Creating a festive outfit

Creating a festive outfit doesn't have to be about wearing a Christmas jumper or even a Christmas dress, it can be about whatever you want it to. I am not a fashion or style expert and I have always done my own thing and you should too.

The end.

However, how I did that here was in the cunning use of bright colours and patterns.

 This beautiful dress is from Palava Folk (once called Poppy England, then Bryony&co) and it is handmade in England.  100% cotton, pockets, lined. What's not to love. Even better, I bought it in their summer sample sale at about 70% less than the normal price.
I thought it worked as a festive dress because the lolly pattern was quite synonymous with Christmas baubles and also made me think of the Land of Sweets from the Nutcracker ballet

 The gorgeous skies in Blackmore as I took these photos.

 I took the bauble idea and wore this personalised Christmas decoration as an oversized pendant. This was a free gift from Punkypins which I received last year with an order.

 I added these wonderful parcel bow earrings from Hazel which were a simple touch without being too overpowering...

The final detail was my Croc shoes. Although turquoise wasn't an obvious choice, I felt it worked well!

And that's how I created a festive outfit! How would you have created one?

xxx

Christmas Day 2016

 Wishing you a wonderfully merry Christmas with many blessings.
Enjoy yourself, relax, don't worry and God bless you.xxx

Advent Calendar Day 24: The final present

I do so hope you have enjoyed my varied Advent Calendar this year. I found it quite liberating choosing generally one (or two) photos, writing very little about them, it elicited some lovely responses from many of you and for that I thank you most kindly. Thank you to Julie for prompting this challenge and to Ang for the Pause for Advent organisation too!

So, we've covered papier mache animals, brooches, choirs, carols, books, cup-snowmen, shopfronts, pantomimes, wisemen, hippos and much more, surely there isn't anything left to cover?

But no, there is...

The manger is empty. The animals sit expectantly.  We have waited long for the final gift, for the saving grace, for the child.  A child is always considered a gift and this one was long awaited.

Jesus was on his way from God!

Yes, it is Christmas eve and Jesus is coming!!

He brings hope, joy, peace and new starts for all!

Hurrah!

xxx

Advent Day 23: 5 brooches #50- Christmas 2 edition- Jazzing up a boring outfit

When I reached 5 brooches #50, I always intended to do a Giveaway but sadly, I have run out of time to do much about it right now, so I might wait for a later number to do this officially.  

Today, all the brooches or pin badges were on one outfit. Namely on one waistcoat!

 These three pins (We three pins of cardigan are) came as a set from Sainsbury's. I should have resisted but it was oh so easy to put them into the basket. Quite jolly and sweet. I liked glittery Rudolf the best!

 Here's the gang combined!

And here are the other side. 

The top one is from Rosebud Casson who makes beautiful jewellery and I am reallly fond of this.

The middle one comes from Hello Crumpet on Etsy.  It is a domed one and rather delicate and pretty.

The last one came from Kate Gabrielle and was actually free with an order I placed! It is a darling Triceratops dinosaur who has a holly wreath and fairylights round his horns!

I thought I'd jazz up what was otherwise quite a boring, shapeless and casual outfit with the pin badges and also the pretty sequinned collar which is handmade in England and I found in a charity shop on Saturday for £1.49. I've liked using collars to smarten up outfits this year- it's definitely my favourite thing to do sartorially!

Any nice brooches from you this week? Do share if so!

xx

Advent Day 22: Cathedrals and churches

This is Chelmsford Cathedral in the picture.  I took this picture on my way to my John Lewis performance.  I always looked forward to the Midnight Mass church service but I haven't actually been to one for quite a few years now as I have been away from home and it hasn't been so easy to attend. But it has always been my favourite service. There is always so much anticipation and joy and when you have communion so late into the night or early into Christmas morning, it is always so special.

Do you ever go to the Midnight service?

x

This is Day 22 of my Advent Calendar with Julie

Advent Calendar Day 21: Festive reads

Having been part of the Bookstagram community this year, the idea of reading some festive-themed books came to mind this year.  I intended to read Jostein Gaarder's The Christmas Mystery through Advent though typically, I couldn't find it until yesterday!

The first book I read was 'Christmas at Tiffany's' by Karen Swann, picked up in a charity shop.

A large amount of the book is NOT set at Christmas so I think that perhaps the name is a marketing ploy but it is certainly an entertaining book.

Our heroine of the book, Cassie, finds out, during her anniversary party, that her husband of exactly 10 years has a child and relationship with someone else.  She flees together with her best friends who live in London, Paris and New York respectively and their plan (conceived in minutes apparently) is for her to live with each of them for 4 months and decide how she wants to spend her life from here on since she married straight from University and has been rusticating in Scotland since then.  She heads first to New York to stay with a friend there where she encounters her friend Susie's brother who she snogged just before she met her husband.  In New York, she undergoes a make-over in the style of friend and works for a PR Agency. She meets a man and all seems to go well until a bit of a disaster in terms of work...

In Paris, she changes yet again, discovers new skills, new friends and explores lists to get to know the place that the aforementioned brother has drawn up for her.

Eventually she ends up in London at the final location.

I enjoyed this book and the fairytale element of it although I found all the 'beauty and grooming' aspects of the book made me roll my eyes a bit and wonder why people suffer so much for perceived 'beauty'.  I also found the 'hero' of the book rather too perfect and in that sense, with his preplanning, verging on the creepy a bit, even though he was not written in that way! Still, it was a good ol' chick lit book that worked well for me. I like a happy ending!

My second read is a Terry Pratchett book, The Hogfather, which I first tried reading in August about 10 years ago before I had read very much Pratchett. I abandoned it and didn't really get into it.

This time, being more au fait with Disc World, having read quite a few in the last year, I really enjoyed it.

In Discworld, it is almost Hogswatch- Discworld's equivalent of Christmas.  The Hogfather is on his way with his hogs driving his sleigh. Except that The Hogfather seems to resemble Death, the Grim Reaper, this year and it seems strange things or happening. Someone or something has killed the immortal Hogfather and the belief that is currently not being used for that is making all sorts of strange creatures that people have suspected exist appear.

Susan Sto Stelitt, Death's Granddaughter, who desperately wants to live a normal life as a governess, despite beating up all the bogeys and horrible things that appear under the bed, gets embroiled when she realises that Death is doing a job he really shouldn't be doing.

I found the book wonderfully imaginative, festive and as usual, full of unbelievably poignant thoughts that strike you. It is dark as usual but with light and amusement. I really enjoyed the characters in it and the imagery and evocative place descriptions Pratchett created such as Bloody Stupid Johnson's shower room that Ridcully discovers.  He is so inventive. I always love the fact that there is a mystery to be solved in many of his books, in this case, what has happened to the Hogfather and WHY?

I enjoyed getting to know Death a bit better and realising he is really a sentimental soul in ways. He appears in pretty much all Discworld books but I've not read any with as much detail as this.  

This is definitely an alternative, brilliant festive read.

Read,of course, accompanied by snacks!

Have you read any of these?

This is my Advent Calendar for day 21 with Julie at KC's court.

Advent Day 20: What is it? A CUP SNOWMAN!

Yesterday, I shared the mystery shot of what was a CUP snowman.  Last year, some of our TAs worked in their lunch hours and spare time and made a snowman out of cups.

 He was resurrected this year and it seems that they were still keen to make more so our library had various snowmen heads hanging around...

 I thought I'd wear some of them!

Ha, what good fun!!!

This is my Advent Calendar with Julie at KC's Court for Day 20 ( a day behind!!!)

xx

Advent Day 19: What is it? #52- The Advent Edition

Hi y'all!

I thought today's Advent picture would be funny to do as a 'What is it?'
The premise of this game, if you have not joined in before, is to look at a picture that is perhaps ambiguous or a cloud which might resemble something other than that... You leave a comment saying what you think it is.

