Ready for 2024

 The New Year is knocking at the door, the rollover from one year to the next imminent.

Our festive decorations are still up, I like to keep them up till Twelfth Night, as Epiphany is an important time.

TIME & clocks feature prominently in our home - a reminder of the passing of time in our lives & how things move on .. 

The handbeaded South African ornaments a reminder that my heritage spans several countries & continents; their simplicity reminds us that life can be simple too & that we all bring different life experiences to the table, our roots hold different things ... 

Festive snow & warmth from the reds, golds & greens. The handmade (by me) foraged front door swag a sign of my connection to nature. Cookie cutters in the bowl in the kitchen window are always used as baking is part of our lives ... 

Our clocks mark the time with their steady tick-tock, all having their own sound & beat. They remind me that TIME is different for each of us. It is also the one thing that we cannot buy, store or know how much we have.

I wish you & yours a blessed & peaceful 2024. Send out ripples of kindness in your world.

Dee 🥳🎉🥂

Enter 2024 with Intention

We stand at the cusp of another new year. The time between this year & the next is good to ... 

Reflect on the year we are leaving in 2023 

What did I do well? What challenges did I overcome? What lessons did I learn? What brought joy to my life? What is on my 'must do better' list? What were the highlights? What do I want to leave behind? What drains my energy? What things am I most proud of? 

Do not move from one year to the next without letting go of things which no longer serve you. 

Let go of old fears, habits, clothes, labels, tasks which no longer resonate with you. 

Do a digital declutter - inbox newsletters that no longer serve you, delete old emails, files & photos - back up the rest.

Do a physical declutter - clothes, shoes, post, books, magazines, bedding etc Organise the space & time 

This makes space for new intentions. 

What feelings, situations, people am I making space for & welcoming in? These provide a sense of direction through flexibility & adaptability. What are my priorities & motivation? 

Set intentions: I intend to improve my life  ... 

Physical - improved sleep, better food choices, self-care, health benefits of small changes

Emotional - saying NO without guilt, saying yes to people who value you, not being a listening post 

Financial - effective money management & savings 

Social - quality time with my tribe - people who make me feel valued & seen, 

Spiritual - time in nature & spaces that give me peace, deep conversations  

Personal - more time reading, hobbies, perfecting skills, more family time 

What are my visions for 2024? 

More time? To do what? Set an intention of how I would use that time. What I don't want life to look like? What quotes that inspire me?  

WORDs to inspire 2024 -  I AM words to inspire & provokes change?

This time is also just a good time to ... 

Thank you for stopping by & spending time with me. What I AM words would you use to describe yourself? It is quite hard to think of but please share ... 

Dee 🥂🎉🗓️

PEACE on the last Sunday of Advent

 I send PEACE to all on the last Sunday of Advent. It is needed in the world where there is so much dissent. 

The four Advent candles burn together, having been lit progressively over the last month, each burning down more than the next one lit ... 

HOPE

LOVE

JOY

PEACE 

We need love, hope  & peace to bring joy in to our spaces. 

Four important messages to take forward to Christmas day with you. Make peace with the things that trouble you, speak with kindness to create a ripple in the world. It needs more of that ... 

Dee  🕯️🕯️🕯️🕯️

Essential festive baking for little hands …

Festive baking has been a part of my life forever. I used to bake at my grandmother & mother’s knee & it always sets the scene that Christmas is near..

My Godsons baked alongside my daughters Baking & carried on the tradition for years until well into their teens. We always made an evening of it & the baking was decided by what they enjoyed. 

Little one baked with me last year - biscuits for little hands & it was a good session so I was delighted that he could join me again. 

This year, gingerbread biscuit mixture & little one decided to use the little stocking / boot & a little gingerbread cutter. 

The springerle (embossed) rolling pin is popular & it adds a lovely pattern to the shapes.

While they baked, we decided to treat the others to some cheese straws. 

A roll of puff pastry & some grated cheese was all we needed. The ready rolled pastry had a shake of sweet paprika with grated Red Leicester cheese on half the pastry. It was folded over & then rolled to seal the cheese in to the pastry. 

Little lad cut it into strips with a blunt knife, brushed with an egg wash then baked at 220 for about 10 min. 

They puffed up nicely & as soon as they were cool enough to handle, they were eagerly eaten by all. 

We used icing tubes in white, read, green & blue to decorate the cooled little boot shape biscuits.  They looked lovely & were boxed up to go home with the little lad & his sister. 

It is good to encourage the next generation to take up baking & to enjoy it. Hopefully it will be part of the traditions they enjoy for years. 

The lifelong teacher in me  knows that baking is more than just baking - it uses a wide range of skills in that simple activity. This year, at 3.5 years old, the little lad needed no help with rolling, cutting, putting it on the baking tray all spaced out. Last year he needed more help - so this year shows progression in his skills & ability as he is making independent choices about the cutters used, counting to make sure there is enough (1:1 correlation is a vital early maths skill). The social  interaction is so important for language development & he was using both small & large motor skills in rolling & cutting.  His creativity was evident in icing choices he made while decorating the biscuits - choices made with little input from adults gives children confidence to try new things. Most impressive was how absorbed he was in the activity - a good 30-50 minute concentration is impressive & that is an essential development to prepare them for school.  

It is important to appreciate how simple tasks develop so many skills. 

Are you baking? What is in your tins? Tell all .. 

Thank you for stopping by, 

Dee 🧈👩‍🍳👨‍🍳🥠⏲️

A Winter Solstice simmer pot ...

 A simmer pot is a ritual that uses natural winter / yule ingredients in a pot of boiling water to scent the house with fragrances that remind you of winter & the festive season. 

Last year I did this simmer pot with sliced oranges, cloves, cinnamon, sprigs of rosemary & sage, star anise, nutmeg & a splash of vanilla. 

This year I had no oranges so I used sliced lemons, fresh sprigs of rosemary (for protection) & sage, some cranberries (for positivity), cloves, star anise (for healing) mace (nutmeg), juniper berries and a cinnamon stick (for success), covered in water & brought gently to the simmer. 

The smell was so welcoming & reminescent of Christmas as it wafted through the house as my friends arrived for supper.  Cloves, mace & star anise epitomise the smells of winter ... 

Simmer pots bring in the magic of woodlands, of fir forests, of the magic of the season without any chemicals or additives in your environment & that is surely a good thing. While it is simmering away, it is a reflective time to relax in to the busyness of the season, to set  your priorities. 

My mission before next December is to find one of those gorgeous glass pots that can be put on the hob with the boiling bits because they look the part. Any suggestions please?  

Thank you for stopping by, leave a comment so I know you have visited, 

Dee 🎄🌲