Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Posts Tagged ‘Celebrate’

Always Summer, Never Christmas?

Posted in Holiday Cheer, Hospitality, The Inklings, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on August 25, 2013| 3 Comments »

CAM00451

You blinked and it happened, didn’t it?

Summer flew by.

All those lazy days you planned and enjoyed are gone . . . or never seemed to come about at all.

And you’re not sure how it happened because, why, yesterday was just the fourth of July, and the time was meant to go slower, and the days were meant to be longer, and you’re just not ready to put your child into the next grade up, or go into the next grade yourself.

And you can already feel yourself drooling over tropical islands and craving some vitamin D.

And please don’t anyone mention that C word.

Christmas?

Mmmm . . . that’s right.

But aren’t we all happy when it comes?

I mean, imagine that it didn’t.

6f3bd54fb0c760827bdf473401da38c9

Imagine no family, no friends, no gifting, no baking, no singing, no decorations, no lights.

No light.

18116ae25cb47d27111d99397f995911

But there is, and we do.

Have Christmas. Have Light.

Even in winter.

6759890bb24056f0e86bc5f3570130efAnd Light has a name.

“At the name of Aslan each one of the children felt something jump in its inside. Edmund felt a sensation of mysterious horror. Peter felt suddenly brave and adventurous. Susan felt as if some delicious smell or some delightful strain of music had just floated by her. And Lucy got the feeling you have when you wake up in the morning and realize that it is the beginning of the holidays or the beginning of summer.”

~ C.S. Lewis

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

CAM00462

And Light’s other name is Love.

Love that can get you through the winter.

Or a winter of your soul.

Love that comes after you, with a deafening roar and a mighty leap.

Even if you don’t know it, or you know it and you’re running away.

CAM00460

CAM00459

Winter.

It will come, no matter how we dig in our heals and will summer to stay.

But lighting our path through to next spring will be the celebration of the birth of a King.

A King who will, one day, make an end to

darkness

of

every

kind.

CAM00463 CAM00465 CAM00466

Journey with me? Into autumn, through the winter, as we look for Love, look for Light?

Avonlea x

CAM00470

d7285b62e3081c5acb08bb12cd9c7f9caea81a56c7650665053b44507105a74f

CAM00471

Psalm 139:7-12, James 1:17

Read Full Post »

A Royal Wedding Tea

Posted in Misty British Isles, tagged , , , , , , , , on April 25, 2011| Leave a Comment »

There’s to be a wedding–a royal wedding! And I’m more than a little pleased to be living in The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland for this fairytale event. For what could be more fairytale-like than an average girl marrying a real prince? Prince William, heir to the throne, met Catherine Middletone, or Kate, as she is called, at St Andrews University in Scotland. She’s not a princess, a duchess, or lady (though she will inherit a title after the wedding), and yet she is marrying a prince. The last time a commoner married a future king of England was in 1660. Sigh . . .

They’re a handsome couple, are they not?

Prince William and Kate Middleton at their engagement photo shoot.

Love, weddings, and things of beauty are worth celebrating, and I do believe that this wedding will be a beautiful event. It’s also a truly good excuse to dust off your china (or your mugs) and have some friends round for a cup of tea. Add some Scottish shortbread, scones with jam and clotted cream, and perhaps a few cucumber sandwiches, and your spread will be British enough to feel you’re joining in on Kate and Wills’s big day.

For those of you who aren’t regular tea drinkers, but would like a British experience, Britain’s favourite tea is black tea (Tetley or Scottish Blend are two favourite brands), one tea bag per cup or three to a pot. It’s usually served with a splash of milk (though I take mine black), and very occasionally with a bit of sugar. Shortbread can be found the world over, I believe. I’m not so sure about clotted cream, but this can be replaced with mascarpone cheese. Either taste delicious when combined with a good strawberry or raspberry jam.

Don’t forget a pretty tablecloth and napkins, along with some fresh flowers for your table.

If you’d like to do a bit more, ask your guests to dress up in your favourite British era, be it medieval, Georgian, Victorian, or even the 1960s.

If children will be present, decorate some fairycakes (cupcakes) with little crowns or the Union Jack (our flag). To keep them busy, click on the following link for free colouring sheets of Prince William and Kate and other fun activities centred around the royal wedding.

http://www.activityvillage.co.uk/the_royal_wedding.htm

Scones with clotted cream and jam

Although the guests will begin to arrive at the abbey at around 9am, the bride will arrive at 11am on Friday, 29th April. This is 6am for the eastern part of the United States, so if you live in America, or another part of the world where the wedding is at a time that makes it difficult to watch, then record it to watch later.

~~~~~~

Some other details from the wedding:

  • The fashion savvy Kate Middleton will wear a dress which she designed herself! The design is rumoured to be reminiscent of the Renaissance period, taking inspiration from her History of Art degree.
  • Kate will be driven in a Rolls Royce through London to Westminster Abbey along the traditional processional route of the Mall, Horse Guards Parade, Whitehall and Parliament Square.
  • Prince William will travel in a Bentley, accompanied by his brother, Prince Harry.
  • The service will be conducted by the dean of the abbey, the Very Rev John Hall. The archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, will marry the couple and the Right Rev Richard Chartres, the bishop of London and a longstanding friend of the royal family, will give the address.
  • Prince Harry is to be the best man and Kate has asked her younger sister Philippa – known to her family as Pippa – to be her maid of honour.
  • At the end of the service, the couple will travel by carriage to Buckingham Palace.
  • The Queen will give a lunchtime reception a Buckingham Palace. During the reception the couple will appear on the Buckingham Palace Balcony.
  • In the evening, Prince Charles, the Prince of Wales, will give a dinner at Buckingham Palace for the couple and their close friends and family.
  • Details on the honeymoon have yet to be announced!

For more information, photographs, and videos about the music, menu, and magic of this royal event, visit the official royal wedding website at http://www.officialroyalwedding2011.org/tag/homepage/page/1

~ Do tell me how  you celebrated the day!

Read Full Post »

%d bloggers like this: