In which I mention walking, snow flakes, tasty treats, tree decorating and other similar festive asides

On Thursday,  after several postponements, social distancing requirements and the vagaries of the weather - I finally met up with National Trust rangers and an artistic researcher for a magical, wet and misty walk in the woods in Upper Wharfedale in the Yorkshire Dales. We were there to discuss an incredible joint venture.

We walked through Yokenthwaite Farm - already well known in the area for it's picturesque setting and the handmade porridge and granola business that originated from the farm. It now it is more widely recognised as being one of the more important farms in the latest James Herriot 'All creatures great and small' tv series.

The path took us up in to a straggly wood - now looking all the more sparse - not only due to the season but to the every increasingly prevalent Ash die back - a virus killing off all the native Ash trees across Europe. We were meeting to discuss a way of marking the demise and the long term loss such a large and statuesque tree has on the countryside.

It was a deeply interesting walk, mixing art with science, folk law and faerie stories, planning rejuvenation with installation, regeneration with public involvement and benefit.  It is going to be a long project.

As apprehensive as I am, this is something bigger than I have been involved with before and it is deeper with serious generational longevity and ecological significance - what a project to be part of. 

On a lighter note, our village trail on the theme of snowflakes is gathering pace (was a light flurry and now is becoming bit of a snowstorm!). It is lovely seeing all the decorations.

With 2020 being not a normal year (not that you need reminding) we have had to forgo our traditional festive wreathy day - the first time since 2004 we've not had one. This week, there is going to be a small (as in just myself, Youngest and GF) gathering and we are going to make wreaths and festive foliage ties. I usually just make for our home and a couple of special friends but this year I am going make as many as I can and gift them to those who can not get out to collect the greenery for themselves.

One of the traditions which happens every year during our festive wreathy making - a very dear friend, one who I dearly love, always brings a pepparkakor tree (a Swedish gingerbread) and seeing we were not getting together for the workshop, it was one more thing to mourn.

So you can imagine my delight when, on Saturday she unexpectedly turned up bearing the most beautifully gingery hot and spicy pepparkakor tree - she and her lovely partner sat outside, fingers wrapped around mugs of tea, while Himself and I sat at our doorway doing the same, as we had a sorely missed catch up.  Thank you wildaboutwords - your thoughtfulness still brings a lump to my throat xxxxx

Continuing with thank yous - thank you everyone who shared their festive bakes and recipes - they were amazing - some of you are prolific bakers (looking at you lovely lady) and if you are wondering what I am talking about - just follow this LINK to see some super tasty makes and bakes :)

Our next themed link up is this Friday and is 'Trees' - really looking forward to seeing your wonderful blogs xx

ps Talking of trees, I finally dressed mine this weekend, Himself brought in Treebeard (yes our chrimbly tree has a name and he lives freely in the garden) for me, I think we have had him frolicking in our garden for nine years now - he is looking little rough this year (mind you - don't we all?!) so I think his 2021 treat will be to be re-potted so he can spread his toes a little :D However, it is his time to shine - repotting can wait till warmer (drier) weather xx

Chrimbly count down Link up Part 2

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Wow - it is already our second Chrimbly count down link up party 

Time to share your festive stories

enjoy!

please don't forget to link back to my blog,

thank you :) 

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

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Chrimbly Count down - Baking✵ ✶ ✷

11th December : Baking 

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Himself and the boys have legs so hollow that baking evaporates before it has even had time to cool down, which meant baking large batches regularly became a way of life. Then this summer when lock down briefly lifted, the boys moved out to either start work in a new town or return to uni. Himself remained the sole baking consumer and he has done sterling work!

These lemon and ginger shortbread were as a result of me noticing the biscuit tin was a little bare. Himself had been working outside on the van and the weather (and the van to be honest) had been a little foul and I knew he would need some sort of pick-me-up with his mug of tea. 

They just managed to last until the evening ....... he felt a whole lot better (and is still as thin as a reed!) And if you fancy trying them - they are indeed very more-ish.... the link is HERE

*And since the original baking, I have made a further three batches (I am eating one now with a mug of tea - bliss)

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S'no joke - the 'how to do' episode

Belinda from Mad Englishwoman and Dog asked for a reminder how to make paper snowflakes and while I was knitting and sipping coffee, I hatched a plan to do a quick tutorial once I'd cast off from the sleeve I had nearly finished. 

