Just in time for Christmas

Golden clementines on the glass dish are ready for the stocking; the candles are flickering; some heart-warming tea are being served on the tray with dainty cakes by the fire; the chosen tea for this special occasion is aromatic blend with vanilla, cloves and citrus; Jackie Gleason and his orchestra is playing “Late in December” and I close my eyes and take a deep breath... 

The sight, sound and scent of Christmas are here at last.

 

Does your vision of Christmas include similar sight and sound, hot food and drinks, and exchanging reminiscences with family and friends?

 

I have been listening to this old record of Jackie Gleason and his orchestra playing Christmas songs for many years. It is very beautiful, lush and romantic just like the strings-laden orchestra playing in the background of the old films. It gives such a perfect, warm ambience in the evening when you are writing Christmas cards or wrapping gifts. It makes you feel as if you were floating on the sea of string violins. The sound is incredibly rich and sumptuous. They don't make a record like that any more.     

Today is the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year. The word ‘solstice’ comes from the Latin solstitium meaning ‘sun stands still’. 

For those of us who live in the northern hemisphere, the arrival of the Solstice is the day for celebration. It seems to carry the very message of hope and a reminder that the days will become brighter and more incandescent after the vast blackness of long dark evenings. 

Finding the tokens of affection for the loved ones is the sweetest part of the holiday...

If you know someone who is a faithful practitioner of letter writing, he or she might appreciate a personalised correspondence set with envelopes and note papers from Smythson (named after Frank Smythson who opened his stationary shop on Bond Street in 1887) from London.

Their paper is made of the highest quality and everything such as the gold border around the edges of the papers and envelopes is still done by hand. In an age of paperless text messages and emails, a little handwritten note on Smythson's paper, carefully tucked inside the gift to say thanks and merry Christmas, will enchant and warm the heart of a recipient. 

Gordon has been wanting to read Marquand's novels for many years. I managed to find three novels, which are generally regarded as his masterpiece, by John P. Marquand (an American novelist, 1893-1960) for Gordon's Christmas gift. 

A beautiful tartan wool scarf for Gordon and hopefully, it will last for a lifetime from the best quality shop in Scotland, Johnstons of Elgin. I think that there is something dreamy about a man wearing a red tartan scarf as the Christmas season approaches.   

Like the sun, it seems to me that I have also reached to the still point this week after making the last minute arrangements for Christmas. Everything was in a bit of tearing haste this year. I suspect that I am not alone in feeling like there are not enough hours in the day during this time of the year. Perhaps, it is the brevity of daylight or it could be something to do with the strains of being ill for the last few weeks.

Both Gordon and I had recently been struck by one virus after another; cold, flu and Covid. 

 

We were both exhausted and most of the time we were either sleeping or reclining on the sofa. It strikes me that the illness always seems to come at the worst time although you could say that there is no good time for being ill. 

 

Thank God, we are now feeling better and the experience of ill health has taught us a lesson not to take our health for granted. So, the onward and upward movement ensured at the end of November. Christmas is back on the menu once more.

 

December, it always happens in December

I get a yearning for a Christmas I know,

with holly and snow

The kind we used to have back home a long time ago

December, brings back a scene that I remember

The lighted Christmas trees and windows at night

So cheerful and bright, and all the world a wonderland (all covered with white) 

~ December a song by Billy Butterfield ~ 

I just adore the voice of Nancy LaMott. She had the most pure soprano voice and elegant diction and style of singing. Her voice was always in perfect pitch even when she sang live. And I love this Christmas album, Just in time for Christmas (1994).

It mainly consists of slow ballads with piano accompaniment but they give me festive vibes like no other...just to hear her sing the first track in this album, "Some Children See Him" one evening deep in December can be the most magical part of the holiday. Her voice was truly a gift from God.     

On Christmas Eve, we shall read aloud from vintage children's books in order to summon up remembrance of things past and sweet dreams. I love this 1996 edition of The Nutcracker because it is illustrated by Gennady Spirin, a Russian painter and children's book illustrator. The book is large and Gennady's illustrations are absolutely enchanting and evocative of the old-fashioned, opulent world.

As dusk falls, the room is enveloped in an exquisite aroma with fleeting whiff of freshly-cut pines, bunches of cinnamon sticks and fragrance-filled candles.

Gordon lit the fire as fresh snow settled on the garlands of greens outside, and a lonely robin, the most resilient vocalist in the heart of winter, was singing outside. He often came to gaze at me through the window in a cheerful and friendly manner. He is not dismayed by my near presence. I recently learned in my favourite column “Nature notes” by Jonathan Tulloch in The Times that both male and female robins can sing.

The song of robins always capture the spirit of the season. I recently learned in my favourite column “Nature notes” by Jonathan Tulloch in The Times that both male and female robins can sing. 

