Just dug out the following, being an essay I wrote years ago about Christmas for a Czech audience. With great embarrassment and very little ado I publish the following noteworthy extracts :

"In Scotland, with the rise of Puritanism, John Knox put an end to Christmas in 1562. Even today, Christmas is celebrated on a lesser scale than in England, partly owing to the Scots inbred Puritanism and partly to our historical tendency to mistrust materialism (which has been misinterpreted by the English as meanness for centuries)."

"Advent sees the brewing of mulled wine (necessary to keep out the cold) and the making of mince pies (necessary to absorb the mulled wine) . Mince pies contain something confusingly called mincemeat."

"Santa Claus (otherwise known as Father Christmas) is of course the popular name for St. Nicholas, the fourth century Saint of children, mariners (and pawnbrokers). The reason Santa Claus wears a thick red coat is thanks to a Coca-Cola advertisement from the 1920s. Before that he was depicted wearing dark, brown furs. Better marketing in red, obviously."

And this about the Christmas dinner:

"The great meal begins. Typically, we spend about one and a half hours filling ourselves up with a mass of rich food without a care in the world for the poor and hungry, and then flop down in front of the telly to watch the James Bond film. Dad falls asleep, snoring, the children start to fight over which toy belongs to whom and Mum murmurs ominously, “That’s the LAST TIME!”. Towards the end of the afternoon, Dad wakes up and continues drinking, Mum does all the washing up and generally everyone gives thanks for yet another wonderful Christmas. Forgotten Aunts and Uncles ring up from obscure towns in the North and the children have to say, “thank you for the lovely present”, even though they have already lost the greetings card attached and can’t remember who sent what (in Britain you must write on the present who it’s from, so that you can be thanked later)."

An's Blog

Anezka (pictured here on the right with the Biggest Mushroom Ever) has enterprisingly started her own little Blog - draciohen - which, by the way, means Dragon's Fire... - however very pink and sweet. Have a look...

Phew. The end of term. No more Christmas parties, invoicing, last lesson goodbyes. Something of a relief. Now it's time to concentrate on home things.

Tomorrow it's y job to chop down this year's Christmas tree - there are several in the garden suitable for this purpose. There's a pretty 8ft silver spruce down near the fence which will still have to come down soon. It's days are counted but at least it will go out with a bang.

The picture shows our village this morning at about 8.30. Minus 8 and it's frost on the bushes, not snow.

At Camp in Autumn with Unknown Fellow Rogue.

The Man.

Elizabeth Claire

Who can make the sweetest harmony for this? I promise we'll play it at the next gig.

A must for all true Scots (and others)...

Advent Balls

Just returned from the first ball of the season. My dishy 16-year-old sister-in-law (Petra) goes to dancing school and it was the presentation evening (or however I'm supposed to translate it). Gorgeous white silk dresses and tail coats everywhere, tinned music though - shame.

The mayor's wife called earlier to ask if I wouldn't play British carols under the arches at the local church on the hill on Friday (charity event). What can you do? So it looks as though I'll be taking my fiddle out in yet more wet weather. People rarely realise that it's simply bad for fiddles to be out in the rain, and often get uppity when you start trying to edge your way out of damp outdoor playing. But for the greater good... The best part was when she asked me to sing at the same time. Can you imagine?

That was Monday

Well that was the first Monday after opening this blog. Why are Mondays the world over suffered by most working people? My Monday is actually the longest day of the week, starting at 7am and not finishing until 9pm, by which time the cats (all 6 of them) are desperately clawing their way in through any crack they can find (and there are plenty of those), the fire has of course gone out and the house is freezing.

English teaching is still the staple of our income, even after 11 years, but it's no way to get rich quick. I teach piano in a local music school three afternoons a week, which is much much more rewarding but not very well paid. All in all I drive about 450km per week. Sometimes I wonder pointlessly if it's all really worth it; I know many people worry likewise. Pointlessly.

Both children, Anezka & Malcolm, are down with colds and flu at the moment so they're staying with Grandma so we can continue going to work. Bara is a bibliographer in Liberec, a town about 15km NW of here. Her employees are very flexible and have no problem letting her take time off to deal with the various childreny things that happen, but it's not far from Christmas and all the expenditure that involves, so she decided to stay at work. The kids are supremely happy they can roam free in Grandma's house, albeit snuffly and damp round the gills.

Two deer were spotted outside the kitchen window this morning. They eat everything, including all the new little bushes we planted out in the Autumn, which I thought were safely hiding away under the snow. The photo was taken by mobile phone through a steamed up window, hence the rather poor quality.

It's getting slowly colder as we approach the annual freeze in January when temperatures generally don't get above freezing for over 6 weeks. Two years ago we stiffly creaked through a week of -20 degrees. Plastic bits of car snapped off, the front door lock froze solid and it was minus 6 in the bathroom one memorable morning - we do not enjoy the luxury of central heating, having two wood-burning stoves in strategic positions (too far from said bathroom).

Tomorrow begins again at 7 sharp at a glass bead manufacturer in Jablonec, the nearest town (about 4 miles away). They really make super stuff here; the glass-making craft goes miles back to the 14th century.

Tea time now - I'm starving, it's 10pm - so I'm off.

Time, gentlemen, please

Downloaded such a funny clock that I've no idea what time it is.

First past the Post.

Been a boring weekend with all female members of the family ill. Mal's the only one who's any fun. It's been one of those days where you plan a couple of really practical tasks and end up doing sweet (ahem) all.

The last 2 weeks of teaching before the Christmas break are always more exhausting - everything's against you. Pupils (and older students!) are occupied thinking about Christmas, the weather is quite appalling, I'm really scraping the barrel for ideas and more and more time (and money) is taken simply trying to heat the house. Brr. The cottage is romantic from the outside in all seasons but in summer is stiflingly hot and in winter draughtily chilly. But it's our home, and I think we'll stick it out until I've fixed it up.