So, today's picture is above.  What do you think it is supposed to be?

Leave a comment in the box below!!!

So what about last time?

Last time's cloud

This cloud which I saw as we drove along, looked to me like a gentleman from the 17-18th century wearing a powdered wig, facing to the right and blowing his nose with a handkerchief- somebody like the composer, George Friedrich Handel perhaps?

What did the commenters think?

10 comments:

1. 
   Imogen7:38 am

   Clouds often remind me of sheep and the circular part in the last picture looks like an eye. This reminds me of my afternoon at the pool just now. It was a rare occasion of me doing outdoor swimming. While doing backstroke I kept looking at the clouds and thinking about their shape.

   ReplyDelete
2. 
   Elizabeth Rebecca10:36 am

   To me, it looks like an old fashioned gladiator helmet?
   
   http://lizziedailyblog.blogspot.co.uk/

   ReplyDelete
3. 
   Julia3:13 pm

   I see a dodo bird head.
   Julia

   ReplyDelete
4. 
   Corinne6:50 pm

   I see it as like a horse, or some animal with a beak? ha.
   
   Corinne x
   www.skinnedcdartree.com

   ReplyDelete
5. 
   Gil Zetbase7:04 am

   Amazing post!
   Have a nice week-end!
   Gil Zetbase
   http://gilzetbase.com/

   ReplyDelete
6. 
   Confuzzled Bev10:20 am

   Oh, I totally see your little bird from last time now!
   
   In this one I see a dog, he's lying down and looking up at something.

   ReplyDelete
7. 
   Polyester Princess11:27 am

   It's a little dog, who is chasing something. xxx

   ReplyDelete
8. 
   Denise Sabs9:18 pm

   Hi, dear Kezzie, I find your cloud guesses so nice! For me the first one looks like a Christmas tree, but maybe it is because I am thinking about Christmas too much these days :) And the second one looks like a hand showing "how much? Zero" - it looks like a circle :) I don't know, I daydream a lot :) Hope you have a nice week!
   DenisesPlanet.com

   ReplyDelete
9. 
   Ivana Split6:47 pm

   it reminds me of a battlestar galatica:)

   ReplyDelete
10. 
    HazelxJoy5:36 pm

    Oh, I was right last time. I really can't see anything this time around though... I'm a little tired! Perhaps a teddy bear sitting down with his back to us...?

    ReplyDelete

Oooh, variety, this time! I liked what everyone saw!

Leave a comment, it's all good fun!!

xx

Advent Day 18: Difficult times

Sometimes, it feels like things go wrong in December.  Everyone is tired and moody and longing for a break. The days are dark, long and gloomy.  We shiver around radiators, we long for light and hope.
It seems when things aren't going merrily at Christmas, life seems even harder. It feels personal. It feels like everyone else is rejoicing, being merry.

I remember when I was 22 and my boyfriend of 2.5 years split up with me 2 weeks before Christmas. EVERYTHING felt really hard that year. All my household was happy. Everything felt hard and new.  I remember keeping a brave face for everyone but it was really difficult. And all that was, was a break up from my boyfriend, imagine that it was a divorce, death, redundancy, cancer diagnosis- the outlook would have been bleaker.

Or it might be that you are teacher, particularly one dealing with pastoral care, it seems that the pupils are doing their utmost to get in trouble, argue, be nasty to each other, finding the SAME old issues keep coming up and don't seem to be resolved, you doubt yourself, wonder if you can keep doing this job, feel helpless or like giving up.

For all it is the most wonderful time of the year, folks can be generally mean and nasty to each other.
Imagine the family member left at home whilst the rest of the family are out playing, having fun, one can feel forsaken. One can imagine horrors and things going on that aren't true. I feel that sometimes, if the devil can find a chink in our armour, finds our insecurities, he plays on those, exasperates those fears and doubts and blows these up in our mind.

