The sixes day of Christmas

A Six tradition

Hi again. How have you been? The Six household has been very busy; I shall endeavour to tell you why……to enjoy this post to the maximum please play this whilst reading !or any other of the tracks highlighted in the text!

It’s the October half term, and the Sixes have a now long standing tradition. We have a day of Christmas. Now, before you all close the page with a bah humbug and rants about Consumerism, let me explain.

INSERT YOUR OWN TIME WARP NOISE HERE…. Its 2001, it’s the October half term and we take a day trip out to a local arts and crafts centre ( where in fact we got engaged two years earlier)They had their Christmas decorations up, and Mr6 and I share a big love for the festive season and couldn’t resist buying a decoration each for the three of us. Then on the way home, we decided that that day would be a great day to bake the Christmas cake, as they need time to mature and be fed with brandy!

So there you go, there started the Tradition. The next October came around again, and this time we allowed ourselves to have Christmas music on at home whilst we made the cake again after buying decorations. It kinda puts the magic into the atmosphere and thus into the cake! We then snuggled down that evening to a Christmas movie; I do believe it was it’s a wonderful life.
I don’t think there is a better feel good Christmas movie ever made.

The Years move on, we get married and have another baby, but every October the cake was baked, decorations brought, music and dvds enjoyed. We now even have a newer car with a cd player which enabled us to take the Christmas music with us!! Oh the looks we get as we pull into the garden centre car park with Christmas tunes blaring out the car with added bad singing thrown into the mix. But you know what, who cares! We are not doing anything wrong, were not cashing in to Christmas, we are taking all its values and holding onto them for one more day. We unite as a family; get excited together; enjoy everybody’s decoration purchases. I love the eclectic look of my tree knowing that each decoration holds something special to each person, reflects their personalities and although a heady mix it represents unity, family, love and togetherness.

The decorations we have all brought today will stay wrapped up in their paper until the first of December when they are unwrapped again and the children delight again in their purchases. We of course have other decorations we have brought on our travels, and each one holds a special memory for its owner.

So today it’s that day again, we’ve all chosen new decs, mine are mostly owls as I collect them. I always enjoy watching the children’s taste’s change over the years and they are never predictable! They don’t care about colour schemes and trends they just go with their hearts and what delights them. This year the lad made a bee line for a little china train which made us all laugh as he’s obsessed with trains! We have a budget each so no over spending is allowed unless it’s completely divine and I can’t possibly live without in my life!

We’ve sang our hearts out to The Darkness played air guitar to
Mike Oldfield in dulci jubilo and the kids sang every word to I want an alien for Christmas!

The cake is made, each taking a turn to stir and make a wish, whilst I play Christmas music to put the magic in the cake. My favourite is Prokofievs Troika can’t beat it ! The Aroma has been spicy and warm and made us cosy whilst we all snuggle down to watch family six favourite, Elf. Which might just be accompanied with a mince pie or two? And the family six are just a bit excited about the upcoming season, embracing the change in temperature and the kids are allowed, just for tonight, a Christmas story, just to fire up their imagination and build the excitement just a little more.

Now I can guess what you are thinking, how do we bring the kids back down from the ceiling? Well to be honest, they do it themselves, they know tomorrow is just a normal day and Christmas is a way away yet, they are just a little more excited about it but now they have that Christmas feeling floating in their bellies and makes their lives a little more special.

You see that’s what’s it’s all about, not the decs or the cake; it’s the good feeling it produces, its togetherness and knowing that they can take that feeling with them for the next few months and keep them warm inside when maybe things aren’t all that easy to get through.

I wish you all an early Merry Christmas and I hope that maybe you will start a little family tradition of your own that brings you all together and gives you a warm and fuzzy feeling inside.

Until next time my loves… Jo xxx

Ps I’m off to watch Love Actually – it’s one of my favourites! x heres my favourite bit

AUTUMNAL DAYS

I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but the colours of the leaves are changing around us, the world in my mind is becoming a little more magical for just a few weeks. Take a few steps outside and you are instantly surrounded by changing colour, spectacular light, and a feeling of change.