Here goes!

• You'll need paper (I just used plain white A4, however there is no reason why you can't use metallic or patterned paper here - I would advise against using too thick a paper as it gets harder to cut once it is folded 12 times.
• Ruler
• Scissors * - small sharp pointed ones are best for cutting delicate detail
• And/or a craft knife *(I use a medical grade scalpel handle and non surgical size 10 scalpel blades*
• Cutting board
• Pencil/pen

* the usual T&Cs - be careful with sharp pointy things etc 

To make six sided star or flake, you will need to make your A4 paper into a perfect square. 

Fold a top corner across until the edge is perfectly lined up with the diagonally opposite edge 

and flatten the fold firmly down.

Draw lightly (I've used a marker pen to make sure is visible) where the lower edge of the square is above the excess paper.

Cut off the surplus paper and save it for later.

Refold your square back into a triangle, 

then fold again into quarters.

Once again, firm down the fold to make a sharp crease.

Now here comes (in my opinion) the fiddliest part of the process.  

Turn your folded paper point down (the 90° corner)

 you need to fold the triangle into three from this point. 

I found the best way was to crease the very tip of the bottom point with my finger nail 

to help the paper bend at this point. 

Then curl the paper as if making a cone. 

Once it appears that the cone is equally curled to create three sections, 

flatten it, again making sure all sections are equally folded

and the folds pressed down as firmly as possible.

Turn your now flattened cone until the two upward pointed corners are at the back

and the flat edge is facing you. You need to cut off the pointed corners to match that edge.

Now the fun part, 

turn your triangle sideways so that the single fold is along the base 

and the double folds are at the top.

Grab your pencil and sketch out a profile - you don't need to colour in the sections to be removed, 

I did at first and it made it easier to plan, 

I have done it here to make it show more clearly.

Cut away the 'negative space' leaving your flake.

Which when opened will reveal your pattern! Voila!

You can go as complicated or as simple as you fancy - this one is a pretty simple shape, 

some I made became so intricate that I had to resort to refilling my coffee mug and falling upon a ginger and lemon shortbread to give me strength!

Oh yes ... remember that discarded and stashed for later piece of paper?

Well, just fold in half lengthways, then, as before, fold over the top corner to make a square. 

Keeping the folded edge as the centre of the star/flake (see pointed arrow)

sketch out a shape to make the top triangle as the centre of the flake 

and keep the folded edge of the long piece in the centre of the tail.

I just free cut with the scalpel blade - which is always a little risky as I can never predict the design - as it just 'happens' .

So, there you have it - this snow flake is less winter-wonderland and more snow sprite - perfect :D

Hope this helps, and if you need further inspiration and certainly better instructions and more traditional finished snowflakes - have a look HERE and HERE and HERE!

Oh well, now to start the second sleeve, excuse my while I put the kettle on, 

clear up the snow storm and cast on :)

That s'no storm!

 Wow! What a wonderful response to Friday's link up - Decorations - I am delighted so many festive folk joined in ! thank you so much :) and if you are wondering what on earth I am talking about have a look HERE - there are 12 lovely blogs to have a look at all sharing their favourite decoration stories - really worth visiting :D

If you remember, a couple of months ago our village adapted the usual Halloween shenanigans so to make social distancing possible while still allowing the mini monsters to be out and about all dressed up and excited. It was soon followed (you may recall me grinding my back teeth) by 'Spot the Poppie's'. It seems that the village as a whole rather like having a reason to 'play' and dress their homes ... so now we have 'Follow the Tinsel Trail' with a theme of snowflakes.

Cue lots of snipping and cutting and in some cases cussing when snipping too close and 'altering' the desired shape!

There was such a flurry of little snipperty bits, despite trying to keep them under control.

It is such a long time since I make paper snowflakes, I remember doing them with the boys whilst they were still at junior school - they are a wonderful mix of frustration and fun - that anticipation when I unfolded them was something I'd forgotten (and enjoyed!)

