Merry Christmas

to all my readers, if they're still there!  Many many reasons for the lack of bloggery this Advent, some of which I'll not go into. Others...well...chief of which you can see in the photo; the arrival a fortnight ago of GP dog II. Here she is with her faithful companion, GP dog, starting as they mean to go on. Let me recommend adoption of a rescue dog as a sure fire cure for insomnia; since she's been with us, I've fallen asleep almost as soon as my head has hit the pillow! Such a sweet little thing, but hard work. Being ex-breeding, she's missed out on so many of the socialisation experiences  that should have been hers whilst she was a puppy. It's been a busy few weeks. (Well, that's my excuse for putting off Christmas prep) Yet even in the short time she's been with us, it's been wonderful to see how love, kind words, and most of all the company of GP dog, has changed her. She does still hate being left, which has limited our movements somewhat: no midnight mass this year and DH and I took turns to do the Christmas shopping. Takes me right back to when the children were little and hurrying back to let the babysitter go home! Never have the arrival of our two, now adult children been so welcomed!

Posada

This Advent we had some visitors to the GP creche: a knitted Mary, Joseph and Doogal the donkey, who made their home with us as  part of their journey round the parish. Each lucky host filled in their 'passport' with an account of their adventures. From what I read, they had a great time on their travels, which culminated with their arrival in church this morning. We certainly loved having them. Here are some more pics of their adventures chez Greenpatch.

Well, where else to take a donkey but to see a long-lost relative at the Christmas market.  A kind lady agreed to pose with our hairy friends. The original plan - to have reindeer had to be changed, when Rudolf jumped over the fence and made off  at top speed down the road.

Our holy family even got to take a trip on the train - down the line to take part in our Franciscan small group's Christmas meeting. 

What else? Mr GP and I enjoyed a wonderful Christmas concert at church a couple of weeks ago and and last weekend I did manage to get to Nine Lessons and Carols. It never ceases to weave its magic for me. "The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it..." We all clutched on our candles as they burned lower and lower. Would that frail  wavering light last out until the end of the penultimate carol? It was a near thing. But 'light and life to all he brings..." we got there at last - to the final triumphant "Hark! The herald angels sing. Glory to the new born king!" I kept my candle stump -as a reminder to myself of that light and hope.

And - unexpected bonus. I may not have been able to go to midnight mass myself  this year but an unexpected call early on Christmas eve from a fellow sacristy helper who'd been taken ill meant I spent a quiet time that morning counting out hundreds of wafers, wine and assorted altar linen. All to the accompaniment of the childrens' groups rehearsing for the crib service next door. OK - maybe 'quiet' isn't the most apt word to use! Magic all the same. Although - I do think our church's children must be exceptionally well-behaved compared to most. It's the first time I've ever heard kids that age singing "Gabriel's Message" without trying to sneak in the "alternative words!"

Then on to  a local rest home to visit a very  elderly church member. 

It may not have been quite what I'd planned for the day, but the best laid plans....

Advent - Expectant

O come, O come, thou swallow small,

   responding to your infants' call,

   fly far and wide across the earth

  and end with hope our winter's dearth.

        Rejoice! Rejoice! A tiny bird

       shall show a truth that seems absurd.

        - Jim Cotter from Expectant - Verses for Advent, Cairns Publications

Advent - Chriskindelmarkt

Here's one of my favourite places to visit this Advent - our town's  new Christmas market, first proper one we've ever had. Not quite the 'real' Christkindelmarket, like the one we knew when we lived in Alsace of course. Still, it's pretty close and  to potter round, hot chocolate or mulled wine in hand,   as darkness falls  is just magical.

Advent - Expectancy

Let's approach Christmas with an expectant hush, rather than a last-minute rush.

 - by that well-known personage 'Anon.'

Advent- Waiting

You keep us waiting.

You, the God of all time,

Want us to wait for the right time in which to discover

Who we are, where we must go,

Who will be with us, and what we must do.

So, thank you…for the waiting time.

 - John Bell

Light

Let us be like the lark, enemy of the night, who always announces the dawn and awakens in each creature the love of light and life.

 - Elizabeth LeSeur

Advent Calendar - Santons de Provence

 Here they are! Our Santons de Provence nativity figures plus assorted hangers on, namely: a three-legged camel and donkey, pig, duck, a pottery hippo from Disneyland, one super-duper raindeer pooper, scarey sheep, Vietnamese and Nigerian elephant, flowery camel, assorted angels and flower fairies. Oh, and our new friend, Zebedee the bouncy sheep.

Since the cat has discovered the window alcove, we've moved the waiting Magi to the mantlepiece, ready to begin their long journey across the room, ready for the house blessing on 6th January.

                       

Avent Calendar - Christmas Fairies

I pulled up the kitchen blinds this morning to a wonderful surprise!  Thank you, Mr GP, my very own Christmas elf.

