December 1st – Advent and Winter – Health and Beauty News

Usually December blog posts are ‘Advent Photos’ . That was what I did in 2017, 18, 19, 20, 21 and 2022. That’s what you call stuck in a rut!

This year I’m being a bit more varied – a few photo’s, a few book illustrations, some folklore and a few poems. This, that and t’other. Plus everyday happenings as usual.

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The Anglo-Saxons called December Wintermonath before they became Christians, and Helighmonath meaning ‘holy month’ afterwards. In Chambers Book of Days I came across the word Dubblachd which I believe is the modern Scottish-Gaelic for December meaning Dark Month.

I’m calling 1st December the first day of winter – if it was good enough for the Anglo-Saxons, it’s good enough for me………… although some will say – wait until the 22nd.

First Day of Winter

Like the bloom on a grape is in the evening air

And a first faint frost the wind has bound.

Yet the fear of his breath avails to scare

The withered leaves on the cold ground.

For they huddle and whisper in phantom throngs,

I hear them beneath the branches bare:

We danced with the wind, we sang his songs:

Now he pursues us, we know not where.

Laurence Binyon (1869-1943)

I remembered, just in time, that way back in the summer I’d come across a new advent calendar at a car boot sale. It’s my favourite type of picture – a snowy scene – like the cards I buy for sending. I just searched back through labels and found I paid only 50p for this in April. – Bargain.

So the Autumn display has been put in the cupboard and the Advent Calendar, the December plate and a couple of Christmassy bits replace them.

It’s certainly felt like winter for the last couple of days with much colder weather – and frosts overnight and I’ve started putting the windscreen cover on the car again but I was really fed up on Wednesday evening when it turned to thick fog with possibly freezing fog later as I was supposed to go across to Woodbridge to the theatre for an ‘Evening with Adam Henson’ event. He was talking about Christmas on his Rare Breeds Farm and I’d booked it weeks ago. But it was just so foggy, took me 15 minutes to go just a few miles with another 15 miles on country roads to go so I turned round and came home . Better safe and out of pocket than in a ditch! Driving at night in fog is something I’ve always really hated. What was even more frustrating was that when I looked out a few hours later the fog had lifted so it would have been OK on the way home.

Back Tomorrow

Sue

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