Julie Goucher ~ Anglers Rest

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In the Northern Hemisphere, the 21st December is the shortest day of the year. From today, day light remains for a little longer as we trundle through the rest of Winter into Spring and then finally, and hopefully Summer!

The BBC reported  back in 2012 that more than 5,000 people arrived at Stonehenge to mark the occasion of the Winter Solstice. In 2016 that had risen to a staggering 20,000. A quick peek on YouTube revealed the following video. Never having been to Stonehenge for the Solstice I didn’t know you could get close to the stones for these special occasions, but when I was a child you could indeed get close to them routinely and touch them, nor was there an entrance fee.

Wherever you are, Happy Winter Solstice and it is just days away from Christmas! And also a very special Happy Birthday to my beloved!

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I talked about recently the Secret Santa that is undertaken at my book group. Essentially we select a name from a hat, the gift should be to the value of £15 and must include a book. Once wrapped the gift only bears the recipient’s name on and not the name of the giver.

We meet for lunch, have some mulled wine and a lovely afternoon. We each open our gift then spend time chatting about them and trying to work out who gave each other gifts. It is fun, and a good way to spend a lovely afternoon. Over the last few years I have given books by Neville Shute and JK Rowlings. I usually include a sweet treat and something for a nice bath. This year the recipient also received a small candle.

Lunch was delicious as was the mulled wine!

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Today marks what would have been my beloved Grandmother’s 115th birthday.

Regular readers of this blog will have read various posts about my Grandparents and the families they descended from. I am very proud of them and the achievements they accomplished. I have been suddenly aware that apart from being my Grandmother, she was also a wife, a mother, a friend, sister and much, much more. In writing this post, I remember her, upon her birthday. The reality is, that I think of her every day and miss her the same. She was a huge influence in my life and her passing left quite a void

In the Spring after we moved here, I purchased a beautiful peach coloured rose. My husband planted it in her memory and every time I look out of the breakfast room window I ponder on what she would think of my zero gardening ability. The rose is lovely, and despite some fairly harsh Winters in recent years, it continues to flourish, with much assistance from my beloved. Usually on her birthday I purchase a bunch of vibrant coloured flowers, as that is how I recall her, bright, happy and always joking, and place the vase in a location where I can enjoy the flowers. This year, as I have every year since 2011, I have opted for something very different.

Back in 2011, a fellow genealogist alerted me to a project called Genealogists for Families Project. The motto is “We care about families, Past, Present & Future” I joined the Genealogists team and logged in. I had a good read of the project and had a look at all the individuals listed who would benefit from a loan through the Kiva Organisation. I discussed it with my husband and shared my plans with him and pondered on how I could utilise the scheme with a genealogical link.

The basic principle is that you loan $25 through the scheme to individuals who do not have access to traditional banks. When the loan is repaid you can either withdrawal your money or loan again. You can make many loans or just one or two. The choice is up to you. I should point out, that you don’t need to be a genealogist to join the genealogist team, who have made loans of a staggering $9,400 at the time of writing this post.

So, in memory of an outstanding lady, who gave me so much I have made another loan.

Christmas is the time for giving and I want to commemorate the lady who was my Grandmother. Acknowledge her achievements and values and to assist others in her memory.

The photograph here is of my Grandmother, Lilian Edith Butcher nee Matthews (1912 – 1995) on the occasion of her 21st Birthday.

If you would like to join the team, then please click HERE

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I rather like Secret Santa exchanges. I also like the bit of sounding out a suitable gift and then purchasing. That is all rather fun.

A book group that I belong to does that. All names go into a hat and then each person selects a name. If they pick their own name they have another go. We set the amount to be spent at £15 and have six weeks to get organised and then take the gifts to the get together, where we put them on a table only with the recipients name on. We do not know who has bought for one another. The biggest challenge is placing the gift on the table without being seen!

The only other stipulation is the gift must contain a book. In recent years I have purchased books by Nevile Shute, E M Forester and from the Harry Potter series by J K Rowling. I try and include a sweet treat and something like a bath bomb from Lush or the body shop.

Do you like participating in a Secret Santa?

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I always get much more joy from purchasing gifts than receiving them; perhaps that makes me a bar humbug!

This year I knew what I wanted “Santa” to bring me and without too much prompting or reminding, Santa’s helper purchased and gift and let me have it a little early so I could send the item off to be processed. I was then instructed to give the box back so it could be wrapped! More on that a little later, after Christmas. I do happen to note that there are two other gifts from Santa’s helper under the tree so I do have a surprise or two!

Meanwhile, the purchasing of gifts has been the least stressful this year because I have done the entire lot online. In fact, for the first time ever, all my gifts have been purchased, they are here and wrapped. Those that were heading to others have been wrapped and dispatched.

The one thing about gifts that I dislike is the wrapping of them. I can turn a really simply sized box or packet to be wrapped into a wrapping disaster very easily. As I cursed a box from Amazon I thought I should have paid to have it gift wrapped….noted for next year!