A living Advent Calendar
A living advent calendar for you to create and bring fun and joy into your neighbourhood.
It’s a Swedish idea and catching on in the UK and US too, I hope. It’s great for lifting morale in these dark days and weird times.
The idea is to create window displays which can gradually be illuminated as the days go by, or perhaps on each Advent Sunday or whatever suits your creation.
I’m going to start tonight (1st December) by lighting one candle, tomorrow it will be two. By then I will have located my Christmas decorations and dragged them out and will attempt to create something worth putting on show. I’ve got quite a few windows to fill up.
Here in the UK, during lockdowns of one sort or another, we are encouraged to have some outside daily exercise so it's a way to spread some Christmas joy. It’s a safe way for families to walk around in the evenings enjoying the scenes that others are creating throughout Advent – something to look forward to as each dark night the windows get brighter.
Do share here any ideas to improve on this as I can see it needs developing and let us know how you are getting on.
* * *
Sage Saying: If you can give only one gift, make it the gift of good examples.
Jolly Joke: Why do birds fly south for the winter? Because it’s too far to walk.
Handy Hint: Before lighting candles, place them in the freezer for a few hours. They should then burn more evenly and for longer. And remember to snuff them out; blowing them out sometimes means the wax gets blown over your precious furniture.
(Am I supposed to put a health and safety notice in here?!!)
* * *
And the news you’ve all been waiting for? Have I started my next book? Hmm... truly it is any minute now. I've been working on the plot and I have an opening line ready to type. Now what was it...?
It’s a Swedish idea and catching on in the UK and US too, I hope. It’s great for lifting morale in these dark days and weird times.
The idea is to create window displays which can gradually be illuminated as the days go by, or perhaps on each Advent Sunday or whatever suits your creation.
I’m going to start tonight (1st December) by lighting one candle, tomorrow it will be two. By then I will have located my Christmas decorations and dragged them out and will attempt to create something worth putting on show. I’ve got quite a few windows to fill up.
Here in the UK, during lockdowns of one sort or another, we are encouraged to have some outside daily exercise so it's a way to spread some Christmas joy. It’s a safe way for families to walk around in the evenings enjoying the scenes that others are creating throughout Advent – something to look forward to as each dark night the windows get brighter.
Do share here any ideas to improve on this as I can see it needs developing and let us know how you are getting on.
* * *
Sage Saying: If you can give only one gift, make it the gift of good examples.
Jolly Joke: Why do birds fly south for the winter? Because it’s too far to walk.
Handy Hint: Before lighting candles, place them in the freezer for a few hours. They should then burn more evenly and for longer. And remember to snuff them out; blowing them out sometimes means the wax gets blown over your precious furniture.
(Am I supposed to put a health and safety notice in here?!!)
* * *
And the news you’ve all been waiting for? Have I started my next book? Hmm... truly it is any minute now. I've been working on the plot and I have an opening line ready to type. Now what was it...?
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Pamela
(new)
Dec 01, 2020 07:44AM
Fun blog. Brought cheer to me in Kansas! Cold and hunkered down due to COVID requests and it is winter, after all. Stay safe in UK. :)
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Thank you, Pamela. I live near the sea and the wind is blowing from the north east, directly onto my home, brrr. Definitely chilly. Er, that is British understatement, sorry, I should say 'freezing'. I caught sight of a surfer just now - each to their own. Hope you are keeping warm, and safe too.
What a wonderful idea! Thank you so much for sharing! I'm so glad people are finding ways to make the holidays bright, especially when it's so badly needed this year. I'll keep an eye out for Advent calendar windows on my evening jogs, and I hope you have fun with yours!I love your idea of including a Sage Saying, Jolly Joke, and Handy Hint, too! They put a smile on my face.
And I hope you enjoy writing your next book! I know that feeling of anticipation when you have all of your planning just about finished, and then the next step is to just start writing!
Thank you, T.K. I hope you, and lots of others too, (I can dream) will continue to enjoy the blog.True to my aim, I have finally written the first few paragraphs.
Now it's dark here in the U.K. I am going for a walk and will take a look at other people's windows and decorations. Then come back and light my solitary candle!
Here in Georgia is extremely cold for the SouthDue to the pandemic am not getting out much at all, so not able to see much. Downtown in the city is very dangerous for us. Hope to get to Stone Mountain during the season to see the beautiful lightings!
I hope you get to see some beautiful lights, Vickie, they warm our souls. And every bit of me needs warming now!
Jim, one of my Goodreads' Friends, has pointed out that candles don't have to be real as there are rechargeable battery operated ones. A very good point.
I thought I'd share an idea that's being floated in our neighborhood groups here in Albuquerque. Someone saw on Facebook a suggestion that at 6:00 p.m. on Christmas Eve, we go outside and ring bells for two minutes to...er, greet Santa and add a touch of magic for the kids.
Love it! And I have a bell, a souvenir from a Mediterranean holiday.I'll pass that around.
I guess I am doing that by adding to my Christmas decorations, but not on a daily basis. I am working on a big display in my courtyard that, hopefully, will be done by Dec 19. I bought a plastic backdrop of a Christmas stable, animal pictures included. It spans six feet high and nine feet wide. In front of it will be a five foot square frame where I will release cold mist from my smoke machine. I will cast a movie video of a young Joseph and Mary gazing on their new born, Jesus into the midst,. This will be in front of the stable. The midst will wave in the breeze giving the movie a very spiritual vibe to it. I will also play Silent Night and other soft Christmas music. I'll see if I can pull this off. I am delayed because I will not go into Home Depot to purchase the materials, which will be delivered on Dec 18. I can post a video of it on Goodreads, if anyone wants to see how it turns out.
Oh yay! I certainly want to see how it turns out and I'm sure lots of others will love to see the video. Let us know when you do.
It is just a 60 second stock video of the holy family. I might be able to cut a hole in mural's Christmas star and shine the video from behind into a mist screen in front. That would be cool. I have to test it and test it.
But in this time of corona virus lockdowns and related problems, it's just great when someone keeps everyone's morale up. A chap here in England, one of many who light their houses and gardens up for Christmas, had a visit from the police telling him he was not allowed to do that this year because it always attracted crowds and gatherings of more than just a few people are not allowed at the moment.
Thank God for dedicated scientists - the vaccinating has begun.
Wow, how interesting. Who would have known?
Well, it's just to let you know that I'm cheering you on with your project despite all the difficulties that the virus causes.
Thanks. We passed the first test last night. The projector can shine through the window clearly leaving an impression on a vertical surface in the middle of the courtyard. I am cutting a hole the large star on the nativity backdrop in so that it will look like the star is projecting the moving image of the holy family onto the mist. If I pull this off, it will be cool. If you like, I can post a video of the whole thing just before Christmas.
Yes, I'd definitely love to see your video and I expect others would like to see it too. Sounds unique and thank you so much for telling us.