Or the anxiety of knowing you want to provide a wonderful time for your family, but the sheer fact that the sums won't add up and there's no money to pay for it.

Facing a first Christmas without a loved one. I am going to the carol service at my old church tonight and automatically started thinking of dropping in on Norma on my way there and remembering she is no longer with us.

I had started to think about writing this, about Christmas sometimes being difficult and then I saw Ang's Pause for Advent and discovered she had written about something similar.

She shared this wonderful poem which sums it up so evocatively:

Let the bells jingle but make time for tears to fall.

Eat, drink and be merry but do not go hungry in that inner place.

Rest, reflect and remember, Be true to yourself.

Many of us can't play happy families at this time of year.

December is for a difficult diagnosis as well as dreaming of a white Christmas

December is for divorce as well as decorations.

December is for death and dying as well as discos and dancing.

December is for distances that separate us from people,

even those in the same room.

Disappointment in December is especially hard to bear.

Sometimes the light no longer shines in the darkness.

The desolation swallows us up and we die a little.

Yet a kindly word, a bird in flight, a tree alive with hoar and hips

can drown out despair and kindle determination to move on.

Dig down deeper than the tinsel to the place where hope is found.

Maybe, just maybe, the flickering flame will be fanned gentle into fire.

And then when all is lost, all we have is hope.  A friend who is still up when you phone to share your doubts; a fellow teacher who understands the difficulty; a hug or the reassurance that all is not lost.
For me, Christmas is about hope. Christ came to bring hope to the world and for me personally.  I know that if all felt lost, he would be there for me.

There is HOPE at Christmas. A light in the darkness.

Love, peace and hope to you this year, whatever you are dealing with..

xxx

Advent Day 17: Confectionery

Sorry, this is a day late. I shall be back with my Pause for Advent later...

We went over to my Mum's for lunch yesterday and had a very pleasant lunch of wild Alaskan salmon, squash and sweet potato mash and peas. Then Chocolate pudding for dessert. It was very tasty and kind of her to cook for us.

She'd made these fondant mint leaves (the underside is covered in chocolate).  They looked very delicious but I was utterly stuffed from lunch! A pity as I'd now like to try one!

I wonder what your favourite confectionery at Christmas is? If you were able to eat a chocolate of sweet of choice, what would it be.

As usual, I have received a wealth of chocolate and biscuits from school children. It is very kind of them but I feel rather overwhelmed by it all.  SOooo much chocolate, SO many biscuits.  It's not good for me to eat that amount.

To that end, I feel a bit guilty about doing it, but when our postman called to deliver a parcel, I gave him one of the boxes of chocolates.  He seemed very pleased and I figured that the joy I got from his smile is much better than the joy of eating those chocolates (Milk Tray incidentally).

I may also deliver a box to the staff at my local station.  I know that I mustn't eat loads of chocolates, so I hope that is ok and you don't consider it wrong that I will pass on one of the many boxes!

Regarding confectionery- I always love After Eight mints or those Elizabeth Shaw Mint crisps but if I received 6 boxes of those, even those would seem to much. I guess it's about things in moderation and not excess!

This is my Advent Calendar entry with Julie at KC's Court

xx

Advent Calendar Day 16- Since we're on the subject of Brussel Sprout earrings...

Hi All,

On my previous brooch post, Vix referred to some lovely Brussel sprout earrings, suggesting I acquire some, egged on by the rest of you!

However, I am one step ahead of you...

I am the proud owner of crocheted brussel sprout earrings!

They were crocheted by my friend Lara who started selling her wonderful crocheted items this year. I am keen to support a friend in her endeavours but her miniature crochet-items are frankly genius!

When I saw her post her 'jar of crocheted sprouts'all with different facial expressions, I knew I had to have a pair of them to make into earrings.

She made me 4 sprouts with loops and I attached jump rings and earring backs to them! Aren't they cute???

