The Autumnal Christmas Chronicles Preamble - Thread 2 further ramblings

[HannahDefoesChristmasHamper]

Hope nobody minds me starting anew thread as old one nearly full

Will pop some links in 🍂🍁

Lovely photos @Bimblesalong and @LillianGish (and also thank you for the kind words)

We managed to get some fresh air down the sea front today. Our beautiful lighthouse has been restored and repainted after many months of being hidden by scaffolding.

Gosh those photos are gorgeous RZW. I love where I live but wish I was closer to the sea.

Lovely picture of the lighthouse RZW. That bit of coastline looks beautiful. I am just a few miles from the sea, but it's the Bristol Channel so the beaches have loads of mud and the sea is brown, not blue!
The bookshop @LillianGish photographed looks very enticing. Has anyone ever been to Barter Books in Alnwick? It's an amazing place!

Hello to all, I was on earlier iterations of this thread under another name and am looking forward to going back to the start and catching up. Just popping by for now though to say that Nigel S's 'Greenfeast' is 99p on Kindle today, if anyone’s interested.

Very dreich here in Scotland today, with lashings of rain and amber weather warnings, I'm staying in today!

Will feed the Christmas cake and cook up something warm for dinner using whatever I can find. Think there's salmon in the freezer.

Good morning everyone! I've not read back on the thread yet (have been saving it for some happy, hyggelig reading today) so have got that to look forward to. Hope each of you are well - as much as possible - or if things aren't great I hope you can find pockets of gentle happiness and contentment here and there. 💐

I found my two mugs that I'd stashed away, so that's one thing ticked off my long, long list of Things I Really Must Do One Of These Days. And in plenty of time for Hallowe'en! It always makes me happy to see 'new' mugs on the shelf again, like old friends who've come for a visit. 🙂

This morning I woke at 7 and, unusually for me, didn't want to stay in bed/go back to sleep. So I lit my candle and started reading. A lovely book so far.

Yes, grim here in Northern Scotland. Just back from a trip to London which was beset by illness and cancelled flights but I'm glad we got in late last night. Weather today is gruesome.

I got out before the rain and got a pumpkin though!

That’s gorgeous @LillianGish - are you able to share where it is?

Sun is finally out after a rather spectacular rainstorm. It is truly autumnal now we are having the first named storm of the year! This was the clouds building yesterday.

Hello all. Yes, we have storm Ashley here too although we are thankfully only in the yellow zone. Hope everyone is safe and warm. Haven't even bothered opening the blinds here.

I know Barter Books @Confusedmeanderings (I'm only 30 miles from Alnwick) It is wonderfully bonkers and huge. I love the story about how the owners happened across the extra room that had lay locked for over 50 years.

Ooh, @RainbowZebraWarrior I didn't know that story, but I'm not surprised!

@Bubblesbythesea; And the excitement if you found an extra twist of salt!

We used to use Mum's pinking shears to cut them.

We did too. It was the only time we were allowed near her sewing things.

@DeckTheHallsAndBringYourBrolly that looks like a very cosy setting with your candle and book.

Had an up and down weekend, the stress of work has been really building my anxiety so my mind has been running back and forth and as a result I’ve been snappy with DH and DS which is not fair on anyone. Have been trying to find some moments of joy in between.

DS had a great first ice hockey lesson yesterday (although the ridiculously early start didn’t help anyone’s mood). DS and I did some cooking together which is a first, he was really enthusiastic. My neighbor fishes in the lake in Zug and brought us back some Eglifilet and recommended doing fish knusperli and home made tartar sauce, so that was dinner, it was fabulous.

today we had a lovely walk in the woods and did some mushroom spotting, there were loads. I suspect we’re going to have to do a foraging course in the future, DS was fascinated.

this afternoon we’ve been trying to sort out guest bedrooms ahead of various visitors and Christmas so that felt productive and we’ve had an afternoon of board games and some piano practice for DS and I. He’s only in his first term of lessons but it is a joy to see his face full of accomplishment when he completes a piece. And that’s doubled for me when we can play simple duets together.

Hope everyone is OK tonight. The wind here is extremely fierce so I have been watching Fanny Cradock Christmas videos on YouTube to block out the noise and take my mind off it.

We have what are supposed to be gusts to 50mph outside although it sounds pretty continuous. There was a confetti of leaves throughout the morning and I think a great loosening of anything that is ready to fall. I went scrunching through leaves by the riverside later, keeping fingers crossed that there were no mystery dog poos underneath!

Sounds like a productive and busy day, @Greaterthanthesumoftheparts It is wonderful when we can join a child in doing something we ourselves have a skill in. We’ve watched the final
lf Young Musician here and marvelled at the skill of the finalists, although we had picked a different winner from the three.

I have finished the knit up from the hem / sleeves part of my cardi and have put it all together on one long circular needle so that I can work on the yoke. It’ll be a toasty garment. I need to look through my gran’s button box to see if there is a selection of buttons I can use (I hope!) otherwise will have to buy a set.

Wow Bimbles - that's going to be a fab sweater!

Lovely sweater Bimbles

We took DS to an army leadership experience day yesterday. He got wet and muddy and had a great time. It was organized through scouts.
DH and I went out for lunch instead 😁

It’s called Libralire in rue St Maur @Bimblesalong. DD and I had wandered down there because there’s rather a fabulous coffee roasters across the street where I like to buy my beans. It’s a bit of a mixed bag on that road to be honest - lots of places had their shutters down even though it was Saturday afternoon then suddenly we found ourselves outside this bookshop and decided to investigate. One of the things I like about Paris is that there are so many independent shops - even in the most unpromising areas. Spending a few days with friends in Burgundy - this is the view of the Loire from our window this morning. DH said: «I can’t believe you’ve brought Nigel! »

Oh @LillianGish that view is simply divine! Enjoy your time in Burgundy.

I've just realised that the date is the 21st, and the CC thread proper needs to start on Wednesday. (As previously discussed in order to give folk a week or so notice and allow for settling in / reading of the 25 page introduction)

I just want to ask if anyone else would like to 'run' the thread this year? If not, I'll do the honours.

@LillianGish thanks for that - my friends lived on Oberkampf when they first moved to Paris in a very atmospheric one room apartment up a long winding staircase. They then bought a beautiful apartment on Vinaigriers and I had the pleasure of visiting them there frequently over 25 years. Now I see them at their mountain home in Barcelona. However, my friend returns periodically to Paris for work and when I can, I meet him out there too.

@RainbowZebraWarrior you do such a lovely job of CC. Do you need a hand with it or are you ok to host? I can’t offer to help, I’m afraid, as my sleep cycle will be all over the place, I’m told.

@RainbowZebraWarrior I second that - you do a lovely job and have made the CC threads your own. But if you can't or don't want to, I'm sure someone else will be happy to do it.

I can't, I'm afraid - I just don't do well with being properly present from day to day.

Still haven't read back. Am planning an early start tomorrow to catch up before we start the official reading.

Thanks, Bimbles and Deck. I am lucky in that I do have the luxury of having the time and focus right now, so I will be pleased to host if everyone else is happy with that.

Unless anyone else steps forward with a burning desire, I will create the thread on Wednesday morning and link here.

(You have done a great job too @HannahDefoesChristmasHamper! 💐 Don't want to cause any ruckus in our lovely group. 😆 )