The Nigel Slater Christmas Chronicles Readalong 2024 Part 3

[RainbowZebraWarrior]

Welcome to thread three.

The Christmas Chronicles is the story of Nigel Slater’s love for winter. Taking you from 1 November all the way to early February, The Christmas Chronicles covers everything from Bonfire Night, Christmas and New Year to Epiphany. Throughout the season, Nigel offers over 100 recipes to see you through the build-up, the celebrations and the aftermath.

Anyone who hasn't yet joined in, there's still a big chunk of the book to go as you can see from the description above. It's in diary form with an entry most days and is easy to dip in and out of.

Anyway, welcome friends new and old. Pull a cosy chair closer the the fire, light a candle, pour a glass of something warming and settle in.

I have mixed feelings. I love the nesting post Christmas but really enjoy clearer surfaces and order. I had an energy burst last night and decluttered a bit. The “problem” in our house is books and I have to be firm with myself about sending to the charity shop (ok I own up there’s also a wool and shoe issue!).

My Parisian friends who moved to Spain have been telling me about the Los Reyes (The Kings) holiday which is today. There are loads of energetic celebratory parades. I’d love to experience this - there are some wonders on Instagram! Having been in Spain during Holy Week and experienced religious parades there it is all rather awesome.

I feel exactly the same @LillianGish regarding the mix of unbearably sad and relief. There's always something to start preparing for next though, so my focus changes, but I still enjoy a Christmassy candle into February. I also enjoy making notes now for next year. (And I've started my Christmas lists / shopping / stocked up on more candles in the sales)

The tree is still in the lounge, but most other things have been packed away. I have to do everything in between medication in small 5 to 10 minute bursts, then lie down. I'd estimate that I spend about 40% of my waking time lying on my bed. It's my new norm and has been for a few years now.

I too try to be firm about clear outs, but I also have my 'things' @Bimblesalong namely candles and craft stuff. I also have an obsession with picking up Diptyque amenity pouches which I find on Vinted and Ebay. They are given on Qatar first / business class flights and are filled with Diptyque goodies like lip balm, perfume, body lotion and hand cream. Some folk try and sell them for £50 but I often pick them up for a tenner. I then use these pouches to hold Ipads, make up, medication etc. I've recently happened upon a great bargain which I'm waiting to be delivered. I'll post a pic when I get it.

Also, well done on procuring a 2nd half-price candle advent @LillianGish

I've ordered more candles from Isle of Skye as they have a 40% off sale on. I've a referral code for £5 off, and it's also free delivery. If anyone wants it, let me know.

@piscofrisco pleased you also love the Sweet Almond and Macaroon. I haven't lit mine yet, but will be soon. I smile every time I walk past it and think of your kindness. Same with Party Mouse. He lives in the kitchen, and I chat to him every day.

Decs all down and away - just waiting for DH to take the sodding tree outside, which he does not appear to be in any rush to do. Then I can put my dining table back where it should be and we will be all back to normal - and I need to get the wreath off the door and dismantle it into the compost heap. I'm considering going to the gym (in a 'recovering from a badly sprained ankle' way not a resolution way) but overcome with sloth. The slush here is ankle-deep and vile but I went out for coffee this morning so that is not a very good excuse.

Oh yes please for your isle Skye code @RainbowZebraWarrior... and what would be your recommendation from them would you say?

Here's the link to the sale page. I have the Vanilla and Fig, Frankincense and Mhyrr and the Winter Warmer tins. The tins are much larger than you'd expect. My favourite is the Winter Warmer. The others that I've ordered haven't arrived yet. (I've ordered pimento and cranberry, sleep sensation, Juniper Berry, Lavender, Rose and Amber and Pomegranet and Plum)

skyecandles.myshopify.com/collections/winter-sale?page=1

And here's my referral for £5 off. I get some points towards % off.

a.marsello.com/r/8d7d7d0fa4cd910e63838d906376

I've had to scan read the thread and no chance of reading CC today
We're now completely out of sync with most people as while we celebrate what we call 'Yule Christmas' it's our real Christmas day here, and has been full on since early and will go through to the early hours.
It's a very odd time when others are packing away and we're just hitting our stride, but hopefully it's still appropriate for me to post our similar and different traditions here, even if we're doing it while you're tidying it away.

Up early to make it all happen but still behind, partly as people scattered all over the world so everyone video calling each other from personal and group celebrations, and some on different time zones as lots of ancient things happen in some very modern ways!
All personal debts have been paid, all disagreements forgiven, (or no contact) a special breakfast, and honey incense wafted around.
We have a traditional breakfast, two traditional meals and an important cake, then games and party 'till midnight, by which time old and young may have taken a nap, and everyone is required to have sobered up, (lots of strong coffee- pistachio here) the fire is gentled down, and it turns to more spiritual celebrations and then quick clear up and collapse into bed.

