Advent Blog Tour, '08 edition
I've participated in one other advent blog tour, waaay back in 2006, click here to read that post. This year's your is jointly hosted by Marg, link to her blog in the title above, and also by Kailana of The Written World and Historical Tapestry. If this is your first time here, welcome. Stay a while. Look around some. It's harder to figure out what to say this year, I think. The economy is way down and people's troubles are up, yet for me Christmastide has never had anything to do with getting more "stuff". Yes, I love to buy gifts for my loved ones and I have some Christmas collectibles I look for. Primarily though, I associate November and December with family related activities.
When I was little advent family activities often meant sleigh rides, tobagganing, snow forts and walks along snow covered lanes gilt with moonlight. Untangling endless strings of Christmas lights. Fittings of Christmas dresses my mother would sew for us. Now I'm the one doing the organizing, and living in the south makes the activities different, but November and December are always similar: getting out the advent wreath & checking the candles, until recently I bought the kids advent calendars, cooking together, helping the needy somehow, family gatherings, climbing into the attic to pull down boxes of Christmas decorations. Well, that last one is now someone else's job. Decorating indoors and out, watching endless holiday related specials, planning the schedule of who visits whom & when. Buying and writing Christmas cards.
Under the Kissing Bough; Shannon Donnelly Traditional Regency
Dark Celebration; Christine Feehan Paranormal- vampire
Under the Mistletoe; Mary Balogh Traditional Regency anthology
A Christmas Kiss; Elizabeth Mansfield Traditional Regency
Winter Wonderland; Elizabeth Mansfield Traditional Regency
This winter season I wish you joy and contentment and good books and good friends and enough of the necessities to get by.
17 comments:
Because we are in summer at Christmas your traditions are a little different from mine, but it did remind me of a night in Austria where we went on a horse drawn sleigh ride in the snow. Absolutely magical.
Thanks for your post and for participating again.
It's funny, even though I'm in the north, snow is a hit or miss. Most Christmas's I remember are more wet than snowy! So, I'm jealous of all your snow activities.
Even with the state of the economy we can all enjoy good books, good friends and family. They are all free but possibly the most rewarding parts of our life. Thank for that little reminder. When things get tough the tough getting reading. :) Merry Christmas
Hi Bookworm, it is my first visit here on your blog. Thanks for a great post. I see you live in DC :-) I spent a year there when I was younger in a wonderful house in Georgetown and still have very fond memories. I have been back numerous times since then (to the US) but my last visit in DC was 12 years ago, unfortunately. Hopefully I can go back again sometime. Anyway, what a nice post. Also think it is interesting to read about the malls being more or less empty. It should be the same here in Denmark, where we are also hard hit with the financial crisis, but now the politicians are asking us to SPEND so the economy can get back on track. Christmas for me has never been about excessive spending, although I cannot deny that we do spend over the holidays and also more than we do the rest of the year. But I don't think we overspend at all.
Have a great day
Louise
Marg~ I've only spent two Advent/Christmas seasons in warm climates 7 both years I felt a little odd, the weather just didn't mesh with what my internal images of the holiday season should be. Austria must have been gorgeous!
Chris~ Those snow filled activities were a long time ago, I'm afraid. I often wonder how much the changing weather patterns have affected snowfall in cold weather areas. I live in the south now & those wintertime memories are but a dream. :(
Krissi~ Merry Christmas to you too!
Louise (Bogsider)~ Georgetown is indeed a fun place to be. I wonder how much it has changed from your memories of 12 years ago? The malls locally have been quite empty no matter that the US media claims Americans are shopping as much as ever. That isn't happening here, and metro DC is relatively healthy economically compared to other parts of the US. Our politicians used to tell us to spend alot every Christmas season because 'the economy needs the stimulus' but look where that has gotten us. :(
Thanks for stopping by!
Wonderful post - including the Christmasey books you've showcased. I love your who-visits-whom schedule!
Julia~ Our 3 kids often argue over who gets to visit which grandparents & for how long, so it's often easier coordinating times before the holidays arrive. Kids will argue about anything I think. :0
Great post! Thanks for joining in!
I love memories. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for sharing your holiday traditions, there's something very comforting about repeating traditions year after year.
Thank you for sharing. Snow does make the holiday. I remember we had a few green Christmas and it just didn't feel festive.
Kailana~ It's fun! I love visiting new blogs. Love the snow photos, BTW.
Debbie~ Thanks for stopping by. Good memories make a great holiday, IMO. :)
Melissa~ Creating new traditions takes a lot of consistent effort & I'm lazy at heart. :( So the old ones last forever here. LOL ;)
Vickie~ I've only had two Christmases in warm climates & they felt 'weird' to me. Strange. Almost as though it wasn't really Christmas, if you know what I mean.
I've never been on a sleigh ride, and I'm filled with envy! (Although perhaps imagining a reindeer-drawn sleigh is a tad unrealistic.) I was born in the tropics, and now I live in Australia where Christmas is in summer, and I've always wanted to experience a snowy Christmas.
Ooh, and I noticed Lord of the Fading Lands on your sidebar. I love that series!
I've been in the northern hemisphere 3 or 4 times for Christmas. The snow certainly makes it different
Kat O+~ Thanks for stopping by. Reindeer are huge aren't they? I think I'd be a little scared of them. :0 lol
Kerrie~ I'm sure cold Christmases would be odd to me too, if I grew up in warm climates!
I'm catching up on the advent tour, so I'm sorry this is late. I love your memories of the holiday season! We already have snow and very cold temperatures, so the Christmas lights on the trees and houses in people's yards are lovely and look like fairyland when we go out at night. I think you are right - family, and good food, and for us book bloggers, something new to read, are blessings enough at the holiday season. Thank you for a lovely post!
Susan~ Merry Christmas! I'm happy knowing that somewhere out in the book blogosphere is another soul who enjoys walking in the dark looking at Christmas lights on the snow.
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