All Is Calm...

All Is Bright...



Well, here at Ragged Roses HQ, we've reached the point, at long last, where Christmas can begin. The run-up has been fraught with lack of hot water, lack of heating, flu, coughs, splutterings and general inertia...



but now, I can safely say (with my fingers crossed), that the pressies have been bought, almost all wrapped, food is in fridge, carrot ready for Rudolph (but alas no mince pie), fires stocked with logs, shelves stacked with chocolate, grins gradually broadening and the house almost, but not quite, tidy and we're ready and oh so excited ...



Let the Festive Orchestra begin, the curtains rise and the wonder of Christmas commence....



Wishing you all a wonderfully Happy, Peaceful and Memory filled Christmas
xxx
See you on the other side!

Baby it's cold outside....

Brrrrrrrrr it's cold! Even colder here at the moment since the boiler has taken it upon itself to break down. So here i am typing away frantically trying to move my fingers in an effort to generate some heat. It seems that more snow is on its way too...
A White Christmas would be lovely but I really hope that I get a chance to go into town beforehand to get some much needed Christmas shopping done. To say I have been in denial over the whole Christmas business this year is somewhat of an understatement....



Over in The Emporium, we have been geared up for Christmas since Santa came and opened our Grotto weeks ago. Snow has very kindly settled on the rooftop and snowflakes are settling on the windowpanes of the various departments. There's even a robin happily chirping away next to the chimney top (best make sure Dottie and I don't light too many fires in the stockroom!). This is our second Christmas at the Emporium -where has the time gone? We have been fortunate enough to have been featured in Homes and Antiques and have had so much fun filling the shelves with festive finds.



If, like me, the thought of all those crowds in town, leaves you cold (pardon the pun) or you're simply at home waiting for the boiler man, please pop over to say hello to us in the Stockroom, we've added mince pies to the custard cream tin too. There's something for everyone from dear Auntie Ada to fussy Cousin Cecil.



We have ripping yarns in the Library, sewing yarns in the Sewing Room, dear little bears in the Nursery, or dear little deer in the Grotto. Bohemian glass in the boudoir or Butterfly Blues in the Dovecote..not to mention the odd fairy or two to add to the magic...

Twelve Days...

Magical festive fairies



Hand made cranberry hearts - gifts from a friend



Golden glittery moments



Snow covered trees



Roses on holly



Feathered friends hiding amongst the holly



Carols & baubles



Rosy robins



Cheeky chaps



Christmas Greetings



Childhood decorations




Heartfelt Christmas wishes - Have a wonderful, wonderful Christmas with a sprinkling of magic each day



xxx

Four More Sleeps...

Baby it's cold outside!

We emerged from our Christmas cocoon on Saturday. Tentatively we put our heads outside the door. There was nothing gentle and hesitant about the weather though. From inside our little nest of chocolate, open fires, board games and DVDs the world outside seemed bright and inviting. A much needed walk to blow away the cobwebs was required.



So up to the Downs we went. Wrapped up warm against the elements. What a shock it was for us having been basking at home with the thermostat up high and a constant supply of carbohydrates to keep us warm. I have NEVER been so cold! The sort of cold that hurts your head, that brings tears to your eyes, and wish you had added a balaclava to your Christmas wish list.



We followed the path that was thick with frost, crunching crisp underfoot as we walked down into the valley to find some shelter from the piercing cold. Not only was it cold but it was slippery and it wasn't long before my whimpering grew louder.



My vision was now obscured almost completely by my hat which I had pulled down over my face to keep me warm and my feet were doing their best Bambi impressions as they slipped over the icy ground.



It wasn't long before us Roses were all moaning about the loss of feeling in our hands, feet, faces and Mr Roses was wondering at the joys of coming out for a Christmas walk with us lightweights ...



We reached the sheltered, wooded path that led us down to the village and all was right with the world. The warmth of the winter sun hit us, its rays streamed through the branches, and the birds sang high up on the sunny branches. Instantly I forgot the cold, I began to smile, the conversation flowed as we followed the sun.



It was good to feel part of an outside world again, nodding hello to passers by as they headed off in the opposite direction away from the sun and into the piercing cold.

A very Merry Christmas to you!

Yippee!!!!!!! I've finished the shopping!!!!! There are not enough exclamation marks in the world to describe that wonderful moment when the last carrier bag has been unpacked, the fridge is full and the front door can be shut knowing that no more forays to the supermarket/shops are needed (well apart from the usual last minute things that we forget every year ...).
Christmas can begin. Wishing you all a wonderful, family filled, memory making Christmas. Thank you all so much for being so so lovely this year, so encouraging, supportive, downright funny and irreplaceable.
Happy Christmas!

