Booming Banter

As we say goodbye to 2018 and hello to 2019 many of us will be celebrating and spending time with family and friends and thinking of our loved ones near and far.

There are many traditions for New Year in Ulster. No doubt linked to our Scottish heritage.

We always looked for a tall dark stranger to be the first to cross the threshold of our home and if he carried a piece of coal even better.

We’d clean the house till it was shining bright on New Years Eve but woe betide anyone who swept a speck of dust out on New Years Day lest we sweep away our fortunes.

While a devoutly religious person my Mum adhered rigorously to these traditions and often told me of a year when all sorts of bad things happened. She attributed this to a red haired woman pushing her way into our house at the stroke of midnight to wish us good luck. All sounds very spooky!

In his Christmas Message of 1939 King George quoted a poem by  Minnie Louise Haskins called God Knows. The poem was written in 1908 and was given to him by his daughter Elizabeth who was only 13 at the time.

What wisdom from one so young and what grace that has endured.

Blessing # 204 – Brighter than Light

Do you have a favorite Christmas hymn or carol?

Charles Wesley’s Hark the Herald Angels Sing to the glorious music of Mendelssohn is tops for me.

This season at our Church we got the treat to sing it twice. First, accompanied by our youth orchestra on Christmas Eve and today by our wonderful organist.

This was always the recessional hymn we sung at the midnight service at Holy Trinity Ballylesson that we went to every year as a family. My Dad was usually pretty discrete when it came to singing but he relished this hymn and sang it with gusto. Never do I hear it without thinking of him singing it by my side.

When Charles Wesley wrote this hymn the original words he used were:-

Hark how all The WELKIN rings glory to the King of Kings!

Well what we wonder was a WELKIN?

Turns out that in ancient times when such epics as Beowulf were written it was believed that the world was encased in a huge crystal bell called a WELKIN.

On rare and highly auspicious occasion the WELKIN rang. Isn’t this such a lovely image.

Today when we look at the wonders that the Hubble Telescope sends us back from space perhaps it is not too far from the truth!

Blessing # 203 – Watch The Word of Welkin

About eight years ago we were invited to a party. We bought an orchid in bloom to give the lady of the house. It never reached her!

The orchid had been placed behind the drivers seat in our car, it tumbled over and the bloom broke off. So of course it was no longer gifting material.

It came back with us and was given a home on the kitchen windowsill where it has remained.

Over the years the windowsill has become more congested with  herbs and within the last year even another orchid but old faithful is still in place and going strong.

The plant has never been repotted or moved from it orginal spot. It is perhaps not the most beautiful specimen but each day it is observed with fondness.

It really does its own thing. It throws out moisture shooters that occasionally have to be tamed. Now and again it will give a new leaf or will loose one but what it does without fail is bud and bloom.

Each time it offers a new bud it is a little sign of hope that makes us smile.

Each bud takes weeks to develop into a flower and its progress is check at least daily.

Over the years the plant must have gone though this cycle at least a dozen time. It’s doing it just now and so too is it’s new buddy beside it.

It is amazing to watch how something so beautiful as an orchid flower can emerge from this little bud.

It is also a reminder that even if you get a little broken at times finding the right place gives you resilience to produce wonders.

Blessing # 202 – The Power Within

We had a lot of stale bread hanging around since our Christmas Eve fondue. So rather than make croûtons as we usually would today we got adventurous and made bread and butter pudding.

This was a first for us but is one of those traditional British dishes that people have been making for years to use up odds and ends rather than waste them.

Its a pretty well balanced little meal when you think of the bread, eggs, milk and fruit. Maybe a bit high in the sugar but as Krishna reminds me often his father would say « if you put enough sugar on it you can even eat straw »

Some of my culinary exploits have on occasion called for a larger than healthy sweetening solution but today this was not the case. It may not look great but it tasted yummy.

Blessing # 201 – Recipe to Keep

In the UK the day after Christmas is called Boxing Day and it’s filled with traditions.

Boxing Day has nothing to do with the sport of Boxing but today many sporting features take place on that day.

It’s all about leftover eating, sleeping and some binge watching of TV. Maybe a series like Downton Abbey. We’ve taken to going to see a movie and went yesterday to see Mary Queen of Scots. Surly oscar material.

Some say that the name dates back to the time of big houses just like Downton when servants would be given a gift in a Christmas Box and maybe even get a little time off to visit their friends or family.

Years ago I often spent the evening of Boxing Day with my friends Michael and Lorraine. This was before the days of budget airlines like EasyJet and they’d get out the holiday brochures and plan their summer vacation. This brought dreams of the warmth of Spain or Portugal or Italy into their kitchen and something very tangible to look forward to now that Christmas was over.

Just this week on the day of the equinox Sandy MacHattie posted that his Dad would always remind him that this darkest day meant new light lay ahead.

My Dad would also say faithfully every year on Boxing Day “well that’s the Christmas over for another year. The days are on the turn now, not long till the long nights are in again”

We can only imagine what this prospect must have meant for him in the days of his childhood before electric lights, indoor plumbing and central heating. It reinforces though the gift and riches of optimism which my Dad was given in abundance.

Blessing # 200 – Seeing the Light and Dreaming of Summer

 

My Mum and Dad didn’t keep alcohol in the house. Most likely because they knew if it was there my Dad would drink it! Usually he’d go to the pub and get a skin full on a Saturday instead!

