Safely home
again after a lovely stay, with first DS, then DD, and their respective
families, and life is falling back into its normal sedate winter pattern here on our Welsh
hillside. The rain has finally stopped and the weather is still, mild and
mainly overcast – long may that continue!
In the intervals
of sorting and tidying and doing mounds of laundry (how can two people have worn so many clothes in less than a fortnight?)
I find snapshots of our Christmas visits popping randomly into my mind.
The grandsons
all growing up before our eyes and the shock of looking directly into the eyes
of Grandson#1 who is now, at 13, as tall as his Grandma, and I’m not exactly
small! Where is that little toddler I helped to look after for a year, while
his mother finished her teaching contract?
 |
| Then - aged 18 months |
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| Now - a teenager exploring on his own |
The sheer fun of
being in the same houses as three lively and talented boys with their thirst
for music and games, with Grandson#3 (who turns 9 tomorrow) demonstrating yet again
his extraordinary skill at charades and his two older cousins introducing me as
always to their latest board games – this year Forbidden Island, rather than Killer Bunnies.
The luxury of
having someone else deciding what we will eat and mostly making it unaided by
me. Oh, we probably ate too much as usual,
but not far too much, and my first attempt at Christmas gingerbread was much
appreciated by Grandson#3, while DS’s first attempt at making a Christmas cake to
my old recipe was an undoubted success.
 |
| Next time I'll practice the icing better....... |
The pleasure of
unwrapping gifts I know I will enjoy throughout the year – in my case, books,
CDs and DVDs to which I will return again and again. The fun of finding my
traditional chocolate orange treat on my bedside table on my return from Midnight
Mass, courtesy of DS who knows his mother’s tastes, as well as having DD extend
my chocolate experience (did I say I love
dark chocolate?) by introducing me to the delights of Fairtrade Ginger Thins.
Trying to go for
a walk in Port Meadow in Oxford, only to find our way barred by floodwater, but
succeeding in a lovely woodland walk in Yorkshire when the sun finally graced
us with its presence on New Year’s Day.
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| Port Meadow December 2012 Image via Google |
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| A family walk on New Year's Day |
Above all the
joy of catching up for a few days with our very busy son and daughter, with
time to sit and talk or just be together quietly, reading, knitting or simply
relaxing. Who could ask for more?
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| Christmas socks - by me and for me J |
Your Christmas holiday with your family sounded lovely - so many happy memories to bring home with you. And what's more - the sun has almost shone, at least for a little while in the last couple of days. PS Love your woolly socks.
ReplyDeleteIt was great, Molly - quiet, in that we weren't out and about much because of the weather, but so enjoyable. Yes, there was a bit of sun here today and even when it wasn't shining, the cloud was thin enough to see where it was. :-) The sock yarn was given to me by a friend from our Scottish Knit and Natter - 75% wool and 25% bamboo. So soft and warm.
DeleteOh, the photo Port Meadow, with the fence, bicycle, water! It took my breath away!
ReplyDeleteMine too, poetreehugger. I wish I could take credit for it, but I didn't have my camera with me, so had to resort to Google.
DeleteWell, that Christmas holiday had every single one of the required, perfect elements! I must have been quite a shock to be eye to eye with a grandson - I have a way to go before that happens, though I am short!
ReplyDeleteThe socks - I'd like to learn how to knit socks. Those look lovely and cosy. I've never had home-knit socks!
It was indeed a shock, Pondside, as he really has shot up over the past few months. I fully expect him to be looking down on me the next time I see him. :-) Thankfully the grin is still that of the sunny little toddler he once was, though his hair is no longer flaxen.
DeleteSock-knitting is one of my favourite occupations - so easy and the results are so comfortable. I really must get my pattern typed up and on the blog, since if I can knit socks, anyone can.
You obviously had a lovely time, your family too. I love the pictures, especially the hand-in-hand walk.
ReplyDeleteNot too sure about the socks, but then, not everyone has my exquisite taste for slippers with holes in,(toenails sticking through).
Let's hope the mild weather will continue for a while. We deserve it.
We all enjoyed ourselves, Ray, and the fresh air of the walk was a distinct bonus after days and days indoors. Like you I'd love the mild weather to continue and stay dry.
