Bring in a tree, a young Norwegian spruce,
Bring hyacinths that rooted in the cold.
Bring winter jasmine as its buds unfold -
Bring the Christmas life into this house.
The Christmas Life by Wendy Cope
Christmas has started early this year in our house. The first small tree went up last week, fairy lights are twinkling around the entrance and I have started to bring in bare branches to create a woodland feel in our drawing room. Yesterday we had an early Christmas feast before my middle daughter heads off to Australia. Crackers were pulled, Christmas pudding consumed and a few gifts exchanged. There is still plenty to do before the actual big day - the large real tree arrives later this week, cards need to be written and presents purchased and wrapped. Gradually, piece by piece, I am bringing Christmas into our home. Whilst Christmas itself will probably be a white and green affair, the colour at the moment is pink. I still have a greenhouse full of these beautiful Avignon chrysanthemums which I am making the most of and a gift of beautiful pale pink cyclamen which have been brought inside out of the December cold and rain to add some life to my book shelves. To add a touch of green I am filling jugs and pots with festive berried ivy which is a favourite at this time of year.I always enjoy the festive season but Christmas these days is tinged with a little sadness - Christmas Eve will mark 6 years since my father passed away and it is 2 years since I lost my mother at the beginning of Advent. Having spent every Christmas since the birth of our first daughter as a family unit this year we are missing both our son who is teaching snow boarding in Canada and our middle daughter who will be celebrating in Australia and starting her new life there. So 2019 will mark the first year since our children arrived when I do not have any family reunions planned in my diary. Despite all these absences our smaller family gathering will be a merry group, celebrating Christmas as we always have with music, flowers, feasting and twinkling decorations that will drive the darkness from our door.I have written many times about my aim to have flowers to pick from my garden for the house 365 days a year. November and December can be quite a challenge but my greenhouse chrysanthemums always save the day. Waiting in the wings are the first batch of Paperwhite narcissi, which I planted in my small greenhouse in the vegetable garden at the beginning of November. They are just starting to flower and I expect to be picking bunches in time for Christmas - I cannot wait to get that distinctive fragrance back into my house. As I lift the chrysanthemums for their winter rest I will be filling the space with more Paperwhite bulbs and other narcissi to keep the flowers going through January and early February after which time the garden should start to fill up again. Already there is winter jasmine flowering and my earliest snowdrops are going over. I have plenty of helleborous niger to start to pick and all the other hellebores are sending up new shoots. Although the winter garden feels much calmer than in its spring and summer growth rush it is never asleep - there is always something to find, something to look forward too.Looking back in my diary I can see that this time last year it was snowing and I took my first wintery pictures of a very wintery garden. This year temperatures are still quite warm and I am missing the feel of a festive nip in the air. My Instagram feed is filling up with snowy scenes from America, Canada and Scandinavia and I hope that we will have some to enjoy here soon, but I am certainly not betting on a white Christmas!I did promise a post on my December garden jobs last week, but writing has taken a back seat for a few days whist my daughter is home. Once we have said our good byes and I have shed a few tears I will be back to tell you all about the jobs that I am now very behind on and will probably be catching up with in January - it is always good to have a plan though, even if my time scales have slipped!Before I go I have a winner to announce! Last week I ran a little festive Give Away for my loyal email subscribers to say thank you for supporting me even when I have not been writing regularly. I wish I could give everyone who entered a prize and thank you all for commenting and taking part last week. The name drawn from the hat and winner of the book 'Beautiful Winter' by Edle Catharina Normon is Ann. Congratulations to you Ann and please email your full name and address to me at peoniesandposies.17@gmail.com and I will get your book in the post to you.As ever I am linking up with Cathy at Rambling In The Garden in her long running quest to get us all bringing flowers in from our garden every week of the year. Thank you again to everyone who joined in with my Give Away and I will be back with more flowers next Monday. Insert your profile info here, by going to Users -> Your Profile -> Biographical Info. Profile image (avatar) comes from gravatar.com. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Nullam faucibus ornare lectus nec cursus.
