Our Advent

Alice and I started off this week making our version of Speculaas adapting a recipe that we have been using for years to ensure that our gluten free and dairy free friends could share them.  The resulting biscuit dough was far too moist to be rolled out but Alice was adamant that she still wanted them to be star shaped.  We managed to find an entirely unconventional way to cut them and get them onto a baking tray without squishing them too much.  Making these biscuits have been part of our Advent for years, a tradition that I am sure I will continue long after the children have left home, they are so delicious and don't last long.  I am hopeless at remembering to take photos of food when I have cooked it, when I went to the tin to take a photo there was one small star remaining, one of a couple we made at the end when we were running out of dough.

This time of year can become crazy busy with invitations, things to do, places to be, presents to buy.  There is so much more going on and it can be so easy to say yes to everything without thinking about how we can fit everything in.  Last year we did things differently, I did no planning beforehand and just went with the flow and it worked well, we did not get overwhelmed with 'too much'.  I have planned things this year but with plenty of space for pauses and rest which will not get filled up, it is all too easy to fill in the spaces isn't it, so you end up dashing from one thing to another.

A few weeks I got out my collection of Christmas books and stories, along with previous years plans which I always keep to make planning each year easier.  I love the stories that we read and share each year, last week we read The Glass Angels by Susan Hill a delightful story set in the 1940s shortly after WWII, I still remember the first time I read this story but even after several years of reading it has not lost it's charm.  We have a focus for each of the four weeks of Advent, following an idea that I read on the internet years ago.  I am sure what I do, what we do, is nothing like that original idea but it is important to make these things are own to make them work.  If we try and follow what other folks are doing we are setting ourselves up to fail which is never a good start for things.

Advent for me is a time of moving through the darkness to the return of the light, a time to seek out the light in everything and keep it gently glowing.  It's a time of inner searching, of anticipation, of inner quiet through all the busyness of life and all that this time of year brings.  It is a path to finding balance and peacefulness in my life, not just at this time of year but at all times.

In week one of Advent, for us this was last week, we focus on the mineral kingdom the physical foundation of life, the ground we stand on and the basis of our ever changing existence.  We think about our connection to the earth and what that means to us.  It is a time for us to think about any changes we should be making over the coming year to be ever mindful of our effect on our beautiful earth.  We live in a geology rich area so we took a walk locally to investigate the rocks, this has kindle an interest in Alice to learn more.  I did a geology project with Cameron at a similar age so I already have some notes which I can use again, I am looking forward to repeating some of the wonderful geology walks we did back then.

This week we have been focusing on the plant kingdom, a kingdom that like us, but unlike the mineral kingdom has life.  We have been thinking about all that we receive from this kingdom, the nourishment, the beauty, how it is life sustaining for us and it in turn is sustained by the earth, wind, rain, light and warmth from which it creates a balance of growth and decay.  We have been celebrating the bounty of this kingdom, showing gratitude towards the growers who invest their time and resources in providing food to sustain us.

Next week we will be focussing on the Animal kingdom with which we share our capacity for movement, will be reminding ourselves of our relationship with this kingdom, of our appreciation all that they do for us and our need for continued compassion to all animals.  In the last week of Advent we will be focusing on Humankind and our relationship with each other and the world around us.  We will be giving thanks to the friendships and people who have nourished and supported us this year.  We will be thinking about those who are struggling at this time.

Amongst all the stories and poems we are sharing we will be observing St Lucia day next week making Lussekater buns, making wreaths and sharing food with friends, celebrating the Winter Solstice by hosting a small ceremony and watching the sun setting, making some small gifts and decorations, spending time with extended family celebrating a significant birthday, baking and eating mince pies, and putting out extra treats for the birds as we have very cold weather forecast.  I managed to get all my cards made last week but have only sent out the International ones and those that I am hand delivering so far.  I hope to write and send all the others by early next week, we are currently experiencing lots of postal strikes so if I don't send them soon they won't make it in time.  

We have pared back our focused learning time for this month, focusing instead on the time of year and all that it holds for us.  Some of things we were due to have been doing with others have been cancelled, or we have not attended as Alice was not well at the beginning of last week.  My plans may not always come to be but they are only a plan, something we hoped to do if we could, if they don't happen it is not the end of the world, whatever we do will be good enough.

I hope whatever your plans look like for this time of year they are good enough and that you have space to pause and rest somewhere in there too.