Saturday 22 December 2018

Finding My Christmas Spirit

Hello, thank you for popping in.  It feels as if it has been raining for days here and although yesterday was the first day of winter, it's not cold.  It looks as if we are in for another mild, wet Christmas.  Bah, humbug!


Christmas has become a difficult time of year for me over the last few years and my Christmas Spirit has been elusive this time.  In an effort to find it, I have been drinking my tea from a festive mug every morning this month, but that didn't help.  I have put the Christmas cards we have received up on the bookshelves in the front room so that their jolly images greet me whenever I enter the room, but that didn't help, either.  The Best Beloved bought some mince pies for me (he doesn't eat them) and got the little mince pie plates out of the dresser, but nor did that help.  For the first time I can ever remember, I haven't sung a single Christmas carol and I haven't been to church since Advent Sunday.

A couple of weeks ago, I returned home and discovered a book on my doormat, posted there by a friend who described it as "delightful".  It is The Christmas Mystery by Jostein Gaarder, a children's book in twenty-four short chapters, designed to be read one chapter each day in December leading up to Christmas.  If I tell you that the characters include angels, a governor of Syria, three wise men, some shepherds and a lamb I reckon you will be able to guess what the book is about, but I haven't spoiled the story for you as the characters travel  from Norway across Europe and backwards through time from the twentieth century so there is more to be read.  I am indeed finding it delightful.  As I have read it, I have felt a little bit of Christmas Spirit seeping in.  

Last weekend I found myself perusing the bookcase in the room which used to be my children's  and my eyes alighted on The Grey Family by Noel Streatfield.  A fond memory stirred.  This book was written for children in the 1950s and is a typically old-fashioned, English story about a poor family whose "ship comes in" so that by the end of the story, they are not as poor as they were.  My bookish aunt sent this copy to The Teacher just after her father began working after three years of full-time study and the timing was perfect.  I have never forgotten this opening paragraph of the book's final chapter, which is the reason why I smiled. - 

"Christmas is always a glorious day, but that Christmas was the nicest the Greys could remember.  It was as if, without knowing it, the family had been wearing too tight a coat, which had suddenly burst open and allowed them to feel how pleasant it was not to be buttoned up in too tight a coat.  The reason why they felt like that was that they were just a little bit richer."

I took the book down from the shelf, settled down with a mug of tea and read it in a couple of hours.  A little bit of Christmas Spirit seeped in.

The third book I have been reading this month is A Christmas Carol and Other Stories by Charles Dickens.  Like most people of my age, I have read A Christmas Carol before, several times, but this volume, which I bought a few years ago in a charity shop for the grand price of 50p, also contains The Chimes and The Cricket on the Hearth, which I hadn't read.  After the phenomenal success of A Christmas Carol in 1843, Dickens published a similarly themed novella each December for the next four years and these are the first two of those.  I am saving A Christmas Carol for Christmas Eve but I have read the other two stories, and as I did so, a little bit of Christmas Spirit seeped in.  I should have worked it out sooner, really, that in this year when I have rediscovered my reading mojo, my Christmas Spirit would be unlocked by books.


Yesterday was the day of the winter solstice and, as has become our tradition, we brought in and decorated a Christmas tree.  We decorated our festive mantelpiece and lit all the candles in the evening, acknowledging the lengthening of the days and the return of the light.  As I sat contemplating it all last night over a glass of mulled wine I realised that I have been rather selfish; I may not be interested in celebrating myself, but my family love this time of year - The Most Wonderful Time of the Year [ding, dong, ding, dong] - and that's why I do it, for them, because I love them.  As that light bulb went on, a great deal of Christmas Spirit flooded in and overwhelmed me. Yep, I'm ready to sparkle and shine.  Bring it on.   