DeleteI can assure you, from long experience of DH's indoor footwear, that holey slippers look even more fetching if the toes that stick out through the holes are clad in technicolour socks. :-)
Love those socks! Sounds as if all the right ingredients went into your Christmas 'mix' :-)
ReplyDeleteSo do I, Antoinette. The bamboo in the yarn gives them a particularly soft and silky feel and the colours are great. :-) Our Christmas mix is always difference but somehow always works.
DeleteI'm always amazed at how fast our grandchildren grow, and how smart they have become from our last visit. Glad you enjoyed your holidays with family. Hope the weather cooperates and allows you to take many walks and explorations. I've had to adjust my activities now that we live in the Northwest, where there are only two seasons, wet and dry. I understand it is a lot like the weather of England.
ReplyDeleteNot seeing any of the grandchildren as often as I would like, I feel just like you, Rosaria. However the adolescent growth spurt has truly taken me by surprise and at this rate it won't be long before he tops his Mum and his Grandpa too. :-)
DeleteYour weather does indeed sound rather like ours, though this year our two seasons seem to have been wet and wetter!
It was wonderful for you to be able to spend time with your children and greandsons. I know how you feel about them growing so fast. My grandgirls will be 12 and16 this year. (Shudder..) Wasn't it just yesterday that I was cuddling the first baby in my arms. Time whizzes.
ReplyDeleteHope the weather stays nice for you, at least for a while.
It really was, Bonnie, and we look forward to these Christmas visits every year, whatever other ones we have in between. I really don't know where the time has gone since Grandson#1 was born 14 years ago this April. So much has happened to them and to us and yet that first sight of him is as vivid as though it just happened.
DeleteFingers crossed - the forecast for the next few days shows NO RAIN!
'Thou shalt not covet thy neighbours ...' - socks? But I do - I love your technicolour ones!! Is the yarn multicoloured, or do you have loads of different balls in various colours? And where can I get it? Lovely pictures of the DGSs - BH's 23 year-old GS is now well over 6' tall! A proper beanpole - and a very nice young man. See you soon. Luv from us both.
ReplyDeleteTut, tut, Helva, and you a Reader!
DeleteAny yarn shop will sell sock yarn, which comes in single multicoloured balls, with the pattern unfolding under your eyes as you knit. Or google "sock yarn" and find a plethora of online suppliers, which is what I usually do. This brand is called Trekking and this particular ball was a gift, so I'm not sure how easy it would be to find, but there are lots of different and equally attractive yarns from this and other makers, many of them German.
Me too. Like Helva, I have a serious case of sock envy.
ReplyDeleteWell, the details are in my reply to Helva, CB. There are some wonderfully cheerful colour combinations, as well as suitably muted ones for those of a more retiring disposition. :-) The blue and grey ones I've just started for DH are positively chaste by comparison....
DeleteYou have had a wonderful time...weather notwithstanding!
ReplyDeleteLike others I am in awe of the socks....but I doubt your statement that if you can knit them anyone can...if the anyone is me.
I was looking at photographs of some of the visiting Belgians when they stayed with us when young....it seems like yesterday that these strapping young men were willowy youngsters with soft skin so in a partial way I can understand how it felt to look your grandson in the eye.
We always do, Fly. We don't see them very often because of time theirs) and distance (ours) so we make the most of the Christmas and New Year visits. Then infrequency of meeting is also the reason the boys seem to have changed so much every time we see them.
DeleteSocks are actually much simpler than much other knitting, at least the way I make them. No fancy stitches, just knitting round and round and round and some shaping at the heel. Very soothing to do. :-)
What a wonderful holiday season with your loving and growing up family! I loved hearing about your traditions -- old and new -- and seeing those splendid socks! Thanks so much for sharing the joys of your family Christmas! I loved every word and every picture!
ReplyDeleteIt was, Kathy and I'm glad our traditions interest you, just as the ones you have described interest me. Surely one of the many joys of blogging is this exchange on our different ways of life and we are all enriched by it.
DeleteGlad you like the socks. The yarn is truly sumptuous and I would probably never have bought it for myself.
There's so much joy in the memories of times spent with family. It's what makes life so special. Lovely photos Perpetua x
ReplyDeleteI knew you, with your visits to beloved grandsons, would appreciate them, Ayak. Sadly these are the only photos I took this time, as we were so busy enjoying ourselves that I forgot about the camera!
DeleteYou paint such an idyllic picture of a most wonderful holiday filled with family and food and good will, Perpetua. You cookies look yummy and how gracious of all to share Christmas as they all did. Isn't it amazing how quickly children grow? I can't imagine seeing, literally, eye to eye with my grands, but, know that they day will come soon enough when they will be as tall as me.