She's crocheted me a couple of gifts (some of which I can't share on here in case anyone is reading who mustn't see them!)

Pictured above, is a present for my Dad.  We've always bought my dad Pickles, pickled items and olives in jars. He adores them. When Lara told me about the crocheted gherkins where a little boy lost one and was distraught, I saw an opportunity to make my Dad giggle at Christmas. So this year's pickles have an unexpected item!

If you have the chance or your are interested in a commission, she crochets your pet to order and her prices are extremely reasonable... Her page is well worth a look and she was really hoping to get to 100 likes by Christmas. She's reached that now but it would be lovely if she could get to 200 likes as an unexpected surprise!!! Don't mention my blog but you can mention me if you wanted to or just like without comment if you wish!

You can find her here.  I'd LOVE it if you went to like...

Ooh,one more make of hers you can see are these orange Spats she made for me on commision to emulate Doctor Who, Colin Baker with his turquoise boots and orange spats!!!

This is my Advent Calendar with Julie

Advent Calendar Day 15: Shepherds Swing

As promised, here is the recording of my annual Christmas composed song.  This year, I actually wrote it in August, the idea came to me very quickly. I knew that I was missing a Shepherd-based song for my Complete Nativity and I immediately knew I wanted it to have a swing feel to it.  Usually I compose my own lyrics but this time I decided to use someone else's lyrics.

I confess that I find the regular tune to While Shepherds watched their flocks by night quite a dirge.  It just seems to go on and on so I decided it needed spicing up. Whether or not you agree with this, I love these lyrics which are pretty much lifted from Luke's gospel verbatim and I wanted to enjoy singing them.

The accompaniment came first- it's pretty much a standard swing rhythm and I guess rather derivative.   But hopefully a little catchy... I knew I wanted a break in the middle with some comedy scatting (Baaaaaa- baaaaaaaaa- get it???) and a starring part for my year 6 recorder players seemed to suggest itself.

Hope you enjoy it!

xx
P.S. Forgive my dodgy piano playing...

Advent Calendar Day 14: 5 brooches and friends #49: Christmas themed.

For today's Advent post I thought I'd share one or two Christmassy brooches I've worn in December..

 First up are the Sprout lover and Sprout hater pin badges which I won from @hannahhitchmanart on Instagram- you can find her on Etsy.  She created these wonderful pin badges which go perfectly with the Sprout shirt I bought at the Christmas fair!

 Sprout lover...

 Sprout hater...

 The next duo are technically speaking, not Christmassy, but I always think of this jumper as my 'While Shepherds watched' jumper and decided to add a Wise Men star and alien in Spaceship to the ensemble!

 This lovely Mistletoe brooch was a surprise gift from the lovely Lisa at Jumble and Jelly. She sent me two Christmassy brooches. I've worn the other one but its picture is on my tablet so I need to retrieve it! It worked so perfectly with this top!

 Here's my Punkypins Snowflake necklace up close!!! I love its irridescence!

The Penguin and toucan aren't Christmassy but the little penguin is! He was a Charitypin from last year!

More than 5 brooches but 5 pictures (if one doesn't count the Sprout pin close ups as pics!)

Have you worn any festive accessories!!

xxx

Advent Calendar Day 7: Always a choir

Christmas for me always comes with a choir.

Be it a heavenly band of angels singing Alleluias, a rabble of primary children romping through Jingle Bells, a serene group of darlings sweetly warbling through a John Rutter carol or a church choir in 4 part harmony, a choir is always a part of my Christmas.  It has been so since I was 5 and joined the church choir as a Blackbird (that's what they called the Probationers in the church choir as they wore a black cassock and ruff until they were admitted officially to the choir with their red cassock and surplice- whereupon they were red robins) up until this very day as a primary school music teacher.  For me Christmas is completely and utterly connected to singing. It has always been that way. 

