Thursday 18 December 2014

Scrapbooking What December Means To Me

December? let me think...

that would be

Sian Fair


* wondering if this is the year to pull out all the Santa letters from the past and saying - look! you didn't think we'd let Santa keep them, did you?

* keeping an eye out for the Christmas Radio Times, which I never buy at any other time of the year, and don't actually need to buy now because it's all in the paper. I still do, though, because that's what we do at Christmas. When I was little I used to make a "viewing chart" so we knew what we had planned to watch for every moment of the holiday. Colour coded for all three channels.

* rolling out a lot of pastry for mince pies. I got an email from Uncle Dave yesterday. it said simply:
"How many mince pies have you made? In dozens."

*waiting for the first heavier-than-usual thunk from the letterbox. I like writing cards, I love receiving cards and I'm always happy to find a letter inside.  We save them up to open together in the evenings when everyone is home. That's what we did when we were little.

* missing mantelpieces. In our last house we had lots of old fireplaces with plenty of mantelpieces to decorate and set cards on. we don't have a single one here and I miss them madly at this time of year.

*nowhere to park, anywhere, at all, in the city. The traffic slows at the start of the month and gets worse until it crescendos into gridlock every Christmas Eve. A recent report said we have the slowest moving city traffic in the UK. Nowhere to park? I could leave the car in the middle of the road, do my shopping, come back and no one would have noticed. They'd still all be sitting in the same spots.

*a new dress. Or new boots. Or new something. I can't go to Little E's on Christmas Eve without making an effort. he'll have dressed up, no doubt about it.

* pine needles everywhere. One floated off me last night when I got into the bath. No, I don't know where it had been. But I do know that I found a little pile of last year's needles behind the book case when I moved it to make room for the tree. I kind of like that, it's Christmas all year round and I hadn't even realised

*hoping for some snow. We don't often get a lot of snow here, but when we do no one is ready for it and the nightly news is filled with miserable motorists and happy sledging schoolchildren.

*boxes everywhere. The decorations come down from the loft and the boxes are supposed to go back up again. But they often don't. The pile of amazon-boxes-I'm-sure-I'll-use-again-sometime grows. I'll eventually recycle them about May time. Even I get  a little tired of the stuff. everywhere.Though sometimes one of those boxes turns out to hold something very nice indeed.

But that's December: same life, a little more magic.



ps: don't forget Christmas Club, for the last time, this Sunday. Please come and share a story!

20 comments:

helena said...

oh yes the excitement of TV planning with the bumper festive guide - even with iplayer etc I still love to plan viewing.

I love your slogan for the month - I think I need to put that on my fridge and tempted to adopt it as my motto for 2015 - same life; a little more magic

scrappyjacky said...

I like that "same life...a little more magic"...it sums up December perfectly.
Ah.....the christmas TV mag....we only buy one at christmas as well....and one by one....we all go through starring the programmes we want to watch....lucky we have Sky+ then!
[I'm sorry Blogger....but does ticking a box saying "prove you're not a robot" actually prove I'm not!!!]

Jennifer Shaw said...

What a lovely Christmas page. I love that background paper. From a distance it reminds me of knitting. Loved reading all of your Christmas thoughts and memories. :)

Lizzy Hill said...

Gold & journaling - oh! How I adore both!!! You got me with this one!! And what fabulous Christmas memories... I'd forgotten about mantelpieces til u mentioned them!!!!! Enjoy those mince tarts, too :):)

Maria Ontiveros said...

I love the background paper on this - reminds me of a warm woolen sweater.
Our December often gets filled with studying for finals, but we are starting to get excited about Christmas.
Rinda`

Karen said...

I love the color palette you've chose for this layout--just gorgeous, and I always enjoy your journaling!

KraftyKaren said...

Lovely layout and I am wondering if Uncle Dave is related to my Mr P - it is all about the homemade mince pies for him too!!

Theresa said...

oh yes - buying the Radio Times was always a tradition when I lived in the UK, maybe I'll buy it when we reach Folkstone - just because!! And Boxes - I have a room full, but have used some for wine gift boxes this year. Sorry for being absent lately, but thanks for your blogging encouragement - I will be back in 2015. Happy Christmas and best wishes for the New Year.

Cheri said...

I think everyone enjoys the "a little more magic" part! I definitely do. As for the Amazon boxes, I've learned to recycle the smaller ones as soon as I've mailed out my own Christmas parcels (usually by the 4th or 5th of December). After that I only keep the ones that are large enough to box stuff headed for Good Will.

alexa said...

A lovely page, Sian - that knitted effect is very cosy! And your post is full of interesting snippets too. I had no idea about the state of the city traffic ... I am afraid that cardboard here goes straight into the recycling or the multi-fuel stove. Though any thin flat envelopes I keep for making covers for journals. Looking forward to seeing your new purchase - you can't possibly disappoint little E :).

Melissa said...

What a wonderful FUN list of what December means to you! I had to laugh because we have the growing "pile of amazon-boxes-I'm-sure-I'll-use-again-sometime" growing in the garage right now! In fact, I'm listening for the sound of another box or two plunking onto the porch today to signal the last of Robbie's gifts has arrived! :>)

Sheena said...

Fabulous page Sian x
We only by the TV guides at Christmas & still ring all our favourites like we have always done :)
wishing you & yours a very happy christmas xxx

Fiona@Staring at the Sea said...

I'm so glad it's not just me that has a stack of Amazon boxes at the ready, just in case! Lovely post.

Anonymous said...

Oh Sian, what a beautiful, beautiful post....I opened it the other day and didn't want to read it in a rush so came back when I had a little more time....I'm leaving it open to read again, however, as I just *love* it....it's so so Christmassy! Love the idea of Little E getting all dolled up on Christmas Eve!!!

Barbara Eads said...

You hit the nail on the head with your December observations. I think you can substitute any place in the world and it would be the same!! I hope you have a blessed Christmas week!

Chantal Vandenberg said...

Totally awesome!!! :D

Rachel Brett said...

I love this page, the background paper is so pretty... This post had made me feel very Christmassy. Especially the radio times bit, I used to love doing that :)

Ashley Calder said...

Great page!! Love the design.. and the tilted frame with the bit of crumpled paper/lace behind it is just a lovely detail.

Jo said...

That is a lovely list of December goodness :)

Anonymous said...

Your post made me smile at memories of Christmases past. So weird that I'm reading it a month after Christmas. Hope Uncle Dave was happy with the mince pies (I've still never had one).

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