…And just like that

...It’s all over

Happily exhausted.

Pleasantly full.

…and triumphant.

Oh dear.

Have a wonderful… bloomin’ Christmas…

We don’t have snow.

You may.

I have it safe in my heart

We have blooms…

you may too.

or maybe in your hearts.

Merry Christmas

From my overflowing heart…to yours

And the Grinch, with his Grinch-feet ice cold in the snow, stood puzzling and puzzling, how could it be so? It came without ribbons. It came without tags. It came without packages, boxes or bags. And he puzzled and puzzled 'till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before. What if Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store? What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more?

~Dr. Seuss

'From A Fairy To A Child'

W IS FOR?



WINDOWS AND WONDERLAND!

"Lady, dear, if Fairies may
For a moment lay aside
Cunning tricks and elfish play,
'Tis at happy Christmas-tide.

'We have heard the children say -
Gentle children, whom we love -
Long ago on Christmas Day,
Came a message from above,

Still, as Christmas-tide comes round,
They remember it again -
Echo still the joyful sound
"Peace on earth, good-will to men!"

Yet the hearts must childlike be
Where such heavenly guests abide;
Unto children, in their glee,
All the year is Christmas-tide!

Thus, forgetting tricks and play
For a moment, Lady dear,
We would wish you, if we may,
Merry Christmas, Glad New Year!"

~ 'Christmas Greetings (From A Fairy To A Child') - Lewis Carroll,1867.

Within five miles from us is a little village close-by to the Cheshire town of Warrington. A little boy was born in the parsonage there in 1832. He grew up to write world famous stories of a white rabbit wearing a waistcoat and carrying a watch, a walrus and Wonderland. In the village church of his birthplace is a memorial stained glass window. This is made of five panels depiciting a Nativity scene. Underneath the Nativity scene are illustrations of characters and scenes from 'Alice in Wonderland' including the White Rabbit, the Mad Hatter, the Dormouse, the March Hare and the Cheshire Cat. The three middle panels contain verses from the Lewis Carroll’s poem quoted above - the scene featuring the dormouse is at the centre of the those three panels.




Wishing anybody who stops by here a wonderful Christmas!

Why not wend your way over without delay to ABC Wednesday hosted by Denise Nesbitt now for more on the letter W.

Magic In The Air

Veg Plotting kindly invited us to do Festive Sparkly this December for her 'Out On The Streets' quarterly theme. I was hoping to get into Liverpool this weekend to return to Chavasse Park but himself has had other plans for me. The week before Christmas is not the best time to undergo a small operation but luckily it was a minor one and has gone well. It has meant though that I have been at his beck and call and that shopping has gone on the back burner. Just as well that it is really now just food shopping that is left. Hopefully I will get into Liverpool before the end of the year camera in hand but in the meantime here's some festive sparkle from the streets of Strasbourg and Colmar taken earlier in this month. There was certainly much of it evidence ~

Bears perched everywhere ~







There were hearts and stars too ~







An entire shop appeared to have a false festive facade. Click on the photo to see the little owl peering out from high above ~



Restuarants wore their seasonal finery ~



Here you can see the stork which is the emblem of the Alsace region ~







I would have liked to have dined here but where would my plate fit in?



Trees,statues and planters joined in the Christmas party too ~



This statue is a tribute to the sculptor Frederic Auguste Bartholdi who designed 'The Statue of Liberty'. He was born in the house you can see in the photo ~





In the centre of Colmar ~







As for my favourite piece of festive frivolity you can see it at the top of this post. You will have to look carefully but out of the boughs surrounding the owls, rainbow soap bubbles floated out into the air - absolute magic.

''Ring Out , Solstice Bells''

'Now is the solstice of the year,
Winter is the glad song that you hear.
Seven maids move in seven time.
Have the lads up ready in a line.

Ring out these bells.
Ring out, ring solstice bells.
Ring solstice bells.

Join together beneath the mistletoe.
By the holy oak whereon it grows.
Seven druids dance in seven time.
Sing the song the bells call, loudly chiming.

Ring out these bells.
Ring out, ring solstice bells.
Ring solstice bells.

Praise be to the distant sister sun,
Joyful as the silver planets run.
Seven maids move in seven time.
Sing the song the bells call, loudly chiming.
Ring out those bells.
Ring out, ring solstice bells.
Ring solstice bells.
Ring on, ring out.
Ring on, ring out.'

~ Jethro Tull

Solstice
- A stopping or standing still of the sun.

NOT for the faint of heart…

So…

Just what DOES happen when some teenagers decide to create

some goodies for a holiday party and steal your camera to document said creations?

Ok…I get it

penguins

the little scruffians…

Seem innocent enough…

until

they apparently formed their own little

penguin fight club!

It was a bloody creamy massacre

poor little olive never had a chance.

And then the mice

had to come charging into the picture…

… apparently red dye number 2

has been known to create deformities

Massive deformities...In chocolate mice!

What has our world come to?

what happened to peace on earth?

goodwill to men?

and even broken mice and overly-aggressive penguins

Peace…people…peace.

Out On The Streets In Alsace,France

Well it was December so we were sidetracked by Christmas markets, hot chestnuts, vin chaud or gluehwein and the ilk. However apart from these distractions, there was still plenty to see out on the streets of Strasbourg and Colmar for Veg Plotting's OOTS Sparkly Festive Edition.

Strasbourg is situated on the river Ill, where it flows into the Rhine on the German border.There are other waterways which cut the city up into different chunks, so it is rather challenging to find your way around. These planters which straddled the length of one bridge were in fine fettle. I am unsure whether they had been specially planted up for autumn/winter interest or whether they had been there all year round ~





There were chrysanthemum balls hanging from stylish lamp posts ~



and various planters back down at ground level ~



Himself and I pondered over various statues. This one speaks for itself ~



Here one of a series on display in the university area. I have never quite got into modern art ~



Back in the city centre one that I would have gladly taken home but we might have got odd looks going through customs ~



In close proximity to the statue this Nativity scene ~



On the last day of our holiday we made a short train journey to Colmar about 40 miles away from Strasbourg. These seasonal window boxes just opposite Colmar railway station provided a most welcome splash of colour. I am not that fond of ornamental cabbages but thought that they looked effective here ~





but walking further into town this planting did not do much for me ~



Finally still in Colmar it's winter on one side of the street yet summer on the other ~



I will be back soon with a sprinkle of festive glitter from Alsace.