Over the rainbow

On one of my countless visits into town this week, I found a roll of various old Christmas wrapping papers. I bought them to use for present wrapping but then found I couldn't part with them. Not because they are necessarily a thing of beauty, there are far far nicer ones around, but because when I got them home and unrolled them I was immediately transported back to the sweet shop around the corner from where we lived when I was little. In the corner of the shop, hanging in sheets were similar brightly coloured papers with almost identical images and messages.



I can't remember my mum having to go into town as much as I do now, the sweet shop was one in a row of shops that seemed to sell almost anything you might need - a grocer's, a greengrocer's, a hardware shop (which I remember being a real Aladdin's cave, just like the good ones you find in France), a haberdashery shop with old wooden fittings that sold wool, cotton, gloves, handkerchiefs, my first bra (lilac gingham I think!), a fishmongers, butchers, chemist and the beloved sweet shop.



I used to take our dog for a walk around the block, tie his lead up outside the sweet shop and buy myself a bar of chocolate or a paper bag of sweets from the endless jars or a black jacks or fruit salads from the pick'n'mix counter. In one corner of the shop was a little post office counter and you would see at least three or four people you knew in the queue each time you visited the shop. At Christmas time the top shelves in the shop were full of advent calendars, there was the brightest, gaudiest mass of tinsel to choose from in one corner and the shop window was virtually covered in fake snow and amidst all the boxes of chocolates with their festive wrappers was my mother's favourite Terry's chocolate covered burnt almonds, we would make sure she would have at least one box of them every Christmas.



Those few shops were like a little world to me, especially at Christmas time. I would love waiting for the Christmas stock to arrive, the decorations going up and going with my dad to buy my mother's chocolates. I wonder what kind of shopping memories my daughters will have now that everything is done on such a huge scale. Anyway the wrapping paper is staying put, it has brought back to me so many memories that I can't bear to part with it.



Another trip down memory lane for me this afternoon - Little Sister and I went to see the stage show of The Wizard of Oz, I'm afraid I did shed a tear at Somewhere over the Rainbow, so many memories ... The real highlight for me was being able to see the original ruby slippers from the film that were on display in the foyer. To think Judy Garland wore these very glittery wonders nearly 70 years ago ... I bet, just like my wrapping paper, they have a few stories to tell.
Hope you all have a great weekend of festive flurries, enjoy the winter solstice( hooray the days will start to get longer) and emerge from your tangle of pressies and wrapping paper, have fun.

That Christmas Feeling ...

When I was younger, the measure of a good weekend was how often I had gone out. These days the opposite seems to be true. When it's cold and dreary and the town is swarming with shoppers, there is nothing I like better than being holed up at home. I think this is the first weekend in months where nothing needed to be done (well I say nothing, putting to one side the million or so Christmas preparations that kept me up all night last night worrying about them). A weekend of choosing what we should do and not having things forced upon us. A couple of days of quiet amidst the madness.



On Saturday afternoon, with a still poorly Big Sister, I chose to sit down with the girls, make a fire, watch a film of their choice and enjoy the moment. It was Little Sister's call so we watched "Pride and Prejudice", yes, even my little one is an Austen fan.



An occasion that necessitated the wearing of ballet shoes and keeping your feet pointed up in the air all afternoon, according to Little Sister. Whilst I kept my feet firmly on the ground, my heart was all a flutter at seeing Mr Firth again, the ONLY Mr Darcy in this house! I have to admit that there is a bit of War of the Roses going on in this house - just who does Mr Firth belong to? Me, Big sister or, well I was going to say Little Sister, but she surprised us all last week by telling us just how handsome Dr Who was. Many a meal time has been spent squabbling with my eldest and I have found myself in the uneviable situation of being Mr Firth's mother-in-law, which makes me Mrs Bennet!!!!!!!!!



Not sure he would like my choice of cake today, for some strange reason I had to buy some fondant fancies, their sweetness and sugary colours were just what I needed. I haven't had one of these since I was pregnant when I craved them all the time. Scarily enough, I'm sure Mrs Bennet would like them though.