Autumn is upon us people, it my favourite time of year, I welcome it every year like an old friend returning home. I love everything about it. I think, being a red head, I have a certain affinity with autumn. Picture if you will.

The sun is low; a slight crisp breeze is blowing. The trees glow with reds, oranges as the sun light shines through them like precious stones glinting in the light. Leaves slowly tumble in the wind, floating down to earth, nature’s own scarlet confetti. The leaves crunch under booted feet, delighting in the satisfying crunch, long flowing purple material of a warm dress playfully catches the leaves as she walks down nature’s aisle. The light hits her hair and it glows with reds and oranges, reflecting the trees around her. They walk together in harmony, basking in the day’s glory.

A little romantic yes, but autumn stirs this in me. I think if you are really honest with yourself, this picture isn’t too hard to imagine when you think of autumn.

This time of year excites me; I feel it suits me best. I love nothing more than a flowing skirt, leather boots, cosy knits, gloves, and all the autumnal colours that go with the season. It’s an exciting time of year for the sixes. We embrace it. We home cook more: soups bread, cakes, helping our winter blubber along the way (well it is getting colder!) I’m ready to say good bye to summer, the constant worry of hats, sun cream, and I DON’T LIKE THE HEAT! I welcome the cooler days, time to wrap up warm.

Autumn is sexy, you heard me SEXY! Who doesn’t day dream about getting frisky on fluffy rugs in front of log fires, and hey it’s going to be a big strong armed burly man, (certain to be shirtless as well) to chop all that wood! AHEM! Where was I, insert your own hot flush here! But I think you get my gist!

As you know (if you’re one of my regular readers) music plays an important part in my life and after thinking about this blog, I have come to see that I have a lot of autumnal music. One of my favourite albums is called OCTOBER RUST by TYPE O NEGATIVE, with tracks like green man. Its whole inlay is covered with pictures of autumn leaves and trees. I’ve linked the picture to you tube for your listening pleasure. P.S. the first minute is silent!

Other album musts on an Autumnal playlist are;

1. FLEET FOXES by FLEET FOXES
   
2. A PASSAGE IN TIME by DEAD CAN DANCE
   
3. HELLO LAND by GUILLEMOTS
   
4. WORLDES BLYSSE by MEDIEAVAL BABES
   
5. FOR EMMA by BON IVER
   
6. BLOODY KISSES BY TYPE O NEGATIVE
   
7. WALK THE RIVER by GUILLEMOTS

   Another big thing about autumn is that it brings the family six together. As soon as the summer holidays are over, the children hark on about how they can’t wait for the October half term and we can have our day of Christmas! Yes you heard right, the sixes have a whole day of Christmas during half term. It has become a tradition that started when we first married and I baked the Christmas cake in the October, followed by a drive out, and ended up buying a Christmas decoration each. And it’s stuck. Every October half term, we pick a day; we drive to our favourite craft centre and garden centre sound tracked with every Christmas cd available. We each choose a decoration for the tree, have lunch out, and come home. Then I make the cake with Christmas music adding the essential magic to the mix (every one stirs the mix for extra magic) then we all snuggle down to watch our favourite Christmas movies (another blog!) whilst the smell of the Christmas cake fills the house, and excitement builds.

   Autumn also brings out the frustrated photographer in me, but since the fabulous Instagram has been released I have an outlet for my novice skills. I try desperately to capture the light in the trees and the colour it has to offer.

   
   

 

I hope I have convinced you of my love for autumn and how its magic never fails to captivate me and my imagination.

I’d love to know how the season affects you, does it inspire or fill you will dread, with the thought of winter on its way. Let me know. As always much love, take an autumn walk for me and enjoy its majesty. Jo x

Ps I hope you like the pictures, all taken on my Iphone.