The exception to this was at Christmas when “drink” as it was referred to had to be brought in.

The back hall of our little house would be stuffed with food and cans of lager, beer, stout and a bottle or two of Harvey’s Bristol Cream Sherry and Black Bush Whiskey. As soon as anyone walk through the door a drink would be offered!

No wine was ever bought apart from the Sherry and a non alcoholic specialty called Clove Wine that could strip the skin of the roof of your mouth.

This was the sixties and seventies and working class people just didn’t drink wine! All this changed though as I got older and started mixing with the middle classes.

These friends parents drank wine and went to foreign parts for vacations. At parties we’d drink wine in copious quantities. One particular popular “vintage” of the era was called Blue Nun.

These same pals ate exotic dishes like stroganoff which to this day I still couldn’t spell without autocorrect! For Christmas instead of trifle they had kirsch soaked Black Forest Gateau or Pavlova!

Of course I started insisting we get wine too at Christmas and I will never forget the look on my Dads face when he tasted the Blue Nun! Let’s just say he stuck to whiskey!

My Mum drew the line though at the exotic desserts she said if I wanted them I could make them. This was attempted on a few occasions with little success.

Yesterday we ate from my Mom’s dinner service a very traditional roast beef dinner served as she would have served it but with a glass or two of wine to wash it down. It was followed by a Pavlova for dessert that ironically Mom came to love and ordered often when out for dinner but never did make at home!

Blessing #199 – Enjoying the Best of Both Worlds

A poem sometime captures your heart.

John Betjeman’s Christmas did that for me many years ago.

Hope you will love it too.

Wish you every happiness for your Christmas Day.

Blessing # 198– Poetry

Trends in baby clothes have changed a lot over the years. This became all too obvious this week as we unpacked souvenirs from Ireland including baby clothes from several generations.

First we found my Dads baby clothes that his Mom had kept so long ago. They’ll officially be antiques in December 2020!

Next my little dresses and christening robe that my Mom had carefully packed away.

Finally Aarons little jumper that his aunty Hamsa had knit and sent  him from India.

All these lovely things are reminders of how fashions change but how we treat our newborns hasn’t really changed at all.

We still swaddle babies just as Mary did for Jesus all those years ago. Today there is even evidence to show this bundling may have certain benefits.

It’s a reminder too that we all start out in life the same, wearing absolutely nothing.

The garments we will later wear have no long lasting impact on ourselves or on others.

As Saint Paul said in his letter to the Collosians « let us clothe ourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience and above all else clothe ourselves with love » just as the baby in the manger did for us!

Blessing # 197 – Baby Love

It isn’t fun traveling around the festive season and hitting a delay.

The recent events at Gatwick with the drones and in the USA with the storms brought memories flooding back of some adventures!

These include diversions to Iceland for an onboard medical emergency, to Gander Bay for technical issues and to the Azores, for a refuel because of a weather related rerouting. Alas none of these required even deplaning!

A cancellation on a connection at Newark because of snow did call for an overnight in NYNY which wasn’t so bad. We got to unexpectedly see the big tree and the wonderland of Central Park.

Often end of year meetings called for travel to Switzerland in December and one thing that was always a joy was to stay at the beautiful Hotel du Lac in Vevey.

This is, apart from the Taj in Mumbai, tops on my best hotel ever list. They send you birthday wishes, they give you little boxes of chocolate on departure and they have the most divine aroma all over the place. It’s magical just like stepping into a Christmas movie!

The beautiful bouquet has an exotic yet fresh heavenly sort of nature and just this week it hit me right in the nose!

While shopping for gifts a few candles were being sniffed and bingo there was that special sent.

It turns out it is OUD!

Of course that little light is now chez nous and is not going to anyone else’s home because it was, amongst about one hundred other candles, the only one with OUD!

So now my boys are on a mission in every candle selling establishment in the region to OUD it out!

Blessing # 196– Scentsation!

The intention today was to have a good lie in but there was no sleep to be had after five o’clock.

With mania in full swing, the boys all asleep and no Zumba till 8:15 the energy was taken out on grooming.

There is only so much time you can spend in the shower so out came the scissors. The bangs as they say here in the USA or the fringe as we’d say in the UK had been growing for six months. It bit the bin in sixty seconds around six thirty.

After Zumba and a bit of texting with the bestie in Belfast the mania was still in full swing. So Dibley got trailed down the street before Aaron even left for work.

The fresh air did the trick though and brought the idea of going to see Bohemian Rhapsody. A quick check on the show times listed only one starting at 10:55. So Krishna who had yet to drink his OJ let alone his coffee got his marching orders to hurry up and get ready.

While he was busy with that the need to keep busy was still rampant so there was still time to throw together the lasagne for tonight’s dinner.

Lesson of the day! Never ever try to make cheese sauce in a rush. There were so many lumps in it a strainer couldn’t hold them!

Off to the cinema we go.  Listening to Christmas songs, laughing all the way about who goes to the cinema at this time of day except people of advancing years and of course reminiscing about the untimely demise of dear Freddie.

Arriving in good time we queue to order our tickets only to find the showing is at 10:55 PM!

Now that is definitely not the time for us! We’ll just wait for the DVD! But we did have a little fun going round in circles!

Blessings # 195- Cruising with Your Honey!