Christmas – When Life Gives You Lemons

Getting Ready for Christmas

This year, I have vowed to get ahead of Christmas and not scrabble frantically as the days on the advent calendar make their inexorable way to twenty-five. With a little preparation, I hope to make the season one of joy instead of stress. When I have found a gift, I have wrapped it with care rather than cursing through the eleventh hour, Sellotape attached to everything but the present. My Christmas cake is made and the mincemeat ready in jars. If all else fails, it is good to know we shall have something to eat.

Because, November is the most miserable of months. Endless dreer, drecht days do nothing for the spirit and the mounting anxiety as Christmas hoves into view doesn’t help either.

So I think I have found a tonic. Creative projects, sociable activities and candle-light are the perfect antidote for gloom. Though I appreciate that this post is going out on the 1 Dec, I hope that some of these activities will inspire you to do something festive as the holidays approach. Nothing takes more than half a day, and plenty just half and hour.

And though I can’t compete with the Martha Stewarts of the world, I can enjoy having at least a few little things that I can point to and say, ‘I made that!’

Feed the cake

At craft club, a friend talked about making her Christmas cake. My first thought was, ‘What? Already?’ Then I realised that Christmas was now only weeks away and if I were to have any chance of making a nice, moist, well-sozzled cake, I would have to start now.

Most years, I only remember a week ahead and so have little time to feed it with brandy. This year, I plan to have my cake fail the breathalyzer test. Hopefully, it will keep well into the New Year too – if it isn’t eaten first.

**Unwrapped for its weekly feed**
Image: Karen Costello-McFeat

Wreath making with friends

When my lovely friend, Jane, offered to do a wreath making workshop with us, we jumped at the chance. She very kindly sourced all the materials we needed and we brought extra greenery and something for lunch.

Unlike most of my craft mornings, we were very quiet, concentrating hard on following instructions. In only a couple of hours, our bare wire frames were festooned with flora and ready to hang on the door.

Working together, we were able to swap tips and ideas, laugh at mistakes and congratulate each other on our achievements. Projects complete, we could settle to a delicious shared lunch and admire our handiwork.

It was a joyous morning that was full of Christmas spirit. (Bit like my cake!)

Mincemeat

Inspired by my success with the wreath, I decided to make even more Christmas treats. The mincemeat below was a very economical one. It used up all the spare ingredients from the cake, some vegetable suet that was mere months away from its sell-by date and some delicious dried foods on the shelves. The pretty labels had been languishing in a drawer waiting for their opportunity to shine.

Of course, now I shall have to make mince pies – but I shall worry about that another day.

Table decorations

Inspired by my friend’s German copy of Landlust magazine and having begged a bag of moss from my friend Jane, I was ready to make a floral table decoration. The base is a rather dinged springform tin, around which I wound some ivy from the garden. Moss secured the candles and then it was just a question of adding greenery and pine cones.

Serious flower arrangers look away! It is far from perfect, but I feel the greens and candles give the festive feel I’m looking for. And when the candles are lit, all you will see is the light.

Reusable crackers

This year, I really want to try to be as eco-conscious as possible. Gifts bought need to be practical and beautiful; wrapping recyclable where possible and decorations natural rather than plastic. As part of this aim, I decided to try to make a reusable cracker.

It was more straight-forward than I thought. I had left-over fabric and only needed some cracker fillings. These I found on Ebay for a few pounds, loo roll cardboard tubes we had saved, and the treat was a teabag!

If you would like to make some, here’s how (and I’m sure that there are even more professional guidelines on YouTube)

Cut a piece of fabric approximately 30 cm by 15cm. A fat quarter should yield you enough for 6 crackers
If you want to add an embellishment (I had a scrap of Hello Kitty fabric left) stitch that onto the right side of the fabric.
Fold the fabric in half, length-wise, right sides facing and sew by hand or machine.
Using pinking shears, cut along all the edges. This will reduce the size of the seam and give a cool ‘cracker-like’ look to the ends.
Turn right-side out and slide in the loo roll tube or rolled piece of card.
Fill with a gift, joke, snap and crown.
Make sure the card is centred and then tie the ends with ribbon or even long scraps of fabric.
Your crackers can be used as bespoke wrapping for an expensive gift, or ‘cards’, or for the dinner table. When the holidays are done, simply store them away for next year.

