Festival of Plants

16 December 2015



It was a week that started with flooding* and ended with snow.  A stay in hospital for several days meant that our festival was short and quieter than originally planned.  I had intended to mark St Nicholas Day on Sunday 06 but all that was shelved completely.  Sadly we missed joining friends for their Advent Spiral but we were with them in spirit.  The Jewish festival of Hanukkah was last week which again we didn't mark.  But all the plans I made will not be in vain,  it is all written down so I can make use of it next year.




We spent two days marking the Festival of Plants, our focus for the second week of Advent.  We read the stories from the Reg Down book, sang our Advent song adding a new verse for the week and learnt the Christmas carol, O Christmas Tree.  We also read the Norse myth about Yggdrasil, a couple of short folk tales about trees and many of the Flower Fairy poems from the Winter collection.  There were other stories and poems we didn't read and we didn't do any of the crafting plans I had either, there is always next year.  We added some tree seeds we had found earlier to our star path on the seasonal table and the wee tree now has holly leaves and berries.

So it was a quiet, short festival last week.  It was as much as any of us wanted.  Now our attention is turned on the animal kingdom for the Festival of Animals.

********************

* the field in the first picture is the same as the one in the fourth picture in this post

Thank you all for you kind and thoughtful comments on my last post.  Alice is so much better than she was this time last week.  Sadly I am not fairing quite so well.  I picked up a horrible bug/germs of some sort in the hospital which I am struggling to shift, not helped by the fact that I haven't slept properly for over a week.  Our Festival of Animals is going to be a quiet week too.

26 comments:

  1. Take it easy and be kind on yourself.

    ReplyDelete
  2. oh you poor thing, get well soon xxx

    ReplyDelete
  3. Sometimes plans are like that--destined to go awry. Hope you feel better soon and that you and your family have a peaceful and healthy holiday season!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Oh dear, now you. I hope you'll have some time to rest and take things easy and slow. All the best to both of you!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. In some ways it was inevitable but I do feel much better now.

      Delete
  5. Oh no, I'm sorry to hear you've caught a bug now... Get better soon!

    ReplyDelete
  6. I was so sorry to hear about Alice. I must have missed your last post. Such a worrying time for you. I hope you're both on the mend very soon. Much love. X

    ReplyDelete
  7. Goodness you've been through the mill! I hope you're on the mend really soon x (Chris @thinlyspread - for some reason I can only comment with my google account!)

    ReplyDelete
  8. Wow is that seriously the same field!!!!
    Enjoy your festival of animals, and get well soon.
    Thank you very much for your card and star, they are very beautiful.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It is, it goes down really quickly too. Thank you for your lovely card too.

      Delete
  9. So sorry to hear you are poorly now too. Get well soon my friend x

    ReplyDelete
  10. What a wonderful way you're marking these festivals. Sorry to hear that you're under the weather, there's so many bugs doing the rounds at the moment. I've just had Eleanor off school with a sickness bug for three days and she never takes time off. Glad to hear that Alice is on the mend.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We are slowly but surely improving, it will take time and we are in no rush.

      Delete
  11. I'm so sorry to read your last post and hear of everything you and your family have been through, wishing you a calm and peaceful week ahead and a smooth recovery to good health xx

    ReplyDelete
  12. Sorry to hear that you are not well now - I hope you make a speedy recovery. Your festivals sound absolutely lovely. I would love to join in with you next year! xx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That would be lovely, I will write to you with some ideas if you like?

      Delete
  13. Glad to hear Alice is doing much better!

    ReplyDelete
  14. sending you oodles of healthy well wishes your way!! I'm glad Alice is better !!

    ReplyDelete
  15. I love your festival ideas! I hope that you will be feeling well again soon. And I hope your weekend is peaceful and lovely, x

    ReplyDelete
  16. I am sorry to read that you are not well and wish you a speedy recovery.
    Love your celebrations/festivals. Very Earthy ! xxx...x

    ReplyDelete
  17. Huge sympathy to you. I hope that bug shifts soon and you regain your strength.

    ReplyDelete

Hello......would love to hear from you :)