Today, we took the choir, recorder clubs, drumming club and readers (plus laptop operators) to the church for the practice for our annual Christmas service and performance (not pictured).  I always dread it leading up because it is an organisational nightmare but then it gets there in the end and we all have a good time and the performance is usually very successful!  I have some excellent adults to assist me with various aspects of managing the children so I hope that it goes well!  Here's hoping tomorrow goes well.

I am pleased with most of the ensembles and the whole school sounds generally confident on the collective songs.  I hope to remember to have a recording made of my new song tomorrow so you can hear it as I have shared my song for the past 3 years.

This is my Advent Calendar post with Julie at KC's court

Advent Calendar Day 12: Christmas glitz

Everyone always talks about their Christmas party outfits.  Since I have a terrible shopping habit anyway, I don't set out to buy anything special for Christmas- I just tend to go through my many clothes to find something for going out.

This Saturday, CBC and I returned from our mortgage meeting (yes, we have had an offer accepted on a house....) with 5 minutes to get ready to go out to the pub with our friends who were picking us up.  

I rifled through my wardrobe and drawers to unearth the following items worn.

I've only worn this beautiful sequinned teal skirt once before- for a Eurovision party.  It was charity-shopped with my flute-girls and they totally persuaded me to buy it as I was worried I might not wear it!  The top is a Bardot-necked top from Monsoon that I paid full-price for about 8 years ago- it's rare I buy full-priced Monsoon.  The shoes are from Asda, a few years ago.  My Punkypins snowflake necklace is the ultimate party glitz.  Although it only took me 5 minutes to put together, I thought it worked quite well.

Tonight (this is written on Sunday), I have a Christmas dinner out with my old church friends so I hope to be wearing something glitsy and fun again. As before, sourced from my many items!

What is your Christmas party outfit this year??

xx

A pause for Advent 3: Advent Calendar Day 11: The Box of Delights

I wonder if you have a favourite Christmas carol at all?  I'm not sure what mine is, I like so many, but there is a Christmas carol that I have special affection for because of something very simple.

When I was around only 3ish, the BBC made a Christmas TV serial of John Masefield's Children's Story. I was both delighted and terrified by it.

The premise of the story is that a boy called Kay (who featured in a previous book, The Midnight Folk) is coming home from Boarding School for Christmas.  He meets and helps a Punch and Judy man who is struggling with his luggage.
Meeting the man opens the magical world to Kay that he previously encountered in the previous book.  The previous villain, Abner Brown, seeks the magical box of delights that Cole Hawlings, the Punch and Judy Man is the custodian of.

As the Advent Season continues, strange things start happening and one by one, people including Cole and then most people he encounters, start to disappear as Abner Brown desperately seeks the Box.  The Bishop, all the choir boys and practically all the priests in the area, and Peter, Kay's house guest for the holiday.
The only person that he fails to capture is Kay.  He totally underestimates Kay, thinking him to be a dreamy child, and no one to have been trusted with the 'missing' Box of Delights.

But Kay is the person to whom the Punch and Judy man has entrusted the Box.

It remains for Kay to help rescue all the missing people from Abner Brown, to defeat him, get the box back to Cole Hawlings and for everyone to go against all the odds and get back to the cathedral for the Midnight Mass service on Christmas Eve.

It is a wonderful story for Christmas and I have the TV series fixed so much in my memory.  I associate it so much with Christmas

I like the fact that they are trying to get back to the church for Christmas eve, that is the ultimate aim and that the church is a part of the central story- it being the 1000th anniversary of Midnight Mass at Tadchester cathedral.
I like the fact that Abner Brown totally underestimates Kay and doesn't even consider him. I like the fact that Cole Hawlings trusts a young boy with this responsibility when he might have chosen anyone.  You might say it is a tenuous link, and I think it is, as it has only really entered my head now, but like God, not choosing someone important to do an important job. He chose someone young, insignificant and not the obvious choice as it were.


One of the most magical aspects of it is the theme music to the show.  It was originally serialised for radio and the same music was used for it in that setting too.