Tulloch always writes beautifully and evocatively. He never fails to give me consolation with his words:  “The short day is closing, but the birdsong still purls through the back gardens. The robin is perched in the bare black branches of the plum cherry and singing its heart out…And it’s now as the year dies that the carols of these birds mean the most. No wonder they’ve always been considered good luck.”     

I only buy The Times to read Jonathan Tulloch’s Nature notes and the Last Word which is always thought-provoking. 

“Perhaps Creation would lack something, were we not, holding back our gesture, suspending our course, raising our eyes, granting it in passing that it reigns in all its glory, magnificence, profusion, splendour, infinity.” 

~ The line, Pierre Bergounioux (translated from the French by Claude Neuman) ~   

It is quite extraordinary to realise how nature continues to inspire us with its sparse beauty in the middle of winter. The pure, skeleton beauty of the woodland on a snowy day sometimes leaves me speechless. Was it Goethe who once said that the deepest things are not for speech? 

The village's Christmas tree. The boys in kilts are probably on their way to their pre-Christmas lunch party. 

This was the moment when Before

Turned into After, and the future's

Uninvented timekeepers presented arms.

 

This was the moment when nothing

Happened. Only dull peace

Sprawled boringly over the earth.

 

This was the moment when even energetic Romans

Could find nothing better to do

Than counting heads in remote provinces.

 

And this was the moment

When a few farm workers and three

Members of an obscure Persian sect

Walked haphazard by starlight straight

Into the kingdom of heaven.

 

U.A. Fanthorpe (1929 – 2009), From BC: AD

Festive delights: Snowfall/Visit to the House of Farnell/Buying a Christmas Tree

During the last week of November, we had a heavy snowfall which was most unusual in this east coast of Scotland. Since we live very close to the sea, we do not tend to get snow every winter. The snow is indeed a novelty. It transforms the whole landscape into a winter wonderland and as Gordon puts it “a postcard surrounding”. 

The snowy fields glitter in the sun and the houses in the village resemble sugar-dusted gingerbread houses.  

A winter wonderland

After a brisk walk around the village in the morning which was as crisp as a fine winter day that you can imagine, we went to our favourite Christmas shop in a little village called Farnell in the middle of tranquil Angus countryside. Farnell is more like a hamlet than a village with a few houses and a beautiful church.    

 

The House of Farnell is one of my favourite shops to visit during this time of the year. It began in 1999 when the original owner of the shop, a Danish lady named Paula, set up a small Christmas fair in the Village Hall. It turned out to be such a success that an Easter fair followed in a marquee on her lawn in the spring of 2000. When the village’s old school became available, Paula and her husband took over the old school and started a renovation with the intention of opening their first shop. 

The House of Farnell was officially opened for the Christmas Fair in 2000 on November 1^st.  As the original owner, Paula was Danish, the stock was very Scandinavian both in the shop and the café. 

As far as I understand from the online reports, Paula is no longer in charge of the shop and she sold it to another owner. I was not disappointed by my recent visit to the House of Farnell. I always look forward to visiting this shop during the holidays and being captivated by its luminous creative ideas and ambience. No shop in the city exudes old-world charm like the House of Farnell.

 

You can buy all the decorative accessories at this shop and above all, unusual gifts, ribbons, wreaths and candles. With its endearing charms, nostalgic surrounding and dappled light, the visitors can spend hours admiring all the items in the shop. Everything sparkles under the shop’s warm glow of fairy lights. 

Some of the visitors appear to be spellbound. To impart more sparkle, the shop is furnished with one of the most beautifully decorated trees with a galaxy of gold stars.

A fine selection of Scottish wool tartan scarves and stoles. You'll find enchantments galore at the House of Farnell. The opening times of the shop throughout the year are varied. So, please ensure to check their website before you come to visit their shop.

Toy soldiers are my favourite. 

“Oh, I wish I had a river/I could skate away on/But it don’t snow here/It stays pretty green…I wish I had a river so long/I would teach my fleet to fly…” ~ River by Joni Mitchell ~ 

When you need a break or warm up your cold noses and toes, you can treat yourself with their home-baked cookies, scones and delicious tea at the café next door. And of course, there are plenty of festive sounds from traditional Christmas carols as the background music to spread holiday cheer.         

We had their delicious homemade scones and mocha at the cafe next to the shop. 

After our visit to the house of Farnell shop, we walked up to the church next to the shop to admire its wondrous presence on the landscape. The snow, the ambience and the spectacular scenery made us feel as if we were having a vacation in the Alps.  

“Again at Christmas did we weave/The holly round the Christmas hearth/The silent snow possessed the earth/And calmly fell our Christmas Eve.” 
~ Alfred, Lord Tennyson ~

“A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine picture every day of his life, in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul.” ~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe ~

I bought two beautiful candles for the table from the house of Farnell... 

and a pair of skates for Christmas tree as a reminder of the snowy Christmas eve this year! 

