christmas

Crafts, Carols, Christingle and Christmas

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Crafts

Well I haven’t written my blog for a couple of weeks now, but I have been really really busy. After advertising my handmade crafts on my Facebook page, I was then invited to attend at a craft fair. On 10th December, I went to the fair at Cliffe castle in Keighley. It was an extremely cold day and heavy snow had been forecast. Luckily it didn’t snow too heavily, just enough for it to be Christmassy.

I sold quite a few of my handmade items and had a lot of interest for the future. As a result of this, I’ve had the confidence to set up a website and start advertising online. As I still have a full time job, it is only a small business at the minute, but I’m hoping to build it up over the next few years and hopefully when I retire, it will be a good project to work on and earn a little extra money.

If you want to have a look at the website, it’s https://www.mezzycreations.co.uk

Carols

I hadn’t been to church for quite some time, so last week, as it is now getting nearer to Christmas, I went to two services. The first one was “Nine Lessons and Carols”, which is exactly what is says on the tin. The carols made me feel really festive, the choir sang beautifully and the readings made me think about the true meaning of Christmas.

Later in the day, I went to the Christingle service. I’ve always loved this service, where everyone receives an orange (representing the world), with a red ribbon around (representing the blood of Christ), four sticks with sweets (representing the four seasons and fruits of the harvest) and a candle (representing Jesus, the light of the world). Once everyone’s candle is lit, the lights are dimmed and there is a lovely atmosphere whilst carols are sung.

The money raised goes to https://www.childrenssociety.org.uk, which provides support to children in the UK. This is particularly poignant at this time of year, when I really appreciate how lucky I was as a child and how lucky I am to be able to provide the things that my children need.

Christmas

So now with only a couple of days left to Christmas, I’ve now finished work until next Wednesday. My husband has done the cleaning and food shopping and I’ve bought all the presents, although there are still a few left to wrap.

I used to get quite stressed before Christmas and want everything to be perfect. Maybe it’s a sign of age, or just an acceptance that there’s no such thing as perfect, but this year I’m looking forward to having time at home with my husband and daughters, for our parents to be well enough to join us for Christmas lunch and a little bit of rest and relaxation too.

For everyone else who celebrates Christmas I hope you have a good one, whether its frantic and exciting, or peaceful and restful. Whether you celebrate Christmas or not, I hope you get time to spend with your loved ones or just find time for yourself.

https://www.mezzycreations.co.uk

Feeling Blessed

~ 50themusical ~ 3 Comments

At the time of writing this blog, I am patiently awaiting the arrival of my great nephew. He is due at the weekend, but I guess that it could be any day now, so the anticipation is growing. This is my niece’s first child and my brother and sister in law’s first grandchild. My niece’s partner already has a boy, who is definitely part of the family, but this is the first baby that we have had for a few years, which is always exciting.

Santa’s little helper

One of the reasons that I feel particularly blessed this week was because I got to see my eldest daughter in London. I had gone to London for a conference and luckily had some free time in the evening. She is currently working as one of Santa’s helpers (I’m not sure she’s an elf, as she’s quite tall), so I was able to go and see her at work. She seemed very happy, along with all the other little helpers.

As a bonus I also got to make a snowman and see Santa in his grotto. I may be a grown up, but there is still something very magical about Christmas, particularly seeing the little children’s faces light up at all the twinkling lights and snow scenes. I know that it’s probably still a bit early for Christmassy things (1st December is probably my limit), but sometimes you just have to take the opportunity that is handed to you.

 

 The Book of Mormon

Also whilst I was in London I finally got to see “The Book of Mormon”. Now I know that this is not everyone’s cup of tea. It is very inappropriate in places and some people may find it offensive, but I have been wanting to see it for ages. Luckily I got to go with my daughter and my friend from work.

I thought that it was hilariously funny. The singing and acting from all of the cast was amazing. It takes the mickey out of lots of different musicals along the way, as well as poking fun at religion. Although I think that for me, there was a moral to the tale, whether that was what was intended or not. I think the moral was that it doesn’t matter what religion you are, or what you believe in, but if you are giving people hope and help, then that is better than converting them to a religion that they don’t really understand and then walking away and leaving people in poverty and danger.

I would definitely see it again if I had the chance, but if you are easily offended, don’t like bad language or feel that religion is not meant to be humoured then I would give it a miss.

 

 

 

 

 

A Worthwhile Week

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Crafts Completed

So I finally managed to complete some of the crafts that I started and I am fairly pleased with them. I have really enjoyed making some Christmassy things. I’ve done some sewing and also some Christmas decorations on slices of wood. I think that they look okay. I’m thinking of putting them on a Facebook page and trying to sell some of them, or even making them to order. I’ll let you know how it goes.

 

A Day At The Races

On Saturday I spent a great day at York races with a group of lovely ladies, to celebrate my friend’s 50th birthday. It was a nice sunny day, which meant that we could sit outside and enjoy the fresh air. Catching up with people that I used to work with and haven’t seen for quite a while was great. I had a few glasses of Pimms and lemonade and bet on a few of the races. I had absolutely no idea what I was doing, so I did what most people do and picked either a name of a horse that I liked, or the colours of the jockey. Needless to say I didn’t come out on top. I managed to win a small amount of money back on the last day, but other than that I lost more than I won.

 

Practice 10k

On Friday my information arrived for The Abbey Dash. When I signed up for it, it seemed a long way away, but now it is only three weeks away! On Sunday I decided to bite the bullet and just have a go at running 10k. I managed to run most of it and it took me 1hour 33 minutes. At least I know that I can do it and make the finishing line. I am not so bothered about the time, but I’m not so worried about not finishing now. A bit more practice over the next couple of weeks and I’m optimistic that I should be able to complete the 10K in under 1 1/2 hours.

Bu the way my calves were really hurting today!