The music comes from a Carol Symphony for Full Orchestra called 'The Carol Symphony' by Hely-Hutchinson, in which various melodies are woven together, disguised and then revealed in various ways.  The opening credits begin with a held violin note followed by the harp setting up a repeated pattern.  It is eerie, uncomfortable, mysterious and ominous as the faces of certain characters flash up. Suddenly, the violin notes resolve to the tonic (the central note of the piece), with the French horns and the tension suddenly releases as we hear 'The First Nowell' tune from the 1st violins.  It is a truly magical moment musically.

In the closing credits, they took the resolution/ending of the movement of the Symphony where the strings take over the Harp ostinato and pass it to the flutes and woodwind whilst the lower strings take over the tune with several layers of harmony.  It is such a moment of joy and beauty (You can hear both the opening credits and closing credits above) and I have such an affection for the First Nowell because of this piece.

One pinnacle moment in my musical training was when I was in about Year 10 and my Youth Orchestra were performing the Hely-Hutchinson Carol Symphony.  At this point, I had no idea that this was the Box of Delights music.   We got to the point in the third movement where the Coventry Carol froze and suddenly the harp ostinato (repeated pattern) began with the strings and my heart leapt to my throat.  I almost choked with joy at the recognition of this.  I wanted to tell everyone around me but bizarrely, none of my friends seemed to know what on earth I was talking about. I looked at the front of the hire scores we were using and saw that it said 'BBC with the dates that it was recorded and realised we were using the very piece of music that the BBC had used.  The only person that understood my excitement was the Head of the Music School who had chosen it and was conducting it. I excitedly went to tell him it was the Box of Delights and he said he knew and he loved it too!  It's not widely performed because it has triple wind (you need 3 flutes, oboes, clarinets, bassoons etc) and it is quite short, so it was a big deal to be playing it.

Now for me, every Christmas, I seek my CD version of it to play.  It is a real Advent tradition for me to listen to it repeatedly- the whole symphony, not just the Box bit- and I almost always shed a tear at the sheer delight and magic of it.  The family had a VHS version of the video which my sister and I watched repeatedly at Christmas time, which is perhaps why I was so familiar with it and none of my peers were.  I think I gained such a fascination with it because of those fearsome wolves in it, which even now slightly terrify me.  I have both books by John Masefield featuring Kay and I love his writing.  But for me, the TV version will always be my first love.
I am so glad to have found it on Youtube (you can watch it in its entirety  here)

I would also suggest you listen to the wonderful Victor Hely-Hutchinson carol symphony and share in my Advent tradition which you can do here.)

Have you heard of or seen this?  If, like me, you love it, you can check out this blog I've found purely on this series here!

This is my Pause for Advent with Ang Almond et al and is my Day 11 of my Advent Calendar with Julie at KC's court.

Advent Day 10: Pretty shopfronts!

I always love the effort and ingenuity that shops put into their displays, particularly at Christmas.  There is such a variety from the traditional to the modern, to the quirky, the slightly odd and downright adorable.

This Brussel Sprout on Skis in J Crew's window on Sloane square made me giggle

 I also loved this pretty display in Oasis with all the woodland animals, fun pastel pom poms and generally beautiful flowers.

 I always wonder what happens to all the decorations post Christmas. Are they just binned? Recycled? Saved for next year?  Sold?  Employees take bits home?  

I'm really not sure but I hope that they are recycled or reused in some way.

Many years ago now, at least 10, when I was starting to make cards regularly, I saw these massive metallic circles hanging in Tescos for ages.  I thought how much raw material (I.e it was like a large sequin) there was and so when I happened to be in Tescos just after Christmas and saw an employee taking them down, I cheekily asked what happened to them and if I could have some.  The employee went to check and let me take a few home!  I guess they can only say no!

Do you enjoy the shop fronts?  Have you seen any particularly good ones this year?

This is Day 10 of my Advent Calendar with Julie at KC's Court.