Wildlife baubles

With temperatures free-falling into single digits, it is also time to think of the denizens of the garden. Though there are still plenty berries on the shrubs and ivy, I think the birds and squirrels deserve a treat along with the rest of us. I learned how to make these wildlife baubles at a seed swap last year and with suet left over from the mincemeat, thought it time to make some more.

It really couldn’t be simpler and a lovely activity to do with children.

All you need is: vegetable suet, pine cones, birdseed, string or twine. Warm the suet in your hands and when it is nice and sticky, press into the pine cones. Roll the cones in birdseed, attach the string and there you are! For a deluxe version, press peanuts and raisins into the pine cones before adding the suet. (Avoid the raisins if you have a dog though, as they are highly toxic for them.) Hang on trees in the garden.

There’s nothing like home(made)

With so many Christmas preparations done this month, I am looking forward to rather than dreading the main event. There is still plenty to do – writing cards and sourcing gifts are next on my list, but they feel manageable instead of overwhelming. And the pleasure of having made even a few things helps remove the sour taste of commercialism that often taints the holidays. This year, Christmas is a bit wonky and homemade, but like my children’s primary school decorations, all the more precious for it.

Sugar and Spice and All Things Nice – That’s What Christmas is Made Of.

**Flavours of Christmas**
Image: Karen Costello-McFeat

What is Christmas without the glorious flavours of sugar, spice and exotic dried fruits? Almost all our traditional cakes and treats contain them: marzipan, fruit cake, pies and candies. Yet, the very things that fill our trollies and cupboards at this time of the year, were once the preserve of the seriously rich. We feast like the emperors of old.

Though I knew that sugar and spices were always valuable, I only had the haziest conception of their histories. So I thought a little investigating might be in order. If nothing else, this post might help as a conversation starter over the mince pies.

Sugar

This most ubiquitous of ingredients was once so precious that it was stored in its own safe ( The Sugar Association). Though humans have been chewing sugar cane from earliest times, it was first refined in India around 100AD. Sugar was originally used as a medicine, then as a sweetener.

As it became more widely available, consumption grew exponentially. Unfortunately, this meant that even more slaves, from the Canary Islands to Cuba, were required to grow it. Some of those opposed to slavery boycotted the product, choosing the more ethically sourced maple syrup instead.

**A sugar loaf or cone. Little pieces were cut off using a special tool called ‘sugar snips’ right through to the 20th century.** Image: By Petr Adam Dohnálek, Wikimedia

With slavery becoming (thankfully) obsolete in the Caribbean in the early 19th century, European producers turned to an alternative source of sweetener in sugar beet. Discovered by Andreas Marggraff in 1747 and made commercially viable by his student, Franz Achard, Europe acquired a sugar it could produce close to home. (Saveur.com)

In the UK, sugar beet is farmed in East Anglia and if you want to know more about its production, here’s the link: https://www.silverspoon.co.uk/field-to-spoon If you are looking for a fair trade and environmentally sustainable product, sugar derived from sugar beet is it.

Rather ironically, sugar has moved from a sought after medicine to a health hazard. But if we remember its original worth and use it sparingly, we will be able to have our cake and eat it too!

Spice

There are so many essential Christmas spices that it is difficult to choose just one. However, if I could only have a single spice, it would have to be cinnamon. This warm, subtle flavour enriches everything from Christmas cake to mulled wine. Uncooked, the quills make a great decoration – powdered and sprinkled onto food, it adds a certain je ne sais quoi!

Cinnamon is harvested from the bark of the Cinnamomum tree or if you want a more fancy product, from the trunk itself. Sticks of cinnamon add a spicy punch to fruits and beverages, whilst the more economical powder is an essential baking ingredient. Though, as I have just discovered, it is used across the globe in savoury dishes too. Something new to try.

Unlike sugar, cinnamon can be used without a twinge of guilt. Quite the opposite, in fact. Cinnamon is positively medicinal: possessing antimicrobial, antifungal and anti-oxidant qualities. Although, sadly, claims that it helps you lose weight are unsubstantiated (MasterClass).

Cinnamon is produced right across South East Asia with ‘true’ cinnamon coming from Ceylon. Each of the four types of culinary cinnamon available have their own distinctive flavours, so if you really want to know this spice, try each of them and find the one you prefer.