About to have 'lunch' (potato latkes, topped with thin slices of melted goats cheese, a mushroom sauce sprinkled with pomegranate seeds and cranberry's in port)

During it we'll be opening 'prophesy' and 'advice' walnuts (only way I can think to describe them) and start a game which uses tarocchini cards (very similar to tarot but slightly different) in which you first select a random card which is your significator and also your guide for the year. (sort of similar to the idea of picking a word except your choice is made in a different way) Your card and prophesy/advice walnuts should lean into each other hopefully, otherwise you're in for a messy year.
I suspect I know what card will turn up for me as it does so frequently that we break with the tradition of turns decided by age, and I go last, yet...
If it is then I will be able to join you with choosing a word as my word for this year, using my name here. (Silly perhaps, but superstition prevents me joining you all in choosing a word until after I know my 2005 significator card!)

Still fairly unwell propped up with everything, and really behind, so have to carve out some time to make the crown wrap for the cake for after dinner. This is the big meal after which someone finds the bean in the cake, gets crowned and leads the night and decisions, and if it's a child of yours, you find out how well you did or didn't bring them up! All sorts of other things aren't quite ready for celebrations that follow so have my work cut out, but hope to be back in and out later.

It's not very sophisticated and the photo's both flatten it and aren't true color(it's softer) but here's our (8 glorious feet high) tree, on it's third big gig of the season, and a close up of a few ornaments. Early this morning it moved into the corner to make enough space for what's to come.
(It's decorated properly all the way round and normally stands centrally, and we have two lots of curtains so at night we can leave the external ones open for others to enjoy it.)

Your photographs are absolutely amazing @EphemeraleEudemonia and I for one absolutely love hearing all about your customs and traditions, so please do continue to share. I find it all utterly fascinating. I hope you enjoy the rest of your celebrations ❤️

@EphemeraleEudemonia that is a fabulous tree! And I love hearing about your traditions.
How do you manage the lights if the tree is central? Are they on a battery? I've thought about putting mine in the middle but put off by the trailing wires.
Also, and apologies if you said before and I missed it, may I ask where you are?

@Bimblesalong are you me? I also have a book, wool, and shoe issue please ignore the Vinted issue!

@LillianGish your stashed Advent calendar looks lovely. Maybe I'll look for a treat one in the sales for myself instead of a chocolate one 🤔

Any suggestions where to look (doesn't just have to be candle based).

@EphemeraleEudemonia I find the peek into what others do fascinating! Please keep posting! Your tree is fabulous - I wonder what the girls would make of it if I stood our tree in the centre of the room.

I've had a lovely, relaxing day - back to normality tomorrow though, the snow's pretty much gone now. I've had a B&M "Escape" candle burning for a while, that I was gifted at Christmas. It's actually a nice scent (mandarin, lemon, pink grapefruit) but seems to tunnel badly left to it's own devices so will probably wrap in foil every now and again.

Washing's all caught up. We discovered the kittens love bubbles! I've done a bit of decluttering, written Christmas lists...all sorts of slow & moochy things 😊. Just need to engage brain & decide what to have for tea now - I thought curry earlier but forgot to defrost chicken 🤷‍♀️.

Thankyou for the code @RainbowZebraWarrior
Your tree looks fabulous and your day sounds the same @EphemeraleEudemonia. Keep it coming-I love hearing about it all!
Bonus on the advent calendar @LillianGish!

Great or not so great minds @lucysmam . I also forgot to defrost what was for tea. So pasta it will be. Not sure god start as if promised myself and kids to be better organised this year.

🤣 @piscofrisco glad to see it's not just me! I'd best look really - not sure there's enough pasta to feed us all!

Thank you for wanting to hear about our traditions! 💝Celebrating at a different time and doing different things has sometimes divided opinions.
I did pull The Hermit as my significator card again, despite going last. It is almost a tradition of it's own, (along with pulling double sixes in backgammon backgames 😀)
which means my word for this year will happily be eudomonia. (Happy fulfillment through personal development, purpose, and living according to your own values) Our 'prophesy and advice' walnuts are old sayings written onto scrolls and little tarrochini symbols that both offer advice and warnings. So starting with the significator card showing 2005 as being a year of seeking internal knowledge, and soul searching, both my walnuts contained two royal aces. The ace of cups and the ace of swords. The ace of cups and dove is a symbol both of the holy grail and to start all new things from a place of caring and love through which freedom is found, it's scroll translates as do not scratch where it does not itch. The ace of swords accompanied by the plant is a symbol of new beginnings and planting seeds, uncovering new ways of thinking, or, scything old thoughts to make way for what is needed. It is also a symbol to not fool ourselves and be entirely honest with ourselves to move forward well.The scroll translates as to be careful not to jump over your own shadow.

Each person has a small bowl of nuts and lychee and coins to eat while playing and their are three tokens hidden in each. Each symbol has a number and what goes into each bowl is determined earlier in the month by either dice or card counting and they are placed in the bowls, covered by nuts and put away. On Christmas eve they are brought out and coins and Lychee added to the top.
Mine was an unopened gold walnut which symbolizes preparation for travel, the gold acorn that from small beginnings great things grow,and the dove carrying a bell signifies spirituality, emotions and connections.
(The candles are frankincense, and myrrh with bergamot, which have combined nicely with each other and the honey incense from earlier.)

