Quiet Christmas 🎄
All is calm, all is still......
Hello!
Beautiful solstice greetings on the shortest day & longest night here in the northern hemisphere.
Although the weather is still relatively mild and the first spring daffodil has already bloomed, the nights are cold and long with perfect clear and moonless star studded skies.
I really love these dark nights of rest and long sleeps, of heading outside before bed and listening to the wild boar making their way through the woods as the tawny owls hoot overhead. I love the crispness of the air at night, just standing staring at the sky and trying to catch a shooting star.
I know for a lot of people the solstice at this time of year marks the start of a crazy, busy few weeks, and for many it probably goes unmarked. Quite often we are travelling to visit family and have spent the solstice on a ferry or driving, but this year we are staying put, just the two of us, the cats, the chickens, and the quiet calm of the countryside. It’s time to embrace the darkness of the winter solstice.
We’ve brought fallen branches of spruce inside and decorated them with fairy lights and the logs are stacked up next to the woodburner to keep us going as the temperature drops this next week. It will be a quiet Christmas this year and I’m looking forward to cold morning walks, cosy afternoons in front of the fire with good old Christmas films, good food and plenty of time to just be.
The other thing I’m looking forward to over the break is to clear the decks and make way for a more gently productive 2026. As someone who is too often seduced by all the shiny things, I realise I am ending the year with a bit of a crash landing. I’ve taken on too much this year and have tried to do all the things which has meant that I’ve not managed much of anything.
I’m writing a (long) list of all the things on my to-do list and am planning to let go of as many things as possible. I want to stay focused on doing good work which means getting rid of the distractions and freeing up time to do the things that make me feel more like me.
If you are also struggling with this then please take my words as permission to do the same. The world needs more people who are truly themselves, guided by their own north star. I want to be one of these people (and I’m sure you do too!)
In that vein I do not want to distract you and take up too much of your time, but I would like to leave you with some winter scents and a beautiful winter herbal tea blend as well as some words from a favourite author of mine, Margaret Atwood.
Winter scents
Spruce (Picea abies) - energising & invigorating with anti-stress properties
Bitter orange (Citrus aurantium var. amara) - soothing, relaxing & uplifting
Ginger (Zingiber officinalis) - warming, relaxing & comforting
Cleansing and comforting, refreshing and warming, these oils would go well together in an oil burner (just one or two drops of each oil) as a perfect addition to this solstice Sunday.
Winter herbal tea blend
Mugwort (artemisia vulgaris) - to enhance & more easily remember dreams
Hops (Humulus lupulus) - to promote good sleep
Lavender (Lavandula angustifolia) - to relax and calm the body and mind
Refreshing and calming, this is the blend I will be sipping this evening as I celebrate the solstice and the return of light.
“…This is the solstice, the still point
of the sun, its cusp and midnight,
the year’s threshold
and unlocking, where the past
lets go of and becomes the future;
the place of caught breath, the door
of a vanished house left ajar…”
Margaret Atwood
Wishing you a wonderful solstice, a calm & peaceful Christmas and a happy New Year.
Until next time.....
Elizabeth x
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