Here we are in Advent again. I enjoy Advent – I like the quiet thoughtful aspect of the season. One tends to get caught up too easily in the rush and tear of Christmas preparations – the frenzy of shopping for gifts and preparing food. Advent is all about waiting patiently and being prepared – not for the arrival of friends and relatives or having enough food and drink to last through the holiday (though that has to be considered!) – but for the gift that God gave us, his son Jesus Christ. We also have to be prepared (as Maurice reminded us on Sunday morning) for the Second Coming; for the Day of Judgement. Have we been leading good Christian lives? Have we loved God with all our hearts, with all our souls and with all our minds? Have we loved our neighbours as ourselves? Or, if we were suddenly asked to account for ourselves, would we be found wanting? I love the beautiful words of the Collect for Advent Sunday written by Archbishop Thomas Cranmer in the 16th century.
‘Almighty God, give us grace that we may cast away the works of darkness, and put upon us the armour of light, now in the time of this mortal life, in which thy Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious Majesty, to judge both the quick and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal.’
Elinor and I made our own Advent Crown at home. I had a look in the garden for greenery to decorate it but could find hardly any. Our hedges have been cut and there weren’t any branches that hadn’t had all the best bits cut off. A lot of the ivy has gone from the garden this year as well. Fortunately, I visited Mum on Friday to deliver some shopping (which included candles for her Advent Crown) and while I was there she invited me to forage for useful evergreen in her garden.
I have to provide two dozen mince pies for a carol service next Sunday evening. I have collected the ingredients for the shortcrust pastry and the filling and now I will have to find the time to bake them! This is the post from last year where I described how I make them.
The next few weeks are going to be quite busy and it will be hard to set aside enough time for quiet meditation and prayer.
Elinor breaks up from college at the end of next week and next Tuesday evening Richard and I will be attending a Parent’s Evening where we will meet her tutors. The pop-up design of Red-Riding-Hood and the Wolf she made at the beginning of term has been put on display in a gallery in Norwich. We must go to see it!
We have someone coming to see us tomorrow to discuss the replacement of our garage doors and we have the gas man coming to service our gas boiler on Friday. We believe that we need to replace the boiler quite soon and we will have to ask his advice. I will have to take my mother Christmas shopping soon – this will need to be carefully planned as she doesn’t have as much energy and strength as she thinks she has!
We have a trip up to Manchester planned for one weekend and I hope to visit my sister in Kent as well. She is a paramedic and is on stand-by from now until the 28th December and can’t visit us until after Christmas. There is another carol service on the 20th December and I will no doubt have to provide mince pies for that as well. Richard and I have tickets for a Carols by Candlelight Concert in Halesworth! Alice comes for Christmas and will arrive quite late on Christmas Eve and will need collecting from the station.
So what with all that and the usual round of our own chores to do we will be kept quite busy.
Thanks for visiting!
quietsolopursuits said:
Thank you reminding us of the true reason to celebrate Christmas, Christ’s birth!
Your Advent crown is very lovely, nicely done. I hope that you and yours do have the chance to slow down and relax over the coming holidays as well as spend some time together. Merry Christmas!
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clarepooley33 said:
Thank-you Jerry! I am sure all will get done eventually and once the Christmas lunch has been cooked I’ll be able to swan about as much as I like! I am less stressed this year than last which is really nice 🙂 I hope you have a very Merry Christmas too!
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susanpoozan said:
You are so busy. I liked your Advent crown and thank you for reminding me who wrote the Advent collect.
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clarepooley33 said:
Thank-you very much Susan.
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Julie said:
Yes Clare, this is a good reminder of what we could be thinking about this month, all to often we are caught up in a the frantic, consumer led unpleasant experience. Your plans sound lovely, hope all goes smoothly for you.
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clarepooley33 said:
Thank-you Julie! I hope your festive preparations go well and you have a peaceful and happy Christmas.
