December So Far

Hello there! I really can't believe we're so far through December already. The madness of the final weeks of term has ended and at the weekend we collected J from university, so I am finally breathing a huge sigh of relief and feeling able to focus on our own home preparations for Christmas now.

Winter has arrived, and we've had some of my favourite weather of all recently in the form of cold, cold days full of bright sunshine and frost. I've loved my walks to school in the mornings wrapped up in scarf and gloves along frost-sparkled pavements being dazzled by low winter sun. It makes me feel so alive and zingy. Afternoons are short at this time of year, and it's dark by 4.30 now. It makes the evenings feel long and I'm enjoying switching our fairy lights on as darkness falls.

I have found time to make some of our own Christmas cards this year, in the form of lino printed ones (remember the workshop I did last spring?).

Here's my first run of prints. The design depicts frosty fields on a starry night, and they turned out pretty much how I'd envisaged, so I'm pleased with them. 

I added glitter to them to make them extra sparkly.

Two weekends ago I went to a carol concert at a church in Bath which P's choir performed at. While I was waiting for it to start I sat and looked closely at the stained glass windows. Since I've been going to stained glass classes I find I look more at how they are designed and made, and these were gorgeous. Listening to Christmas carols was a magical and very peaceful experience, made even better by the fact that outside the snow was falling. It settled on the hills around the city but turned into rain in the centre. It certainly was a very festive experience!

We walked past the Christmas market as we returned to the car and this sparkly, twinkly paper lantern stand caught my eye in the dark.

The Christmas market in Bath has been bigger and better this year, but absolutely packed with people and almost impossible to get close to. It's over now, but I don't recommend visiting next year on a Saturday afternoon!

One evening after P and I had been to the cinema it was lovely to just stand in Abbey Churchyard after the market had closed for the evening and enjoy the space after all the rush and bustle.

On recent shopping trips to Bath I've stopped and stared at this gorgeous window display. It's in Waterstones bookshop, and I just love the white paper snowflakes, doilies and beautiful cut-out designs. I felt a bit self-conscious taking a photo of a shop window, but it was only after I got home that I realised that the Georgian buildings opposite were reflected beautifully in the glass, so I was glad I did.

On one of these Saturday afternoons as the light was failing we walked up to Royal Victoria Park after shopping and had a wander around one of our favourite haunts, the Botanic Gardens. I loved these fatsia japonica flowers which are so very structural and wintry,

and a little robin waited for us on a bench looking suitably fluffy.

We rounded off the trip with a coffee. For me my favourite festive hot drink, a gingerbread latte, the first of the winter (I'm not having too many of these since I discovered how many calories they contain!).

I shall leave you with a photo of Clover taken a few days ago. It must've been cold because instead of snuggling into her cosy basket, she decided it was much cosier to be squished between it and the radiator. Silly creature!

Hope you're enjoying the winter so far - see you very soon x