As I was doing a little more research on the topic, I came across a great tip from The Tasting Table. If you want your home to smell extra Christmassy, boil some cinnamon sticks in your kitchen. Personally, I think I would add some apple juice, cloves and star anise. That way I can enjoy both the flavour and the scent.

All things nice …

The final part of the Christmas food triumvirate is dried fruits. Where would our festive cakes be without raisins, sultanas, and currants? (I would add: figs, dates and apricots, but there is only so much one can write about). In warmer climes where grape vines flourish, their fruits have been dried and stored for millennia. Europeans, however, living in the cooler North, had to wait for the returning Crusaders to bring them home. (They also brought sugar from Jerusalem). The Crusades may have been a military catastrophe, but they proved to be a culinary triumph.

**Vine fruits – what’s not to love?**
Image: Karen Costello-McFeat

Many people, myself included, are puzzled by the distinction between the three vine fruits, so here’s the explanation.

Raisins are sourced from a variety of grapes. They are dried for around three weeks, in which time they turn a deep, dark brown.
Sultanas come from green seedless grapes, are coated in a drying solution and dried for a shorter time – hence their lighter colour.
Currants are made from small, black , seedless grapes and again dried for three weeks. Of the three, currants tend to pack the most flavour. (Healthline)

Sugar, spice and vine fruits make the most delicious combination. I’ll be planning to introduce them to each other when I make a vegan Christmas cake this weekend. Yes, I know I am rather behind. But a fruit cake, even if it is not ‘well fed’, is still delicious. And if I add to that the knowledge that each and every one of these ingredients would have been prized only a little while ago, I think it will taste even better.

Mono-tasking: Focusing on One Thing at a Time

With Christmas rushing towards us like a tornado and the to-do list expanding exponentially, it is tempting to fall into the multi-tasking mode. How else, you ask, are we to get everything done? Well, rather counter intuitively, the best way to get to the end of that list is to take each task one at a time.

When my boys were young, I prided myself on being the queen of multi-tasking: packing lunch boxes, signing forms, making breakfast and entertaining the dog all in the same breath. Time was the enemy that had to be defeated; yet ultimately, the only thing that was defeated was me.

**Is that the time already?** Image: Sonja Langford on Unsplash

I’d like to say that I’d learned my lesson, but I am still a work in progress. Yesterday, after making pesto, putting the pasta on to boil and making garlic bread to go under the grill, I thought I would squeeze the washing up into the pasta’s cooking time. The faint aroma of charcoal alerted me to the fact the the garlic bread did not need ten minutes (but did need watching!) My sense of smell saved us from disaster, but reminded me once again that doing too many things at the same time often means we do them badly. Worse, we may have to do them all over again or spend time rectifying our errors.

Do I really have to do this?

Media, magazines and talented friends all make us think that our Christmas should be worthy of a Country Living cover. We slave over elaborate meals and table settings, attempt to wrap gifts perfectly and deck our halls with sumptuous greens. In an exquisite magazine a friend just lent me, they suggest adding gold leaf to your cookies (doesn’t everyone?), embroidering your napkins and knitting your own lampshade (!). These all make for stunning illustrations, but when we see too much of these things, we can feel overwhelmed and defeated.

**Doesn’t your Christmas look like this?** Image: Karen Costello-McFeat

Don’t get me wrong. I love these sumptuous Christmas editions and sometimes am even inspired to take on the odd project (well, the simple ones). The problem only arises when we feel that to choose not to do all these things makes us a) an inept parent b) hostess or c)Scrooge.

It is worth remembering that the purpose of all the media excess is to make you buy more. It is certainly not intended to help you have a better Christmas.

It is time to recalibrate.

Making a list, checking it twice

Focusing on a single task while a dozen others swirl through your mind is unlikely to be successful. We need to go back to the good old list and decide what really has to be done. There will be some non-negotiables: food shopping; feeding ourselves and guests; organising gifts and making our homes presentable. Everything else, as they say, is jam.

For the rest, I would advise the Marie Kondo test. Does it bring you joy? If not, ditch it. Loads of people I know do not wish to do cards. They may prefer a phone call or a cheery text or simply greetings face-to-face. (Like so many traditions, this one too had a commercial edge. It was established in the mid 19th century to encourage the public to support the newly formed Post Office.)