See you on Christmas Eve.
Love, Mrs Tiggywinkle x



28 comments:

  1. Phew, you found it just in time! Have a wonderful time with your family and your books x

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  2. I'm so pleased you found your Christmas Spirit at exactly the right time and so close to home and all you hold dear. Have a wonderful Christmas:)

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    1. Thanks Rosie. Happy Christmas to you and Paul. x

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  3. I'm so pleased you have discovered your Christmas spirit. Your home looks lovely and cosy. X

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    1. Thanks Jules. I've never had sophisticated tastes, I choose cosy every time. x

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  4. Glad you are feeling a little more festive. You are right it’s all about families and keeping traditions alive. Lovely to have some festive books to enjoy. I’m a bit like that with Nigel Slater’s Christmas Chronicles. I’m reading a few pages each day, lapping up all the Christmas customs. Have a lovely Christmas Mrs TW. B x

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    1. I've put those Christmas Chronicles on my list and I'm looking out for a second-hand copy. Happy Christmas, Barbara. x

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  5. Glad you finally let the spirit in.

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    1. You're right Janet, I think it was there all the time but I just couldn't find the way to open the door. Happy Christmas to you and Mac. x

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  6. Well the Christmas Spirit should only come at Christmas...so you’re not late to the party at all xx

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    1. I've always liked to acknowledge Advent before Christmas but usually, by the time I'm ready to party for the Twelve Days, the rest of the world thinks it's all over! No, I'm not late at all. Happy Christmas, Jackie. x

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  7. So happy to read about the sparkle and shine seeping in. Merry Christmas!

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  8. Several things have put me in the festive spirit this year when everything was threatening to overwhelm me. One was singing in a few concerts last week in Stanbrook Abbey. Communal singing is so uplifting! The other was driving through a small market town in the evening to look at the windows and the fabulous lights. Oh, and I have been reading Nigel Slaters Christmas Chronicles too. It really gets me in the mood for all the preparations. Enjoy your cosy home and the celebrations.

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    1. Thanks Catherine. I completely agree with you about communal singing and I used to love it, but my voice doesn't really cut the mustard any more. I love it when people put lights up outside their houses at this time of year, so pretty. I've put Nigel Slater on my wish list because so many people are talking about that book this year. Happy Christmas. x

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  9. I'm so glad that you found that special Christmas Spirit with the help of some lovely story books and the family tradition of bringing in the tree, adding those festive decorations, lighting candles and enjoying the moment. Wishing you a blessed Christmas.

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    1. Thank you Linda. Christmas blessings to you, too. x

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  10. I wish the Christmas spirit would come to me, alas not thins year, I do not feel Christmassy at all

    Julie xxxx

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    1. Oh Julie, I am sad to read this, especially as the rhythm of your daily Advent pictures has been so helpful to me this year. I wish you a hopeful Christmas. x

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  11. Here is something I wish for you...that you will watch the musical "Scrooge" with Albert Finney in the leading role. It was made in the early 1970's and is just so very, very good. Nobody ever mentions it but our family loves it. May the spirit of Christmas remain with you always. xx

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    1. Thanks Kay, or should I say, "Thank you very much, thank you very much, that's the nicest thing that anyone's ever done for me!" If I had a cannon I would fire it! I know the film and I think it's great, too. Your wish for me is very kind. Christmas blessings to you. x

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  12. I'm delighted to hear you found your Christmas spirit and I thank you for the reminder that there is magic in books.

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  13. I have been following your blog for awhile, and THOROUGHLY enjoy your vibe! I love all the amusing names you have for yourself and your family....and everything you share with us. I'm SO GLAD that you found the Christmas Spirit!!! I am not very tech savy, so hope I can see if you answer my post.....I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE your part of the world! The photo on your blog makes me want to slip into some warm shoes, coat and mittens and walk down the storefronts and peek in. I'm in search of a book: A COTSWOLD SKETCH BOOK by Lesley Holmes. Are you familiar with it? Neither AMAZON or BIBLIO has any information on it. Thought I'd see if you know anything about it. It was mentioned in a back issue of VICTORIA MAGAZINE that is published here in the US, and looked like a dream of a book! Thanks for letting me share your life....
    Barb from Texas

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    1. Hello Barb, and Happy New Year. Thank you for your very kind words! I hadn't heard of Lesley Holmes so I looked her up and found her website at www.lesleyholmes.com - her work is lovely! It looks as if you may be able to buy a copy of A Cotswold Sketchbook directly from her, and she'd even sign it for you. x

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  14. Well, chicken feathers! I posted before I clicked on NOTIFY ME....so, am doing that now!

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