little dark during the daytime
but really comes alive in the evening 

when the table lamps are on and the candles lit.

In 2009 I used a shot of  the decorated mantle as my blog header.

In 2010 the theme was silver with gold accents.

In 2011 I went back to my favourite combination of red, green and gold.

and finally, one last vignette before you go.
I changed out some of the objects displayed on top of my desk to reflect the festive season.
There is something so simple yet classic about silver and white with a dash of green.

The  Court China trio on the left
was manufactured by
William Lowe of Longton, Staffordshire, England.
circa 1912.

Linking to the following blog parties this week
A Pause in Advent hosted by Angela.
Christmas in the Country with Brooke
and
Mosaic Monday where Judith is our host.

A Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

Joining Floss @ Troc, Broc & Recup for a Pause in Advent
and
Mary @ the little red house for Mosaic Monday

Celebrating 100,000 Normandy Life page views with some images and collages of Christmas past.

Wishing all my friends and followers a

very Merry Christmas

and

a Peaceful, Prosperous & Healthy New Year.

See you in 2013!

A Pause in Advent

My beautiful handmade Christmas nest created by
the very talented & gracious Vicki Boster.
Click hereto visit the blog of a woman I am honored to call my friend.

I’m sure that I am only one among many on this third Sunday in Advent to be pausing, for more than just a minute or two, to think about the heartbroken, devastated families of the women and children murdered inside Sandy Hook Elementary school, Connecticut on Friday morning.

The media is full of reports of the tragedy; I read in the Sunday Times this morning some incredible stories of bravery shown by the teachers whilst shielding their charges from the gunman. 

They hid them in cupboards, closets and bathrooms.

Over the coming days more details will emerge about what happened to those beautiful six and seven year olds.

First graders who were expecting their parents to arrive at the classroom door very soon, to build gingerbread houses together.

But the only question on my mind right now is why, in the name of everything that is holy did the mother of murderer Adam Lanza who also died by his hand, feel the need to possess a semi-automatic assault rifle and keep it in her home?

A Pause in Advent: week three.

Our Pause in Advent this week came courtesy of Mother Nature who bestowed milder weather on us so that we could get out into the garden for the "end of year" clear up.



2010 leaf pile
2011 leaf mulch
2012 compost for the potager!

This task had been delayed due to the unsually heavy snow fall we experienced recently and so we were glad to have the opportunity to gather up the leaves, conkers and twigs that lay all around.

Mr B was also able to see to the broken apple tree bough that had been brought down by the mistletoe.
My Adventkranz has been travelling, once again this week, as more and more seasonal decorating is accomplished.
It is residing at present on one of my favourite pieces of furniture, what we have always referred to as "the military chest" although I'm not sure why we do.

The simple vignette, beside the kranz, is of four Byers Choice Carolers from the Colonial Williamsburg series.
TheTavern Keeper and his wife and two Balladeers with their musical instruments.
Although I stopped collecting Carolers a few years back if I ever began again I would certainly look for more from this series as I think they are charming.

I added a HR Quimper cheese dish, it has a snake for the handle, and my Normandy lady plate which I bought at the recent QCI faience sale in Savannah.
Then I placed one of my favourite clocks, usually found in the dining room, on an HRQ trivet to add a little height and a focal point to the Carolers and to offset the kranz.
I'm heading over to see Floss now, at Troc, Broc & Recup to see how she and the other partcipants in A Pause in Advent have slowed things down this week.

A Pause in Advent, Week 2.