Advent Calendar - 'Venn That (Christmas) Tune'

I suspect I'm stretching  the definition of Advent here. No matter, here's a link for the mathematicians - to Andrew Viner's great Venn That Tune! Forget my CSE maths grade unmentionable;  I just love puzzling out his song titles drawn as venn diagrams or graphs. It must be my inner geek coming out!

He's even got a selection of Christmas carols and hits. More here on Facebook. Sheer genius.

All together now..."Dings....Dongs....Things That Occur Merrily...Things That Are On Low"...

Advent Calendar - Winter Flowers, Bruges

Winter Flower Festival, Bruges

An unexpected delight - a couple of arrangements snapped at Winter Flower Festival during our visit to Bruges last month. Church Flower Rota ladies, take note!

Advent Calendar - Pothole Gardening

 Here's Pothole gardener Steve Wheen's latest miniature creation  in London Fields. I love his  idea of "... bringing happiness in unexpected places."

Advent Calendar - O Come, O Come, Emmanuel

O come, O come, Emmanuel

And ransom captive Israel

That mourns in lonely exile here

Until the Son of God appear

Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel

Shall come to thee, O Israel.

Advent Calendar - This Little Babe

This little Babe so few days old,

Is come to rifle Satan's fold;

All hell doth at his presence quake,

Though he himself for cold do shake;

For in this weak, unarmed wise,

The gates of hell he will surprise.

With tears he fights and wins the field,

His naked breast stands for a shield;

His battering shot are babish cries,

His arrows made of weeping eyes,

His martial ensigns cold and need,

And feeble flesh his warrior's steed.

His camp is pitched in a stall,

His bulwark but a broken wall;

The crib his trench, hay stalks his stakes,

Of shepherds he his muster makes;

And thus as sure his foe to wound,

The Angels' trumps alarum sound.

My soul with Christ join thou in fight,

Stick to the tents that he hath dight;

Within his crib is surest ward,

This little Babe will be thy guard;

If thou wilt foil thy foes with joy,

Then flit not from the heavenly boy.

            - From Robert Southwell's New Heaven, New War 

Here's another  favourite, one which has  spelt Advent to me ever since I first sung in Ceremony of Carols nearly 40 years ago. Listen here to Benjamin Britten's magical setting of This Little Babe.

Advent - While Shepherds Watched

Another B-ewetiful treasure spotted in Bruges

This little chap is waiting to take his rightful place in the Greenpatch nativity scene. We simply couldn't resist him. As reader who've been following this blog and its predecessor know, the cast of our Christmas creche tend towards the 'eclectic' and he's no exception. Why, with that bouncy spring holding him up, he could even understudy for the Archangel Gabriel.

Whilst we're talking sheep, do have a listen to this jolly 'alternative' version of While Shepherds Watched. Our community choir  (not the choir in this recording) will be singing this at their Christmas concert. Wonderful- -  though such an 'earworm.' I've not been able to stop humming it for weeks!

Advent Calendar - a Touch of Eternity

“I do hope your Christmas has had a little touch of Eternity in among the rush and pitter patter and all. It always seems such a mixing of this world and the next — but that after all IS the idea.”

             (Evelyn Underhill )

Advent Calendar - Nativity Factor: The Little Baby Jesus

Today's gem has a local flavour; local to where I'm located that is. The Little Baby Jesus is one of the many great entries to this year's Nativity Factor short film competition. Enjoy.

Advent Calendar - World Vision

Have a peep at World Vision's Advent Calendar and read today about how they're helping people in Boliva, where nutritional deficiencies  account for 11,500 child deaths every year.

We've sponsored three children with World Vision over the years, one from Vietnam and two from Cambodia. 'Our' latest little girl is just coming up to her eighth birthday. It's easy to become cynical about the seemingly endless fight to relieve poverty and to forget that it can cost so little (from our affluent Western viewpoint) to do so much good.

Advent Calendar - Shepherds

Welcome to our wond'ring sight

                Eternity shut in a span!

Summer in Winter! Day in Night!

Heaven in Earth! and God in Man!

Great little one, whose glorious Birth,

Lifts Earth to Heaven, stoops heaven to earth. 

                     (From: A Hymn of the Nativity, sung by the Shepherds, Richard Crashaw)

         

Advent Calendar - A Franciscan Advent and Christmas

For today - "Christ Child's Lullaby," recycled from my old Greenpatches blog.

Advent Calendar - Cloth for The Cradle

                                       

An old favourite which I've used before: "Cloth for The Cradle," a prayer by the Iona Community. The beautiful animation here comes  courtesy of dogcow99.   I discovered this first many years ago when we used it in a Christmas Day broadcast from "Oldchurch." They're going through a tough and  immensely sad time just now, so this is really a prayer for everyone there and for anybody is struggling to find light in the darkness this Advent.