Slowly does it

We woke, on Sunday, to a dusting of snow, nature's icing sugar.  We had a slow start to the day, pottering about followed by a late cooked breakfast.  A walk was suggested, I had a list as long as my arm of things that I needed to do, mostly jobs that had been put to one side whilst I had been ill last month.  Not those urgent needs your attention directly type, the should be doing but never get round to as there is always something else that needs my time sort of job.  Do you ever find yourself wishing that you had more time for that type of thing or perhaps it is just me not being very good at managing my time.  I have got out of the habit of writing things down that I need to do, another victim of being ill I fear,  if I don't write things down they don't seem to get done. I have started this week with a list, back to habits that I know work.

I found myself saying yes to a walk.  We journeyed uphill from the house into thicker snow.  We had a rough idea in our minds of where we were going but it became one of those walks where we changed our minds regularly, each of us wanting to share something interesting we had seen before.  I only took the one picture, the view from part way up the hill looking back down to my village and across to the hills that I can see from my house.  I was so focused on the walk, the beautiful scenery and the sun on my face that the camera stayed put round my neck, building memories rather than focusing behind a lens.

After the week I have had time outside, it turns out, was just what I needed.  There is nothing like a walk outside for restoring one, you cannot help but feel happy.  It doesn't make your worries and niggles go away, just makes them easier to deal with.  It also meant that I spent the afternoon doing all those jobs that have been hanging around for weeks, including packaging several items that needed posting.  They have now all been sent off along with all the Christmas cards.  On Monday I walked down to the post office with Alice, posting the cards for our friends in the village on the way, on our return I got a call from a friend inviting us to their leaving the area do, some mutual friends from Scotland are going to be there, one of those parcels was for them, bits that have been waiting to be sent since the end of October.  Ah well, can't get it right every time can you and there is nothing like getting a parcel through the post is there?

It is looking like this is going to be a quiet week this week with lots of time at home.  There are a few things going on that we could go to but we have all decided to stay at home instead.  We are all feeling the need for some nesting, some quiet time at home.  It seems, without trying, we are going to have the quiet Christmas at home that I hoped we would.  It is great when that happens, it feels natural, like it is meant to be.  I have bought, and nearly finished making, all the presents we are going to gift, there will be one more parcel to send.  Now I can turn my thoughts to food, what we might eat during the week of Christmas when we are all together as a family. 

I have started to read A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens this week, this is the first time I have read this to Cameron and Alice, they are old enough for it now.  It is our after dinner (lunch to most people) story, a chapter each day.  I am enjoying reading it too, it has been a while since I read it.  I hope like, The Glass Angels by Susan Hill, this becomes a favourite to share at this time of year. 

I wonder do you have any favourite stories or books that you like to read at this time of year?