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Jane said:
Christmas can be such a busy time with all the consumerism going on. In our house we spend the lead up in a rather quiet, simple way doing family things. I like your advent crown. Two dozen mince pies? Wow! I’m not much of a baker, sadly. Pastries are a challenge for me. 🙂 I hope you have a beautiful time with family and friends, Clare, and 2016 brings you many blessings. 🙂
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clarepooley33 said:
Thank-you Jane. I hope you have a lovely Advent and Christmas and your health improves in 2016. I always thought that pastry was something I wouldn’t be able to do but I surprised myself! I am pleased to be able to make something well and that my family and friends enjoy eating but I still don’t like cooking – I either find it extremely boring or it makes me cross or anxious!
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Lisa G. said:
The Cambridge Singers are the height of what Christmas music should be! I have two Christmas cds of theirs. Yes, it is not easy to be quiet within during Advent, but it’s so important. I wish you a good Advent! Your crown is beautiful.
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clarepooley33 said:
Thank-you very much Lisa! I hope your Advent is peaceful too.
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Jill Weatherholt said:
Beautiful reminder of the true meaning of the Christmas season, Clare. The Advent Crown you and Elinor made is so lovely.
Wow, your sister is a paramedic…how exciting.
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clarepooley33 said:
Thank-you Jill. My sister would like to move away from ambulance work now that she in in her 50’s. Her knees are giving out from carrying lots of heavy people up and down stairs. She is a qualified practitioner too and does some teaching but she is so useful that it is going to be difficult for her to get a less strenuous job.
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Jill Weatherholt said:
I can imagine that would be a difficult position, as you get older. I’ll keep her in my prayers that she finds something less strenuous, Clare.
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clarepooley33 said:
Thank-you very much Jill xx
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tootlepedal said:
We are singing that carol with our Carlisle choir.
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clarepooley33 said:
I hope your concert is a success.
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New Hampshire Garden Solutions said:
I like the advent crowns. There looks to be a lot of cedar in the one you made at home. What we would call arborvitae.
It doesn’t sound like you’ll have a lot of free time between now and Christmas. I usually take Christmas week off but due to the new job I can’t do that this year, so I think I’ll know exactly how you feel come Christmas day!
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clarepooley33 said:
Yes there was some cedar but also a lot of leylandii cypress too. Some Norway spruce, two types of ivy and some rosemary! I hope you aren’t too exhausted by Christmas! When I used to work in London I often worked right up to Christmas Eve and quite liked going home through the city just as Christmas started. I worked between Christmas and New Year then as well but that was before I had children! New jobs always mean less leave days unfortunately.
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New Hampshire Garden Solutions said:
Thanks, I’ll survive I’m sure, but I do have to cook Christmas dinner and that can be hectic as I’m sure you know!.
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clarepooley33 said:
Yes I do know! Good luck!
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New Hampshire Garden Solutions said:
Thanks!
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Cynthia Reyes said:
Dear Clare: What a great newsy post with lots of good things happening. I love the Advent Crown you and Elinor made. But I especially love what you have to say about Advent itself. Thank you for sharing it. My Advent post is written, but now I will add a link to yours for anyone who wants to better understand Advent.
Congrats again to Elinor on her creation. Will be in a gallery! Wow.
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clarepooley33 said:
How very kind Cynthia; thank-you! We have found out where the gallery is and now need to find the time to go there!
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greytabby1 said:
How wonderful for Elinor – Congratulations to her! You certainly have a lot of things going on…it somehow always seems to get like that right before Christmas and so I really enjoyed your reflection on Advent and your beautiful church and Advent crowns. Absolutely gorgeous carol too. I don’t believe I know this one so thank you for introducing it to me. You have a wonderful taste in music…I love everything you post!
-Kate
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clarepooley33 said:
You are very kind, Kate! Thank-you. I try not to think about Christmas until well into November and then there is such a rush to get everything done on time. It is my own fault really 🙂
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dobetteralways said:
You make lovely advent crowns. I don’t think I’ve had to think about advent since I left Catholic school. I remember I used to sit there and contemplate about my fellow classmates when the priests would talk about judgement day and acting in accordance with the bible’s guidelines. If every action in life comes with a price why don’t most people think about the bill due when you die? I don’t think enough people consider the effect their actions have on others and the world, religious or not, and that has made a massive negative impact.