The silvery lines and streaks behind the paper snowflakes is the light on the wet rowan tree in the garden and the eagle-eyed of you will spot where I over enthusiastically snipped the snowflakes - oops. 

Well they kept me relatively quiet (bar the cussing) 

and certainly entertained for a little while on Sunday evening. 

A gentle reminder that this Friday will be our second Chrimbly count down and the festive theme is Baking - here is to some yummy posts - hope you can join in with the fun :D

Chrimbly count down - Link up

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 Welcome!Welcome!

Welcome to our first Chrimbly countdown link up! 

This Friday's prompt - Decorations

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You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

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Don't forget to link back from your own blog to mine :) 

thank you xx

Chrimbly count down - Decorations❅✳❄

 4th December :  Decorations 

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If I had to give up all my decorations and was allowed to keep just the one - it would be this .... my Swedish Angel Chimes. 

It is the first chrimbly thing that comes out of the chrimbly deco-box and is set up early in December while everything else (and I do mean everything) waits for another two weeks before being released.

Once it is dark, I'll open the chimes and quietly assemble it, adding the candles and finally lighting them. Whilst the air above the flame begins to warm, I'll switch off all the lights and watch the moving light and shadows on the ceiling, then as the chimes begin to ting ting ting, I listen and know that winter is here and autumn has slipped away.

For those of us in the northern hemisphere, there is only 17 days until the longest night, 17 days left 'til the light starts to return. The wheel is turning and the seasons move on - the light will return xxx

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If you like what you have read - please have a look at the LINK UP POST and see what our Chrimbly count down folk have been getting up to!

Wot EVERY Friday???

Morning! I have just broken off from knitting to make myself a cinnamon coffee and spend a little time with you.

Firstly thank you everyone who joined in with November's scavenger photo-hunt and took the time to read and comment on our posts - it is really good when we share our stories.

I thought I would reiterate my plans to continue through out the year - with 2020 being a year on it's own, I thought why not? - we won't be having the usual festive parties or the works-do or the friends get-togethers with mincepies. So this December's photo-hunt, although not a replacement, hopefully will go someway to making you feeling a little more festive. Now, here is the plan .... 

EVERY Friday we will post a SINGLE** photo and a mini story - all festively inspired, giving you a chance to blog a memory or to share how this year will be different for you. 

There are three Fridays in December, with the 4th being Christmas Day.  So the final day we will post will be THURSDAY 31st December - a sort of final hurrah to 2020.

edited to add ** From the general reaction it sounds like you might like to post more than one image per prompt! That is wonderful so please do!!  the more the merrier!

So here goes ...

4th December :  Decorations - a favourite one - was it inherited, did your kids make it or was it one you bought on a whim and love dearly?

11th December : Baking - festive or otherwise and may be share the recipe so we can all have a taste :)

18th December : Tree - a snap shot of your tree, this year's, last year's, the black and white one of you as a tiny tot helping to decorate,  the one on the village square, that shiny white one in the shop, a native tree bedecked with lights and bird feeders - any festive tree :) 

31st December :  My own choice - the door is open for you to choose a photo from 2020, it can be one you have already shared or a new one, but one that you will always associate with this year ....  2020 will be one to remember for so many reasons x

I will post up a link up party page, just add your link and lets have a virtual festive get-together each week,  I hope you will join in - even if it is only once or twice - but do join in :)

So - a recap:

Friday 4th December - Decorations

Friday 11th December - Baking

Friday 18th December - Tree

Thursday 31st December - My own Choice

You up for it? Brilliant! I knew I could count on you xxxx

All photos in this post courtesy of Pixabay.

November's link up party

     

Welcome to November's words and pictures , so lovely to see you, it is time to share our photos and stories with this month's Scavenger Photo Hunt!

Just follow the link to add your post for November and if you fancy joining us - it is really easy, 

just follow the list of words supplied at the beginning of each month to inspire a photo, 

then at the end of the month, post your photos with a few accompanying words. Enjoy!

The link up party will stay live until midnight Sunday when it will then close.

Normally we stop for the month of December because we usually have too much on to have time to take photos and write mini stories, however, with 2020 being a little different, 

this year we will keep the hunt going through December too! 

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter