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.

Outdoor Wednesday and Mistletoe

It’s time for Outdoor Wednesday once again hosted by Susan @ A Southern Daydreamer who last week announced “Starting next week…. and going through the end of December…. I am going to include/encourage everyone to share their outdoor AND indoor Christmas decorations for Outdoor Wednesdays. Greenery in the form of trees, wreaths and garland are from outside…… and they are inside for the holidays… yes, I am stretching the definition of Outdoor Wednesday…. but I can!!!”

On Monday I mentioned our ancient apple tree now totally overwhelmed by mistletoe, which despite looking so pretty and being steeped in tradition, is a parasite,

Click here for another OW post that mentions mistletoe.

From my V&A Christmas list book today: A Christmas greetings card and decorating tips from (Victorian) Cassell’s Family Magazine and a verse from Sir Walter Scott.

The damsel donned her kirtle sheen
The hall was dressed with holly green
Forth to the wood did merry-men go,
To gather in the mistletoe.
Sir Walter Scott.

There are more interesting facts (!) about mistletoe here.

"From the centre of the ceiling of this kitchen, old Wardle had just suspended with his own hands a huge branch of mistletoe, and this same branch of mistletoe instantaneously gave rise to a scene of general and most delightful struggling and confusion; in the midst of which, Mr. Pickwick, with a gallantry that would have done honour to a descendant of Lady Tollimglower herself, took the old lady by the hand, led her beneath the mystic branch, and saluted her in all courtesy and decorum."
--The Pickwick Papers