Today's Advent/Christmas Party

Our English Christmas

Dear All,

As you are enjoying your days at the beach, we are filling our short days and long nights preparing for our English Christmas. We have not had any snow, yet, but lots of frost and it is very cold.

We have been studying our Salvation History through the Bible, using a Jesse Tree. We are also reading, "The Christmas Mystery", by Jostein Gaarder. It's a terrific Christmas read.

Nathan, Ted and Denise (our landlords) made some lovely Yule Logs. They cut up some logs, bored holes for candles and painted them white. Then they decorated them. We made some pomanders, using oranges that we then stuck cloves into. The oranges will shrink and the pomanders will last 100 years! We also dried slices of oranges and cranberries in the oven. We put them all in a dish, with cinnamon sticks and pine cones and put the dish next to the fire. When they heat up, the give off the most delicious spicy smells!

Once a week, Nathan and I put on our wellies and walk the 50 metres to our brook, where we cut long lengths of holly for our mantle piece. It looks like plastic, but the real stuff is prickly and sharp!

We hope you have a happy and holy Christmas and we look forward to seeing you in the New Year.

Lots of love,

Nathan and Christine