So Sunday morning had been earmarked as "putting up the Christmas tree/moving all the furniture/finding the Christmas lights/ last minute bright idea to redecorate/sisterly fighting over who puts the angel on the tree/ losing the will to live" time. Mr Roses comes to the rescue by deciding to go out and buy a new tree that will fit an existing space already, without any furniture moving or painting. Two hours later after about ten phone calls he seems to have tracked down the perfect one, only to find it being wrapped up behind his back and sold to somebody else whilst he is on the phone to me in delight .... Another hour on he returns home laden with a different tree and very bored Little Sister.



The decorations and lights are fetched from the loft and the fun begins. This is one of my favourite times of Christmas, the sign that the holidays have truly begun. A time when the baubles are literally thrown on the tree, Big Sister, because of her lurgy, is allowed to put the angel on top this year, the cats sit in the corner rubbing their paws together in glee imagining all the fun they'll be having each night when they're left alone to play volleyball with the decorations ... And all of this accompanied by Mr Crosby in the background, as much a part of our Christmas as everything else.



Yesterday evening, after Little Sister's school play, I indulged myself one more time. I'd bought the "White Christmas" DVD and we watched it around the fire, eating doughnuts, tree lights sparkling and dare I say it, to quote Bing "it's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas ...."

May your treetops glisten & your children listen ...

It's Friday again, surely not! What happens to all those days in between? I'm guessing we're all chasing our tails right now, I'm feeling a bit like one of those hamsters in a wheel, running round and round and round in circles. Not only has this week whizzed by, it's been so so so cold. So cold and no snow - can't help feeling a bit cheated. With the promise of snow last weekend and Little Sister putting us all on constant sledge alert, all we've done this week is shiver. No snowballs. no snowmen, no pretty Narnia like gardens to greet us in the morning, just cold with nothing to show for it!




I went to buy some doughnuts the other day from the baker and couldn't open my purse, my fingers were so numb. (Yes that's me in the photo looking marvellously attractive as I face the elements with my terrier under one arm, vintage tartan blanket over my knees and snow covered trees whizzing past behind me) It's been the kind of weather where you just want to be holed up at home, hands tightly wrapped around a mug of hot chocolate and at least two cats and a blanket on your lap! I would have added yet another eiderdown to my bed too, if I hadn't been put off by the thought that my legs would just crumble under the weight of them all - poor old Mr Roses... I hope we get a couple of days of snow over the holidays - a White Christmas for once, wouldn't that be lovely.



When I was little, watching "White Christmas" was as much part of Christmas as Turkey, presents and Morecambe & Wise. It seemed to be always on BBC 2 and I loved it!! I'm going to try and get a copy for my girls to watch as we always seem to miss it when it's on. I think I always cried too . So all this snow wishing led me to make another nostalgic lavender sachet to put in my Etsy shop. I wonder if I put one under my pillow and wish very hard, the snow might come ...



A very big "thank you" to everybody who has been buying sachets and pillows from my shop recently. I am very grateful and happy and building up a nice little relationship with the lady at the Post office!



Not only is it the end of another week, but also another month is drawing to its close - it can't be December next week, how did that happen? If, like me, you are not particularly organised in the Christmas preparations dept and the thought of making an advent calendar rather than buying one seems just like one thing too many, have a look here at my cheat's, no sew Advent. Is it really a year ago that I wrote that? Oh how i love blogging, being able to look back and see exactly what you were up to at any given time of the year - and, in my case, it seems I'm still just as disorganised ...



Have a great weekend and if you see any of them snowflakes, blow them over here please!

Hello ....

Is anybody out there? A very tentative 'hello' from the very relaxed, some might say lazy, Ragged Roses home. We're slowly emerging from our Christmassy cocoon and venturing outside again. Mornings still being spent lazing round in pyjamas and evenings spent around the fire, boxes of chocolates to hand, playing games and watching films. Even if I were brave enough to post a photo of myself I can assure you that the one above of this 50s domestic goddess is infinitely preferable to the picture of me in my jimjams typing this!



How was your Christmas, good I hope. Ours was lovely, relaxed, full of good food, family, friends and good cheer. We now seem to be walking around in a daze, soporific I think is the word! Yesterday we got out, yes we braved the elements, were dressed by 10am and did one of our favourite walks from Glynde to Lewes. Three hours of fresh air, beautiful countryside and space. Space I think is what we needed. As cold as it was and there was a bit in the middle of the walk when we were all hooded up that we resembled a bunch of Dementors striding across the Downs, it felt good to have some of those cobwebs blown away. Needless to say we were exhausted when we came home and quickly settled down in front of the fire and more of those chocolates.



Four more boxes of chocolates and four more days of holidays to enjoy before 'normal' life resumes. Not sure if I'm ready for it just yet....