Singing to the Rafters

This year Pett Church has had some of its renovations done and the church has been closed for this. So it was a great pleasure to go to the Nine Carol Service there last Sunday.

It was a lovely evening so my brother, my sister and I walked. It was just dusk. Other people were walking too. Christmas lights around the village were just lighting up.

We passed the Two Sawyers.

Tic Toc

And the postbox.

There is now such a poignancy to postboxes which, in the past, would have been bulging at this time of the year. I have often seen them so full, that cards have been spilling out. On the rare occasions I do post a letter or card these days, it can be heard to plonk on the bottom of an otherwise empty box. 

The delightful tradition of sending cards at Christmas is fast dying out and this is due to the extortionate cost of stamps .... now £1.70 for 1st class and 87p for 2nd class. Add this to the cost of the cards and it amounts to quite a lot of money. Once upon a time I would send as many as 80 cards but no longer .... (not all by post I hasten to add.)

 

Here is the church ..... just as its getting dark.

The scaffolding remains outside for the next phase of renovations.

Inside the church, the pews were filling up quickly. I was glad to sit with Paula and Jamie because my brother has a great voice and both Paula and I can sing a lot better if he is near us. Well he is a music teacher.

 

We sang the well-known carols and heard the familiar readings. The Winchelsea church choir had been borrowed for the service  so we had some strong voices in the choir stalls and some lovely descants soaring up to the newly plastered rafters.

I do know the carols rather well after all these decades but I was la la-ing for the more obscure verses due to poor visibility .... the church was lit by candles and I couldn`t see the carol sheet that well..

 

The church had been decorated by our very own Fran who was so brilliant at wreath making. Other people were involved as well.

The nativity was set up by the altar.

From there it was a good view of the inside and how smart it looked.

After catching up with lots of people from around the village we walked home in the dark, admiring all the Christmas lights along the way.

 

 

A December Day

It is not cold here in the UK but it is wet and muddy. Entering the garden is somewhat squelchy, especially through the entrance.

No sunshine but not to wet to work.

I spent my time cutting back perenniel growth in the middle flower bed. The rampant watermint was easy to pull out. I love it and so do the bees but it has to be kept in control. The roots do not go on the compost heap so they go in the brown bin to be taken away. It will spread and root anywhere.

My next job was to take out the smaller weeds round the new lavender hedge. Steve had removed big ones. I used my brilliant new tool from Temu.

It deals with deep rooted things such as fennel which sometimes grows where its not needed.

I am happy with the lavender after its first year.

Steve continued to work on the last compost heap. The sides, made of old pallets, collapsed. The fence at the back needs a bit of work, possibly replacing. It is just posts and wire. We have been wondering about another dead hedge.

Steve spotted these bulbs sprouting on the compost so I potted them up. I think they may have been discarded accidently when we emptied a pot. 

My last job was to strip the dead strap-like leaves from the yucca, watching my eyes with the sharp points.

We harvested what we think may be the last carrots. Not too happy with the sprouts. They look awful. No photos.

 

It is very hard to get a decent photo of this winter honeysuckle but the perfume is divine.

For those of you who visit in the summer, some very different views of the garden today.

 

 

And I had an opportunist close by most of the morning.

 

 

 

Nine Eager Wreathers

I was awake at 4 a.m listening to the wind blowing a hooley, rain beating on the window and wondering what it would be like in the Valley View yurt. But I need not have worried. The rain eased off, the sun tried to come out and the yurt was warm and welcoming with fairy lights and the heating on.

Paula and I waded through the very wet garden to collect fir and willow wreaths from the polytunnel. Then we spread everything out and everyone began to arrive. We were 9 eager wreathers raring to go. 

The table was loaded down with all sorts .... fir, holly picked from the farmyard, bay from the garden, a basket of goodies from Fran which included contorted hazel, and eucalyptus gunni from Jane.

There was plenty to choose from.

To start with we covered our willow rings with a base layer of a type of Leylandii, wired on. After that we bunched up different greenery into small contrasting sprays and attached to the rings in an overlapping ring. This gave our wreaths a more loose and open look.

When you use this method, a good test of the stability of the wreath is to lift it and see what stays in place. You might find at this stage that extra invisible wiring could be needed.

 

Donald made his first appearance at wreath making and was duly handed round. Sorry to say I missed out but I was trying to complete two wreaths.
 

Donald is a very special baby born at 30 weeks. His birthday should be 26th. December!!

He wasn`t too happy to be the centre of attention.

And just wanted to be with his mum Hollie.

 

When most wreaths were greened up, we had a break for soup made by Jan and Julie.

 

Yummy.

Followed up by mince pies (Paula) fruit bread (Fran) and gingerbread biscuits from Finland (Lizzie)

Also yummy.
 

Then the tables were loaded down with all the fripperies, ribbons, baubles, pine cones.

Interestingly most people were happy with a very natural look.

Here are the results. An incredible range of beautiful wreaths.

 

This is Julie`s first wreath .... amazing.

Fran, Donald, Jan and Julie.

Jane

 

Paula. 

Me 

 

Fran

The tidying up was quick with lots of us helping.

Spot the difference.

 

 

Hope all these fab wreaths are up on doors and gates.

Well done all.