All Things Nice . . .

 

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There'll always be Christmas -- as long as a light

Glows in th window to guide folks at night,

As long as a star in the heavens above

Keeps shining down . . . there'll be Christmas

and love.

There'll always be Christmas . . . as long as a tree

Grows on a hilltop . .  . as long as the sea

Breaks into foam on a white pebbled beach,

As long as there's laughter and beautiful speech.

There'll always be Christmas . . . as long as a street

Gives back the echo of homeward bound feet,

And children with mittens and warm winter clothes

Have bright eyes that sparkle and cheeks like a rose.

There'll always be Christmas . . . with holly and snow

And church bells that ring in the valley below,

Shop windows lighted and doorways ajar,

And over the housetops the glint of a star.

The cavernous length of a stocking to fill

A wreath on the window . . . a light on a hill,

The song of the angels . . . and over again

The beautiful message . . . Goodwill among men.

~Edna Jaques, There'll Always Be Christmas

Hills of Home, 1946

 

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Well, we made it. Christmas Eve 2022.  Most of North America is plunged into a deep freeze making travel difficult, but we're here. We're alive and hopefully we're all tucked nice and cozy into warm homes.  I am hoping that my son and his family will be able to travel here today, but the world will not end if they cannot make it. It will be disappointing if they can't, but I, above all else, want them safe for Christmas!  That is my Christmas wish for them.  There will be other Christmas's!

Is anyone else sitting here munching on Bits and Bites for breakfast?  Only me?  Hmmm . . .  c'est la vie!  You can't teach an old dog new tricks! I'm a breakfast grazer when I am on my own. 

Last night I thought my bedroom window was going to blow in. The wind was so strong, but it didn't and our electricity didn't go off either. That was a great blessing. Its 1*C at the moment ( 33.8*F for you Americans.) It's not raining or snowing; the skies are clear.  At one point during the night, I had to kick off my blankets as it was 13*C/55*4 F, which was sweltering to me. I like my bedroom to be very cool when I am asleep. I was hot, hot, hot.

 

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Today I am doing a Christmas movie binge. I'm just going to lay around all day and watch Christmas movies.  Unless I find out my son is coming of course, then I'll be doing a bit of cooking in preparation for this evening.  I'll still be able to get in a few Christmas movies however, even if they are playing in the background.

Last night I watched Mary Berry's Christmas on PBS.  My gosh but she makes everything look so easy.  I wish I had watched it sooner as there were a few things I would have liked to try, but there is always next year.

What an elegant lady she is. So even tempered and so nice. I don't think the GBBO was ever the same after she left. Pru Leith is okay, but she's no Mary Berry.  Who is!  She left some awfully big shoes to fill.

 

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If anyone was to eavesdrop on my house of an evening, they would think I have some form of British Turrets syndrome.  I watch a lot of Brit Box and Acorn television and periodically I will break out into a British accent and speak to the cats.  "Absolutely Spiffin!"  I'll blurt out.  Or something else.

They pay me absolutely no notice, but I'm having a great time. 

There is quite a bit I miss about the UK.  Mostly people. The lovely meat and fresh produce, and the cheese  . . . oh the cheese.  It was my home for over 20 years, and I got used to things being a certain way, especially around the holidays. My heart longs for little pigs in blankets surrounding my Christmas roast turkey and sausage stuffing.  Christmas pudding and cake. Mince pies coming out my ears.

But things change and they say you can never go back. I'll wager that is true. Everything changes and once you are out of it, it changes without you. Things are never the same. We get left behind.

One thing I didn't have over there was family and I am so blessed to be back here in Canada and surrounded with my family, which is absolutely "spiffin!"

 

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I was just talking to my father on the phone. The normal place he and his friends go to for Saturday morning breakfast is closed today so they are going to the place that they normally go on Sunday mornings. (Because that place will be closed tomorrow morning.) They do love to go out for breakfast at the weekend. My dad actually goes out for breakfast every day. Normally just toast and coffee, but at the weekend he will splurge on bacon and eggs. I think a lot of older people do that. I see the man across the way go out every morning at a certain time, always in the same direction.  I expect he is doing the same.  

It's quite good for them to get out and about like that. It provides them with a change of scenery and someone to talk to. My father is quite sociable actually. He did not like the Covid quarantine period at all.  I know a lot of seniors struggled with that. He had his cat Princess of course, and my sister did drive things back and forth for him, but it was hard for him to be stuck in his house like he was. God willing, we never have to go back to that.

 

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I am lucky in that I am a person who has never minded their own company or being on their own.  I can be quite sociable when I want to be, but for the most part (other than family) I am happiest when I am on my own. I keep myself pretty busy either way. I don't really get bored. I can always find something to do.

When the Covid Quarantine was on I did miss going to church, however. We did have it on zoom though and that was great fun because despite my being here in Canada, I was still able to attend my service in the UK as well as the one here in Nova Scotia. I just had to get up extra early to watch it. It was like having a foot in both camps.  It actually made the transition a lot easier than it might have been.

Those two weeks I spent in the motel after I got back to Canada were actually quite good for me as well.  It gave me time to decompress and settle my mind and heart somewhat, without having to be around other people.

I will always be grateful that I had a home and a family to come back to. Not everyone is so lucky or blessed. I will never take that blessing for granted.

 

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I did have a moment yesterday where I felt a bit blue.  Just about things in general. I suppose it is normal. I had been somewhere on Thursday, and they had shown me a lovely Christmas card they had gotten from my son with a beautiful photo of my grandson, and I did not get one. I did get one last year and the year before, but this year of course, I have not been able to drop off his gift and then knowing that I didn't get a card where others had done, it kind of got to me a bit. And I was sat looking at his gift and I think it finally really hit home that they really don't want me to be a part of their lives, or his life . . . full stop.  I am only human, and I confess that does hurt, but like my sister says, I need to change the narrative surrounding all of that. I haven't done anything wrong, and I need to stop acting like I have or allowing myself to feel guilty over stuff that I have no more reason to feel guilty about than anyone else does. This is on them, as hurtful as it might be for me. If my oldest son gets here, he will take the gift over for me. As Cindy says, one day my youngest son and daughter will have to explain to their children why their cousins had a grandmother and a good relationship with her that they didn't know about. Or maybe not. But I am sure at some time questions will be raised, and I hope that those grandchildren will know that I have always loved them and always will.  I pray for them and their safety and happiness every single day, and my children also.

My sister did stop by on her way home from work and that cheered me up a bit and then I went out to get some fresh milk. I saw that snack crackers were on three boxes for $7, so I bought a box of bacon dippers, vegetable thins, and wheat thins, and I picked up a frozen pizza for my supper. (I can never go in and just get what I planned on getting, in this case milk.)  I also got two lemons because you never know when you are going to need a lemon!

I had some of the frozen pizza for supper and thought to myself, this would have been so much better had I just made it myself! I should not have been so lazy.

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 So here it is Christmas Eve and I am sitting here with Nutmeg keeping me company as I type this. All is well in my little corner of the world. I am safe. I am warm. I am loved. I am blessed. I have all that I am in need of.   God is good.

So, I will close this morning with wishes for a very Merry Christmas, Happy Hannukah, Happy Holidays, etc. I will not be posting over the next few days.  Be happy. Be blessed and love each other.  Be kind. Know always that 

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And I do too!