Saturday, 5 December 2015

December Things

For most of the year, my flat is relatively clutter-free. I just love my clear lines and empty surfaces and walls. But there are two occasions when I do decorate: My birthday parties (as you've seen on my blog several times) and for the weeks from the 1st Advent Sunday to the 6th of January.

 My Christmas decoration is nearly always the same. But this year, I have something new - a little glass fox my sister bought me at the Christmas market. I simply had to have him:

He is actually meant as a pending ornament, but he sits well without falling over, and has found his place on the top of the chest of drawers in my bedroom. On the wall above the bed is the bauble wreath, picking up the colours of the candles and the fox.

In Germany, it is very common to have an Advent calendar. Most years, I have more than one. This year, I have two, both filled with chocolates, and both gifts from my Mum and Dad. This one is new, sold at Ludwigsburg's tourist information and showing the market square with the fountain and the founder's statue in the middle:

Of course, I have placed my collection of Christmas cards under the glass plate on the desk in the Third Room:
All the ones I like best make it there - but please don't be sad if you don't see your card! It's not about who sent them to me, only about the card's picture or motif.

Advent wouldn't be the same without traditional German Christmas cookies! A good friend and my Mum gave me a tin full of their home-baked cookies each. You see why I don't need to do any baking myself ;-) (I really am spoiled, I know!)

 Happy 2nd Advent Sunday!
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18 comments:

  1. Jennifer5 December 2015 at 22:57

    Those cookies look delicious! I know Germans are renowned bakers. Do you have stollen (sp?) on Christmas morning? A local bakery makes a delicious version of them.

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    1. Librarian6 December 2015 at 11:50

      Stollen is omni-present in Germany, but it is not something my Mum bakes, and so it has never really become a Christmas tradition for us at home.

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  2. Kay G.5 December 2015 at 23:23

    I love the fox just as I love the chocolate Advent calendar, the Christmas cards under glass AND the tins of homemade cookies! What do you call cookies in German, by the way? Oh, Richard just told me...is it zweiback? I would look it up but my computer is a bit dodgy.

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    1. Librarian6 December 2015 at 11:52

      The fox is irresistible, isn't it! Cookies in German are Kekse. Zwieback (not Zweiback) is different, it's rusk and definitely not something you bake at home, or want to eat as a special treat at Christmas time ;-) Christmas cookies are not called Kekse, though: they are called Plätzchen. It's complicated, I know!

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    2. Meikes Mum6 December 2015 at 12:00

      In schwäbisch (swabian) dialect we call them "Gutsle" or "Bredla".
      Zwieback we eat mostly, when we feel sick. ;-)

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    3. Kay G.6 December 2015 at 17:32

      When I was able to do so, I did look this up, and I told Richard, that the word mostly referred to the hard rusks given to babies. Oh dear, I hope no one gives THOSE as presents! HA HA!
      LOVE all these names for your cookies! Kekse, Platzchen, Gutsle and Bredla... I might not know the names but I am certain they are all delicious! :-)
      Thanks, Meike and Meike's Mum! Happy December!! xx

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  3. Graham Edwards6 December 2015 at 09:47

    I've been having some work done in my conservatory which has caused a great deal of dust in the house. I removed everything yesterday in my living room and decided to put fewer things back. I'll never reach your state of minimalism - I love my paintings and pottery too much - but I've achieved a step towards it!

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    1. Librarian6 December 2015 at 11:55

      Nobody needs to reach my state of minimalism (which doesn't feel all that minimalist to me, actually) - everybody should have their place set up in the way that suits them and feels most "home" to them. I don't mind "stuff" and lots of decorative objects when I am at someone else's house - I just don't want to have to live with it every day, and deal with it when it comes to cleaning ;-) So, actually, it is a sign of laziness when someone hasn't got many things on display...

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  4. Jenny Woolf6 December 2015 at 16:18

    Isn't it lovely, decorating and coming up with the traditional gifts and cakes! We've just decorated our tree (a bit late) and it was such fun.

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    1. Librarian7 December 2015 at 07:51

      Yes, it's like meeting old friends when I open the shoe box that holds my Christmas deco things during the year, and even more so when I see some of the ornaments my Mum uses at her place - many of them I've known since my childhood.

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  5. Yorkshire Pudding6 December 2015 at 17:49

    I think you should make up a children's story called "The Glass Fox". Let's call him Klopp after the new Liverpool manager. He watches Christmas preparations but his body is stiff and seemingly lifeless until Santa accidentally spills some sparkly Christmas dust on him. Klopp comes alive and escapes through the window, bounding off into the snowy countryside, free at last. Or something like that... It would probablysell like hotcakes at next year's Christmas market.

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    1. Librarian7 December 2015 at 07:55

      It's a lovely idea, Neil, but you're the real author here, not me! To get a taste of what my fiction writing is like, I recommend you read this post of mine from 2009.

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  6. Silke Powers6 December 2015 at 19:20

    Fun! And still quite understated and full of clean lines and surfaces. :) We love to decorate, although without going overboard. That said, nothing in our house looks like Christmas yet. We are very low key this year. We put up lights outside on our house and that's it so far. No cookie baking yet. Right now the weather is so gorgeous, it's hard to stay in the house! I'm sure we'll get to it eventually....

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    1. Librarian7 December 2015 at 07:57

      Since I posted this, my Mum has been doing even more baking - even some fox-shaped cookies, a batch of which she gave me yesterday! I found a fox-shaped cookie cutter at the Christmas market, and she bought it so that she could make those cookies especially for me! Don't I have the best Mum ever?

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  7. Anonymous7 December 2015 at 05:54

    Lovely! And I love seeing the fox...And advent calendars and Christmas cards. And special Christmas cookies. We had Stollen and Poppyseed cake and Zimt Sterne at Emily's this afternoon.

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    1. Librarian7 December 2015 at 07:58

      Sounds delicious and wonderful, Kristi! The fox is perfect, isn't it? See my comment to Silke Powers for even more foxes :-)

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  8. DawnTreader10 December 2015 at 18:00

    Neat and tidy as always, even with ornaments! :) I love the little fox. I seem to recall another fox on your blog just recently, too... But just now I can't remember on what...

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    1. Librarian10 December 2015 at 18:35

      It was on a mug, Monica. My favourite mug from the moment I found it at the shop, actually. But now until past Christmas, I am using a white mug with red snowflakes printed on it.

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