Bring in a tree, a young Norwegian spruce,
Bring hyacinths that rooted in the cold.
Bring winter jasmine as its buds unfold -
Bring the Christmas life into this house.
The Christmas Life by Wendy Cope
Christmas has started early this year in our house. The first small tree went up last week, fairy lights are twinkling around the entrance and I have started to bring in bare branches to create a woodland feel in our drawing room. Yesterday we had an early Christmas feast before my middle daughter heads off to Australia. Crackers were pulled, Christmas pudding consumed and a few gifts exchanged. There is still plenty to do before the actual big day - the large real tree arrives later this week, cards need to be written and presents purchased and wrapped. Gradually, piece by piece, I am bringing Christmas into our home. Whilst Christmas itself will probably be a white and green affair, the colour at the moment is pink. I still have a greenhouse full of these beautiful Avignon chrysanthemums which I am making the most of and a gift of beautiful pale pink cyclamen which have been brought inside out of the December cold and rain to add some life to my book shelves. To add a touch of green I am filling jugs and pots with festive berried ivy which is a favourite at this time of year.I always enjoy the festive season but Christmas these days is tinged with a little sadness - Christmas Eve will mark 6 years since my father passed away and it is 2 years since I lost my mother at the beginning of Advent. Having spent every Christmas since the birth of our first daughter as a family unit this year we are missing both our son who is teaching snow boarding in Canada and our middle daughter who will be celebrating in Australia and starting her new life there. So 2019 will mark the first year since our children arrived when I do not have any family reunions planned in my diary. Despite all these absences our smaller family gathering will be a merry group, celebrating Christmas as we always have with music, flowers, feasting and twinkling decorations that will drive the darkness from our door.I have written many times about my aim to have flowers to pick from my garden for the house 365 days a year. November and December can be quite a challenge but my greenhouse chrysanthemums always save the day. Waiting in the wings are the first batch of Paperwhite narcissi, which I planted in my small greenhouse in the vegetable garden at the beginning of November. They are just starting to flower and I expect to be picking bunches in time for Christmas - I cannot wait to get that distinctive fragrance back into my house. As I lift the chrysanthemums for their winter rest I will be filling the space with more Paperwhite bulbs and other narcissi to keep the flowers going through January and early February after which time the garden should start to fill up again. Already there is winter jasmine flowering and my earliest snowdrops are going over. I have plenty of helleborous niger to start to pick and all the other hellebores are sending up new shoots. Although the winter garden feels much calmer than in its spring and summer growth rush it is never asleep - there is always something to find, something to look forward too.Looking back in my diary I can see that this time last year it was snowing and I took my first wintery pictures of a very wintery garden. This year temperatures are still quite warm and I am missing the feel of a festive nip in the air. My Instagram feed is filling up with snowy scenes from America, Canada and Scandinavia and I hope that we will have some to enjoy here soon, but I am certainly not betting on a white Christmas!I did promise a post on my December garden jobs last week, but writing has taken a back seat for a few days whist my daughter is home. Once we have said our good byes and I have shed a few tears I will be back to tell you all about the jobs that I am now very behind on and will probably be catching up with in January - it is always good to have a plan though, even if my time scales have slipped!Before I go I have a winner to announce! Last week I ran a little festive Give Away for my loyal email subscribers to say thank you for supporting me even when I have not been writing regularly. I wish I could give everyone who entered a prize and thank you all for commenting and taking part last week. The name drawn from the hat and winner of the book 'Beautiful Winter' by Edle Catharina Normon is Ann. Congratulations to you Ann and please email your full name and address to me at peoniesandposies.17@gmail.com and I will get your book in the post to you.As ever I am linking up with Cathy at Rambling In The Garden in her long running quest to get us all bringing flowers in from our garden every week of the year. Thank you again to everyone who joined in with my Give Away and I will be back with more flowers next Monday. Insert your profile info here, by going to Users -> Your Profile -> Biographical Info. Profile image (avatar) comes from gravatar.com. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Nullam faucibus ornare lectus nec cursus.