@SheherazadesSeasonalNonsense The table effectively has a hole in the middle. It's actually a frame and the top is two halves with a gap in the middle, and the 'tablecloth' is basically a skirt. The plug boards are on a turntable, and one day I may actually get round to building one for the table. We're mainly based in London but run up and down the country.

Away to get dinner up.

Sorry, @EphemeraleEudemonia , let me rephrase my question so I am actually asking what I meant to ask! In London, but what is your heritage? All the traditions are fascinating

@SheherazadesSeasonalNonsense It's complicated without getting into a lot of politics so easier to say we're from a an old nomadic community with lots of different branches that's spread over the world now, and been hanging onto old traditions and absorbing new ones for a very long time, so our traditions are a mixture of very old original ones handed down and changed with time and circumstance, and more modern ones adopted and absorbed over time from others, pretty much the same as most people, we've just moved around a bit more. How much store people actually put in them is very varied.

We're finished for the night, very full and smoke infused from many sources, well and truly partied and celebrated out, at peace from a lovely celebration, and an awful lot of clearing up to be done tomorrow, so finally quietly in bed and going to see how much of the thread and what everyone else has been up to I can catch up before I fall asleep.

7 January

A breakfast of silence and solitude

Six thirty. Not a soul stirs. Just me, a pot of coffee, and the golden flame of a flickering candle in an old marmalade jar. The kitchen is millpond calm. The boiler chugs away. The muffled scraping of a spoon on a cereal bowl.

Running late this morning - caught up on the thread and so enjoyed @EphemeraleEudemonia posts and pics thank you for sharing. Have run out of time to read today's chapter looks like a good one so will save for later or even tomorrow. Ddog going in to be spayed tomorrow which I'm feeling really worried about - have the rest of the week off to stay at home and take care of her so will have plenty of time to catch up.

@EphemeraleEudemonia wow that tree is AMAZING!! I Sold my rotating Xmas tree stand this year but that was quite the eye catcher in my living room window I must say 😂. I love hearing about your traditions - and def wouldn’t want to get into politics so if you feel you can share with us, that’s lovely.

Another Sorrel boots fan here. In fact, DD seems to have appropriated them. I also LOVE monoprix & can’t see how I will get to one this year. Currently sat in my monoprix PJ’s as it’s my birthday so I’m having a wee lie in before heading out to do errands.

Cold and frosty here and back to school. Not too bad all told and I think we were ready for being back in a routine. It seems to be taking ages to get lighter. Sunset is still before 4pm and sunrise isn't till 8.30. I just feel I want to see some signs of Spring

Many happy returns to you @AgathaMystery I hope you have a lovely day.

Chilly here too. I love today's chapter. It's a long way from my morning which has consisted of nagging dd2 to get up and revise for her a level mocks, spending an our with the electrician trying to work out the final issues with the electrics for our poor and long suffering lodger in the annexe and possibly scarring my lungs with some very strong mould remover on our shower room ceiling.

It is at least bright and sunny here for now so I'm planning a nice dog walk whilst
Dd is doing her exam this afternoon. Her school is a regular one but was set up a long time ago by a local big house owner in the park of said big house. Lots of it has been sold off for houses now but there is till enough left to go for a nice walk around for an hour or two. So I'll drop her, walk a bit and then pick her up.

Im enjoying these slower days easing in to the new year.

Yes, I get that too @piscofrisco I love "Time to gather your thoughts. Time for your spirit to be at peace" and I'm a great believer in that. The reality, however is more like me grabbing 10 minutes then taking a deep breath before waking DD and crossing my fingers that the morning doesn't go totally tits up. Not quite the same as Nigel's seemingly carefree solace in his basement kitchen.

Possibly the big difference is that Nigel is child free. Specifically in my case teen age girl free, because that's what steals most of my peace just now

Happy birthday @AgathaMystery - mine is on Friday, it's not a great time of year for a birthday but we soldier on 😂
@piscofrisco I also have a surfeit of teenage girls and correspondingly little gentle silence or solitude; today was the first day back at school for 2/3 (1/3 now university aged and here until the weekend), one of whom had her first A level mock. The school bus was running late because of flooding so I had to leap out of bed and drive them in unexpectedly, through revolting sleet. Also no porridge as DH finished the oats (he's Scottish so it is compulsory for him - like Nige he doesn't add sugar. I like sugar on mine (and cream for a real treat!) or sometimes I have sultanas). I wonder why Nigel keeps his candle in an old marmalade jar? It must be more aesthetic than the jars our marmalade comes in, I think.

This was blooming in the courtyard when I went downstairs this morning - with the sun out at last and a high, blue sky it felt as if we were finally coming out of rather than going into the short, dark days. Happy birthday @AgathaMystery. I think Nigel’s marmalade jar is probably just that - an improvised glass lantern. Something we could all aspire to.