ReplyDeleteI love your socks!
It was quiet and fun-filled, which to us is idyllic, Penny. We always travel to share Christmas with our children (much easier for two oldies to travel than two families with children). We alternate the celebratiojns with each in turn, so that next year DD will see us at Christmas and DS at New Year.
DeleteHaving seen the photos of how quickly your grandchildren are growing, Penny, it will seem no time at all before they are gangling teenagers. :-)
Your Christmas season sounds absolutely perfect, with children and grandchildren around. How dare the little ones grow up - 13 is a Teenager! As a ginger fancier, not to mention a dark chocolate lover, I must look out for those Fair Trade ginger thins, and say how lovely your gingerbread looks. Your knitting skills are clearly superior and the socks look lovely, both attractive and very warm. Thank you for sharing.
ReplyDeleteBoth we and the children try to keep our celebrations simple and that really works for us, Patricia. Good food, a warm house and lots to do or not do as the fancy takes us make a winning combination.
DeleteWhether Ginger Thins are available in Australia I don't know, but I hope for your sake they are. Yum! The gingerbread was much easier than I had imagined and i wish I'd tried it years ago. As for socks, they are an essential in the British climate, so I get plenty of practice at my one knitting skill. :-)
It sounds like the perfect family Christmas.
ReplyDeleteAnd the socks are magnificent!
We always try to make it so, Jean, and all enjoy it very much. The magnificence of the socks is largely due to the extra-special yarn - very warm, soft and coplourful.
DeleteFamily times are such a joy! Reading about yours has reminded me of the simple pleasures of such gatherings, especially participating in walks, board games, charades... (we too had a lively time after Christmas lunch miming a book, a film etc.) and exchanging thoughtfully-chosen gifts. Happy memories which need recording in my new journal. As you get back into a quieter routine I hope the weather stays milder for you too.
ReplyDeleteThey really are, Linda, and I'm glad your Christmas was full of the same simple fun. I think one of the reasons for so much of this kind of pleasure in our festivities nowadays is the total absence of TV at DD's and the banishing of the TV to the study upstairs at DS's. No more instant entertainment. :-)
DeleteEnjoy your new journal. I've never been a journal-keeper, but I love using my blog to do the same capturing of memories before they blur or vanish.
Those Christmas cookies..mmmmm. I didn't get the first iced Christmas cookie this year.
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like a lovely Christmas.
Do you mean The Boy beat you to the first cookie, EF? You're obviously slowing down with age. :-)
DeleteIt really was a lovely Christmas, thanks.
I really love the comparison of photos of toddler and teen grandson...how amazing, and how times flies. I looked after Liam ( now fast approaching 5) just for 1 day a week between the ages of 2 and 3....it will remain a very special time. The socks look pretty good too ! Happy New Year Perpetua...I'm having a little pause in blogging myself at the moment, but plan to get back into things again soon, and sometimes its good just to catch up with everyone else for a while. Jx
ReplyDeleteI loved that too, Janice, and doing it brought back so many memories of that time, a year after my first breast cancer diagnosis. He was the baby whose birth I looked forward to all through my treatment. There's nothing like that contact at an early age.
DeleteEnjoy your blogging break. You have plenty on your plate at the moment, so it's lovely to see you popping in when you can. I'll look forward to seeing a new post from you appear in Google Reader when you're ready. Hugs Pxxx
P, your blogs are the reading equivalent of coming back from a brisk frosty walk to a lovely open fire - All joy. I'm looking forward to reading you through 2013.
ReplyDeleteAnnie, that is such a lovely compliment. Thank you so much. :-) I do like to reflect on all the good things in life and it's very satisfying to know that my readers enjoy my musings. This blogging lark is such fun, isn't it?
DeleteSo glad you Perpetua & DH had such a good time with your children & grandchildren over Christmas & New Year. Sorry about the UK weather! However, as someone who did live in or around Oxford for many years, I can say I've seen Port Meadow like that on several previous occasions.
ReplyDeleteWhilst we've had some snow here this winter in the Czech Republic including the horrible snow storm I had to drive through to get back to Prague from Brno on 9th December, currently it is quite mild with some light rain. I'm still waiting for more snow & temperatures below freezing for at least two weeks which are a common feature of a normal Prague winter.
Enjoy your sedate winter lifestyle in the Mid-Wales hills & like your many followers, I look forward to more of your interesting blog posts in 2013.
