December 11th and A Winter Poem

In one of my Christmas books is a poem by Ogden Nash called A Word About Winter

To save me typing the whole thing out I looked on line so I could just copy it over, except after looking all over the place on poetry sites and Ogden Nash sites it was nowhere around.

Perhaps it isn't as well known, anyway I forced to copy from the book, he was a great one for  making things rhyme......... somehow!

A Word About Winter

Now the frost is on the pane,

Rugs upon the floor again,

Now the screens are in the cellar,

Now the student cons the speller,

Lengthy summer noon has gone,

Twilight treads the heels of dawn,

Round-eyed sun is now a squinter,

Tiptoe breeze a panting sprinter,

Every cloud a blizzard hinter,

Squirrel on the snow a sprinter,

Rain spout sprouteth icy splinter,

Willy-nilly, this is winter. 

Summer-swollem doorjambs settle,
Ponds and puddles turn to metal,
Skater whoops in frisky fettle,
Golf-club stingeth like a nettle,
Hearth is Popocatepetl.

Runneth nose and chappeth lip,
Draft evadeth weather strip
Doctor wrestleth with grippe
In never ending rivalship.
Rosebush droops in garden shoddy,
Blood is cold and thin in body,
Weary postman dreams of toddy,
Head before the hearth grows noddy.

On the hearth the embers gleam,
Glowing like a maiden's dream,
Now the apple and the oak
Paint the sky with chimney smoke,
Husband now without disgrace,
Dumps ash trays in the fireplace.

                        A cold winter sunrise many years ago on the road in front of  the smallholding

Back Tomorrow
Sue

December 10th and The Accidental Christmas Cake

I wasn't planning to make a Christmas cake this year. I made one last year and  without Col here to eat it no one else ate much so that it ended up lasting me through all of January and beyond. ( I think I fed the tail-end to the birds!)
But I accidentally bought marzipan and icing.....don't ask!........... so made a small cake. It smelled so delicious when I unwrapped to feed it for the first time, that I decided it was worth making for that experience alone.

The recipe I use is a Mary Berry recipe from over 30 years ago. Pages torn from a Family Circle Magazine and kept ever since, although I also have the recipe on a separate sheet of paper and on here on the recipe page.

Adding a little brandy  to keep it nice and moist

Back Tomorrow
Sue

December 9th and The First Card

The First Christmas card was produced by Henry Cole, founder of the Victoria and Albert Museum in 1843. It was specially produced to be sent by the new penny post which had started in 1840. The cards were sold at Felix Summerley's Treasure House - a store in Bond Street London. They cost a shilling each and were a big commercial failure. But the idea didn't disappear completely and by 1860 many were being sent and when the halfpenny post for unsealed envelopes was introduced in 1870 then everyone started to send cards.
The first plea to "Post Early for Christmas" was in 1880.

The Victorians loved scrapbooks and albums and soon cards became larger and more colourful so they could be fixed into their albums and shown  to visitors during the year.

My first Christmas card arrived on Thursday of last week. It was from my cousin in Felixstowe, the first card is always from my cousin............... even when they were up north in Chesterfield.

And yes! it had a robin, and a postbox and snow - all my favourite things for a card.

I must get on with card writing and posting them out. I have letters to put with some which always slows things down. I'm so bad at letter writing now I have the blog.

Back Tomorrow
Sue