On the way back from Farnell, we stopped by at Charleton's family farm to buy our Christmas tree. 

Gordon loves to decorate the tree and of course, he always has to choose the gigantic tree! Unlike the Christmas trees from Fortnum & Mason, the ornaments are not uniform in terms of colours, size or forms. But everything on that tree means something. It is heartfelt and sentimental.   

The Italian tenor, Carlo Bergonzi (1924-2014) is one of Gordon’s favourite singers and he loves to decorate the tree while listening to Bergonzi’s Christmas album: Weihnachten Christmas Noel Natale [Orfeo label]. It was record in 1986 with a live orchestra, Austrian Radio Symphony Orchestra & Gumpoldskirch Boys Choir, conducted by Paul Angerer in the studio. The album cover alone makes me nostalgic for times gone by! 

Bergonzi’s Weihnachten is an exquisite Christmas album that is not very well known. Although Bergonzi’s voice had passed its prime by the time he recorded this album (in 1986), his high notes are still crystal clear, serene and magnificent. It evokes the bel canto tradition of singing with elegant phrasing that is so seamless and never exaggerated. Just listen to the way he sings Silent Night in different languages. I have never heard anything so beautiful. The boys’ choir in the background is like sweet icing on a warm cake, such beautiful layers of sound. Paul Angerer's orchestration in this track is so beautiful that it makes me think of  a waltz piece from Richard Strauss’ opera, Der Rosenkavalier.

Because it was record in a studio with the singer and the orchestra rather than recording separately in different studios like nowadays, it gives the album a strongly nostalgic and sumptuous feel. Most of the songs are traditional Christmas songs. Gordon loves the way Bergonzi sings Berlin’s song “White Christmas”. He thinks that Bergonzi sings it like a romantic Neapolitan song! Bergonzi's Christmas album is sure to elevate all our Christmas gatherings and give enormous festive pleasure.    

On the night before Christmas, we shall put up a play based on Charles Dickens’ novel, Great Expectations. We shall create our own theatre production with this beautiful Pollocks toy theatre with most charming illustrations by Robin Peoples. 

The table as a place of intimacy

I keep the table decorations simple this year. It is set with a cornucopia of vintage amber glasses, China plates, servicing dishes, gold candle-holders, a medium sized Kilim rug and large snowy white napkins tied with gold ribbons. 

The centrepiece is a long, hand-woven basket arranged with freshly-cut pink lilies and red roses. I put two antique lamps on each side of the basket to evoke a magical memory of old world and its quiet charm, and the Yuletide season resonates with romance.

 

I love decorating the table because the table is the place of intimacy and the heart of Christmas. There is no better time to remember that fact than at Christmas. It carries the very message of Christmas; a place to show kindness, generosity, peace and goodwill. I remember reading an interesting passage by Henri Nouwen about the significance of this common furniture - the table - in our lives. It is very insightful and revelatory that one has to draw deeply from the well of Nouwen's wisdom as follows:

 

“It [The table] is the place where we ask: “How was your day?” It is the place where we eat and drink together and say: “Come on, take some more!” It is the place of old and new stories. It is the place of smiles and tears…Precisely because the table is the place of intimacy for all the members of the household, it is also the place where the absence of that intimacy is most painfully revealed.”   

(Henri Nouwen, an extract from his book, With Burning Hearts, 1998)

 

Recently, our world has gone awfully bad with a state of unrest and conflict. Are we less kind than we were? If so, what should we do about it? What will it take for us all to be a little kinder? As the Christmas season approaches, the ideal of goodwill, which we hold dear, is tested by the complicated reality of human relationships and politics. I wonder how we can bring those who eagerly throw themselves into the conflict to the table and put an end to their initiative in war. 

The truth of the matter is that we cannot bring people to the table to have a civilised dialogue as long as they are willing to use aggression and violence. Nevertheless, I cannot think of any other place other than at the table where we might find methods of settling national disputes and eventually, finding peace.  

 

Nox praecessit, dies autem appropinquavit…

The night is far on its course; day draws near.

[Little chapter for lauds from The Book of Hours. Lauds is the prayer said at sunrise.]

So, after all the tree-trimming, the glitter and the tinsel, here is my Christmas wish. 

Whenever we find ourselves in a state of conflict, may we find a way to love our neighbour as ourselves, may we open our hearts to re-mould the world of fear and difference into the place of love, intimacy and peace, and may we find fresh hopes in arid places to make the best not the worst of the beautiful world of ours.  

 

In a season of good cheer, may love, peace and joy come to you. May your days be merry and bright. Have a wonderful Christmas and blessed holiday. I would like to thank you all from the bottom of my heart for all the journeys you have travelled with me.