We had a great time, thanks, Ricky, and the weather couldn't spoil it. I gather from DS that Port Meadow looked like that more than once last year, particularly in the autumn. If it could freeze now, they'd have the most wonderful outdoor skating rink. :-)
DeleteIt seems to be a mild and wet winter so far over much of Europe. We need the cloud to clear for more than a few hours for the temperature to drop much and there's little sign of that at the moment. So I shall go on being sedate in relative comfort in our old and hard-to-heat house and put my thinking cap on....:-)
What a gorgeous little face! And I love the tree in your first photo - great for climbing around in.
ReplyDeleteIt's been a pleasure reading you all this year, Perpetua. I do look forward to reading more and following your many travelling thoughts and observations - and it's so lovely to get a glimpse into family life too. Much love, Axxx
Oh yes, he was a cute little thing, Annie. All three of them were in their different ways, though they probably wouldn't want to hear me say that now. :-) The tree was amazing, absolutely huge, with so many intertwining branches. I've never seen one quite like it
DeleteI'm glad you enjoy following me around on my peregrinations, just as I love the glimpses you give of family life in Spain. We all learn and gain so much from each other in this blogging world, don't we? Pxx
Dear Perpetua,
ReplyDeletesounds like you had a glorious time with your family in spite of the weather. Let’s hope the currently rather drier weather stays with us and we can go for pleasant walks in the hills and valleys of the border country (on both sides). I wish you all the best for 2013. May the year be peaceful and bring us joy.
We did indeed, Friko, as we always do. Different games, but the same fun.:-)
DeleteI've been trying to take advantage of the drier weather to get out for a afternoon walk, even though wellingtons are still a must. It looks like it may be turning colder this week, but as long as it stays dry.... Thank you for your New Year wishes and the same to you.
Lovely post and photos too. Sounds like you had a wonderful time with your family and that's what it's all about.
ReplyDeletePatricia
Hello Patricia and welcome to my blog. I'm glad you enjoyed the post and yes, this pleasurable time with family is a core part of Christmas for me. I hope you enjoyed the same.
DeleteWhat wonderful Christmas memories, Perpetua. I can easily fall into the rhythms you describe and say that the happiest moments in my life are so similar. I don't need much in life if I can have these precious times with my family. They are indeed priceless. My children gave me books and dvds and small tokens that tell me they know me well, and it always makes me feel so complete. I saved the little card my five-year old granddaughter scrawled to me that accompanied a little gift, and I haven't even tucked it away yet. I look at it every morning and want to hold onto these times when the girls are little...of course, they are shooting up quickly and I'll be staring up into their eyes one of these days, too! I loved reading your Christmas kaleidoscope, complete with fabulous socks! :-)
ReplyDeleteThanks, Debra. I can well imagine that your Christmas memories will be very similar in essence, even if our settings are so very different. Christmas with small grandchildren is particularly special. As you know with your own children, they don't stay small for long, so treasure every one. Before you know it, they will be growing into young women and you won't know where the time went. :-) I am thoroughly enjoy my Christmas bounty and the CDs are giving me ideas for clips in future posts....
DeleteWhat fun to spend Christmas with grandchildren – we did too. Now I feel bad that my father passed away when my eldest daughter was only 1 year old and my mother, who lived to 92, only saw her granddaughters a couple of times. It was not easy then to take them all the way to Paris, or too expensive.
ReplyDeleteI also like your socks a lot. I knit and crochet but have never tried making socks as I thought it was too difficult. Thanks for coming to my blog – I did answer you, and in case you did not see the reply, here it is: “Perpetua – Yes, I am a very fast reader. I worked at it. I used to come to work ½ hour early to read all the news on my computer – from the US, the UK and France, so I had to read very fast and I did that for years. I also watch hardly any television. Downton Abbey was the last series I watched in 2012 and it stopped early in the year. I don’t get on Facebook or other social media and have no cell phone – I am just old fashioned and like reading books (until 2 am…) Thanks for the visit.”
It sounds as though your Christmas with grandchildren was as enjoyable as ours, Vagabonde. Although my parents died when our children were fairly young, we were much closer and they saw them reasonably often. It must be so hard when you change not only country, but continent, particularly before the days of budget air travel.
DeleteMany thanks for posting your reply to my comment. I had in fact seen it, as I always subscribe to receive follow-up comments whenever I leave a comment, but I know many, perhaps most, people don't.