What preparing for Christmas looks like in our house
Are you a Christmas prepper, or more of a last-minute-panic kind of person?
I really enjoy the run up to Christmas, as I’m a natural list-maker and organiser.
I thought people might like a little peek behind the scenes at how I get ready for the festive season and I suspect that this might be part 1 of a 2-part series!
You’ll notice that my Christmas checklist has two columns - I write my list of things to-do down the left-hand side and then still have space to add in all the things I’ve forgotten (or just plain forgot until after the fact!)
August to October: getting started
Because I make a lot of things myself from scratch, Christmas preparation tends to start very early - with some low-key preserving and making of things like mincemeat or hedgerow spirits that need plenty of time to mature, starting in late August/early September. I also decided to make our Christmas cake a lot earlier this year, as I’ve been reading ‘Christmas at River Cottage’, where Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall advocates tucking in to your Christmas cake from the beginning of December, which seems like a very good idea!
I tend to go back to the same recipes for things like the Apple and Pear mincemeat and Apple and Blackberry gin (both of which can be found in River Cottage Handbook No.2 - Preserves, by Pam Corbin), but can be swayed by a particularly delicious looking alternative for Christmas cake (and pudding, which I’ll make on or around Stir-up Sunday in November) and so I did make a version of the ‘Quince-mas’ cake from ‘Christmas at River Cottage’, but swapped out quince for apples from our garden. I also decided to feed the cake some of the Apple and Blackberry gin, rather than the traditional brandy or whisky - and I have to say, it smells amazing - can’t wait for December!
This year Christmas preparations felt like they were more full-on in this period, as I decided to design my own wrapping paper and cards to sell on my Folksy shop. All the work for this - including drawing the original illustrations, digitising them, creating the seamless repeat patterns for the gift wrap, and - most tricky of all - coming up with appropriately bad puns for the Christmas cards - took place in October. They also all had to be finalised and sent off to print with enough time to be able to take delivery and get the product photography done so that I could add everything to my Folksy shop before we went away on holiday for the school half-term! Phew - I just made it, but it was quite a hectic week or two. Never mind - I’ll know to plan for it next year, now!
November: and it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas
Things definitely start to get busier this month, with a list of Christmas events to book. We try to go to the local panto at The Maltings Theatre - they’re doing Cinderella this year and I’m sure it will be just as good as the productions we’ve seen in previous years here in Berwick (although I’ll never forget an excellent version of Aladdin we went to when our daughter was little at the Oxford Playhouse!)
Another favourite family activity is to visit a festive lights trail - we’ve been up to the Royal Botanic Garden in Edinburgh for the last two years and really enjoyed it. There’s something really magical about being in an outdoor setting that you wouldn’t normally visit in the dark and seeing it lit up so that it looks completely strange and wonderful!
This year we’re going to try the brand new Christmas Lights trail at Leazes’ Park in Newcastle - it is going to include illuminations, sculptures and special effects, as well as lots of food and drink pit-stops, so I'm really looking forward to it!
November is also when we get the paper Advent Village I made a few years ago down from the loft. There’s usually a house or two that needs repair (or to be replaced) and I tend to add new elements to the Village, too - I think this year hubby is rigging up some lights to go in the inside of the houses so it will look particularly festive on dark afternoons!
Looking forward to December
I really love the Advent period - particularly if I’ve managed to do a lot of my Christmas prep in advance so I can just wind-down and enjoy the season. I love getting cosy at home at this time of year, with the wood burner on and the smells of Christmas baking and cooking, or venturing out into town or to local events with twinkling lights and good company (and more excuses for sampling festive food and drink!) Here are some of the things I’m already starting to look forward to:
We’re really lucky to have Royal Northern Sinfonia giving a ‘Christmas by Candlelight’ concert in the Parish Church here in Berwick this year on 5th December - I booked my tickets back in July, but I think there are some still available via The Maltings box office!
I’ve also started to look around for a Christmas craft workshop - I’ve done wreath making for a couple of years and feel fairly confident I can do this on my own now, but I’d love to have a go at something new that will provide me either with a lasting memento that I can get out every year, or a new skill that I can reuse. Maybe something like bauble-making or book binding? I also saw this lovely Woodland Xmas Fairy peg doll kit being offered by fellow Folksy seller, Thimbleville (Helen Sinden Creations). A peg-doll fairy tree topper has been on my list of ‘Things to Make’ for more than 10 years now - so I might just treat myself!
I really enjoy a good Christmas market in late November/early December to pick up last little bits and pieces and stocking fillers. The Berwick Christmas Market, run by The Rotary Club, is always a good event in the town and I’m determined this year to make it out to the Ford and Etal estate market as it has 70+ stalls as well as entertainment and activities.
And I say it every year, but I’m determined that 2023 will be the year when I finally get to go to a Nine Lessons & Carols Service, which I haven’t done since I sang in a Chapel Choir back in my University days! I’d love to go to the one on Holy Island but I’m not sure the tides would be in my favour for getting there and back across the causeway, so I might just have to wait for Holy Trinity to confirm the date they’ll be holding this service this year…