If you've been reading my blog this week you will have some idea of what this second Advent week was like for me.
The heavy snow fall definitely gave me pause for thought as it curtailed many of our daily activities and gave me the gift of time.
Time for a long, really long, I'm talking over an hour long, chat with my sister Rhonda who lives in Australia. Our phone calls are usually much shorter affairs and I so enjoyed being able to sit and talk  without one eye on the clock.
She has had quite a trying year this year with many ups and downs with her health & relationships.
But when we spoke this week she was beginning to come to terms with the end of one set of circumstances and starting to look forward once again.
Living so far away this big sister can but be a shoulder to cry on, to share the tears and then the laughter as she described some new people she had met and how much she was looking forward to collecting her new puppy, Sophie a companion for Roy who is getting on in years, in the New Year.
Being virtually housebound had other advantages too, I had plenty of time to bring the Christmas boxes down from their various hiding places in the attics.
There are many Christmas parties happening in blogland at the moment and I had thought that I would never be ready in time to participate.
I've had two peaceful days to sort through my collections of Christmas ephemera and decide where and how to display it all.
With all of the amazing vignettes and mantles that my fellow bloggers have been sharing in the past few days, I have been inspired to mix things up a little and think outside the box.
More about that soon.
The snow has all but gone, there was a very rapid thaw all day yesterday and the ditches are overflowing, trying to cope with the runoff.
Sadly, we did have one casualty from all that white stuff...........................

our ancient apple tree, which is riddled with Mistletoe, finally gave way beneath the extra weight.
Looking on the bright side ....................
I shan't have to send Mr B up a long ladder to harvest some white berries to decorate the hall chandelier this year.
I'll easily be able to gather arm fulls of Mistletoe sans problem.

Click here for a previous post about Mistletoe and why not join Floss for "Pause in Advent"  and also The Tablescaper for "Seasonal Sundays", two great places where bloggers gather together on Sunday.
bon dimanche à tous.

First Pause in Advent 2010.

As today is the First Sunday in Advent I'd like to share a little of my story with you, and introduce you to a wonderful friend of ours.
In 1984 Mr B's career took us to Bavaria, Germany.
We left all our family and friends behind in the UK to start a new life in a new country. Scary.
We threw ourselves wholeheartedly into our new surroundings, making many German friends in our neighbourhood and amongst his work collegues, but the most important friends we made were our landlords and next door neighbours Herr & Frau Wilde.
Over the years we shared many wonderful times with the Wildes, celebrating not only high days and holidays but also day to day life in Pöcking, a small town on the shores of Starnberger See.
Frau Wilde (never Traudl, never "du") sort of adopted me as the daughter she never had.
She taught me many things, like how to play bridge, she is a fanatical bridge player and to this day, if I ever get the chance to play, I always find myself bidding in German! (Vier pik!)
We spent many an afternoon sitting in her "winter garden" as she helped me improve my embroidery, knitting, and German conversation skills all the time enjoying her "kaffee und kuchen".

From top right: Our house
 a favourite woods where we walked our dogs,
Feldafinger Strasse.

The snow season in Bavaria starts around the beginning of December and during our first winter in Pöcking she taught me how to cross country ski on the local golf course in Feldafing.
Did I mention that the lady was born in 1918?

Frau W & me 1991

Perhaps the one thing that Frau Wilde taught me which touched me the deepest was how to celebrate Christmas the Bavarian way,
Her Weihnachts Plaetzchen (Christmas biscuits) such as Zimtsterne and Springerele were legendary.

And so on this First Sunday in Advent and in honour of a much loved lady, I'd like to invite you to "kaffe und kuchen" my way.

My Adventskranz 2010.

Sadly, fresh evergreen wreaths are not easily found here in rural Normandy and so once again this year, a "faux" wreath decorated with white poinsettia flowers and silver pine cones surrounds four classic white Church candles.

The china service is Rosenthal's "Classic Rose" in white, which with its silvery grey design and gold trim complements the Adventskranz beautifully.
Napkins: Spode Christmas tree. (was sonst?)

For you to enjoy during the Adventszeit old fashioned mincepies (click here for the recipe) and lebkuchen, a very simple iced biscuit, similar to gingerbread.
(Note to Floss: I'm going back to Delia!)

With this post I'm joining

Floss @ Troc, Broc and Recup for First Pause in Advent.

The Tablescaper for Seasonal Sundays.
Marty @ A Stroll Through Life for Tabletop Tuesday.

The Lady Katherine, for the first time, and Teatime Tuesday.

Click on the links above to see who else is joining in this week.