On a completely different topic, replacing a boiler can cost some money but on the bright side they make them so much more energy efficient than they used to be. I noticed a considerable difference after we replaced ours.
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clarepooley33 said:
Thank-you! I agree that people really don’t seem to think or care about the effect their actions or comments have on others. There seems to be such a lot of absolutely callous behaviour these days as if the perpetrators believe they are invincible and cannot be brought to book no matter what they do. Fundamentalists of all religions are just as guilty of this behaviour as the people without belief. Only *they* are right and everyone else is wrong and should be punished.
We moved into this house nearly 10 years ago and the boiler was old then. I think it is as old as the house which was built in 1987. We have a very good repair man who has really looked after it very well, making new parts for it because they can’t be obtained from the manufacturers. However, it is so noisy now and the timer is faulty and I suspect we have a minor leak as well. We had new boilers in both our previous houses and they made such a positive difference to our fuel consumption and were so easy to look after.
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Lavinia Ross said:
A beautiful Advent crown you made! It is good to take the time to slow down and reflect during the season.
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clarepooley33 said:
Thank-you Lavinia. It is good to take the time to reflect and pray. This poor world needs our prayers.
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colorpencil2014 said:
I agree, dear Clare, I love December…but for the right reasons;0) I love the festiveness, because there is so much to celebrate and most of all the hope for light and new life! xo Johanna
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clarepooley33 said:
Thank-you Johanna! Yes, there is so much to be thankful for and I love the festive season. I hope I am able to get everything done on time, get enough sleep and then relax and enjoy myself! Take care Johanna xx Clare
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Draws Shoots and Leaves said:
Such a busy time of year! Hard to find any time for peaceful reflection. Best wishes for the season.
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clarepooley33 said:
Thank-you Sue. Best wishes to you too.
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Ste J said:
Mad times as ever, although this year it seems to be less so, one is always less busy when out at work than doing things to fill up spare time oddly. Congratulations to E. as well!
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clarepooley33 said:
Thank-you Ste – I have found that too! E says thank-you.
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lundygirl said:
this seems like a post of two halves – the quiet and contemplative half and then the busy half. last year I bought a book of short thoughts to use during advent that I saw on someone’s blog. It’s lovely to take a few moments to enjoy the season. here’s a link http://www.amazon.co.uk/Good-News-Great-Joy-Readings/dp/0983916470/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1449518804&sr=1-1&keywords=good+news+of+great+joy
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clarepooley33 said:
Thanks Rachel! I thought the same as I wrote it! It just shows what a struggle it is each year between what I’d like and ought to do during Advent and the whole mass of things that make it so difficult to do in reality. Thanks for the link – I have ordered the book. I have been looking for something like this for a couple of years and I am so pleased!
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Charlotte Hoather said:
What lovely activities and plans you have made, hope you and all the family have a wonderful peaceful season. Finished my last audition yesterday my futures still on the tables although Scotland have made me an offer which has taken a lot of stress out of the situation. My brother and his flat mate are taking me to Harry Potter World today just waiting for them both and they say girls take a long time to get ready!
Best wishes for the season
Charlotte
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clarepooley33 said:
Thank-you Charlotte! I hope you and your family have a wonderful Christmas and you have a very successful New Year. I am so pleased you have had an offer; congratulations! I hope you had fun at Harry Potter World. (I’m always having to wait for my husband to get ready!) Best wishes, Clare x
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Kally said:
I was looking for new reading material and I stumbled upon your blog. Great post. Well written and inspiring. Looking forward to coming back and explore other ones you have.
Merry Christmas & Have an Amazing New Year!
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clarepooley33 said:
Thank-you very much Kally! I apologise for not replying to your kind message sooner but it had been put in my spam queue for some reason! I am so glad I checked it this evening! We had a lovely Christmas thank-you – I hope you have a very happy New Year. Best wishes, Clare
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Kally said:
You’re most welcome. We missed you at MiddleMe!
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