With time limited, focus on those things you love and put them at the top of the list. Mine would definitely include making cards, gifts and decorations. These are not chores but pleasures. Making breakfast muffins for Christmas morning would be nice, but I think I’ll put that at the bottom.

**A manageable list**! Image: Thomas Bormans

Mindful mono-tasking

With a reasonable list made, now is the time for work. Ideally, you want to give ample time for each individual task. This may mean starting earlier than you normally would, but it also means you should be able to enjoy it. Fluster and panic seldom make anything pleasurable.

The greatest paradox that has arisen from my MS and inevitable slowing of my body is this: it is rare that I do not manage to achieve everything I’d planned. Without question, I need to be more organised – and my desk is always littered with to-do lists – but I also find that focusing very carefully on the job in hand allows me to do it more efficiently than I used to.

Which is where the mindfulness comes in. Meditation is a kind of brain training. It involves the repeated practice of disciplining the mind to focus on whatever you are doing – whether that is breathing, invoking loving-kindness or even peeling a vegetable.

And when we bring our whole attention to a task, we do it quickly and well. Even better, it doesn’t feel like work any more -rather something that absorbs our attention. Time slides into a sort of no-time and all sense of urgency is lost and with it any sense of panic.

Trust me. I am no Zen master and often tumble into the turmoil of rush and stress. But those times are fewer and further between, which is a very good thing, as they are the foods this illness feeds upon.

**Calm and beautiful!** Image: Jessica Delp on Unsplash

Approaching each item on your list with focus and gratitude enables you to have a little extra time to light a candle and contemplate what the season is really about. When you do that, I suspect, you will enjoy it all the more.

‘Twas the Week Before Christmas

Deck the halls Image: Karen Costello-McFeat

‘Twas the week before Christmas and all through the house, There was baking and wrapping; the click of a mouse. Yes, we are almost there and for me, this is the best part. Cards have been written and gifts (largely) wrapped. The headache of what to get for whom, of making things and decorating is over – now is the time to enjoy.

This morning involved my favourite activity – the distribution of gifts. My husband kindly drove me around town, dropping me off for a short chat with friends. What a treat to interact with people in 3D, despite masks and social distancing. Because this is what the season is all about, surely. Here is our opportunity to show that we care for one another. In the hustle and bustle of the every day, it is easy to overlook how much we value our friends. Yet, at Christmas, our goodwill embraces loved ones near and far and even, for a short, magical while, to everyone we meet.

Cards and gifts waiting to be delivered. Image: Karen Costello-McFeat

Christmas for many, especially women, has become a marathon to be run; a trial to be endured. How frequently we become burdened with insane expectations. The Martha Stewarts of this world have a lot to answer for. Of course, this misses the point entirely. Perhaps it is time to re-evaluate.

Festivals are moulded by convention, but whether we adhere to them or not is really up to us – there is no Christmas police. Take the Christmas card. It was invented by Henry Cole, who was looking for a time-saving solution to the fashion for sending Christmas wishes via ‘decorated letterheads and visiting cards’ (V&A). This was a trend he himself had encouraged to boost the postal service and especially the Penny Post. Many friends have chosen not to send cards this year and instead are giving to charity, which is eminently sensible if card writing is a chore you’d rather avoid. I love making and sending cards, so I shall continue. I also depend upon the Post Office, so in addition to our usual donations, I shall be making one to Royal Mail – via stamps!

The same holds true for Christmas meals. With so many folks unable to host family this year, they are choosing to make something that is far more in line with what they enjoy than what is expected. We’ll be having a woodland nut roast. Another friend will have lamb. If everyone in attendance loves turkey with all the trimmings, that’s great – just remember to get them into the kitchen to help you prepare the potatoes and sprouts or contribute a pudding. Cooking together is a wonderful and often hilarious activity (a glass of wine helps); cooking alone while others lounge on the sofa eating chocolate is an embittering chore.

With no-one able to visit, decorations too have become optional. Some folks have barely bothered, others, like myself have gone a little overboard. Christmas may be a little quieter this year, but there is no reason not to show one’s enthusiasm with lights and elves and reindeer.

Leave no surface undecorated Image: Karen Costello-McFeat

My motto has been leave no surface (undecorated) behind and on these dark nights and slightly worrying days, these very decorations have served to cheer me.

This afternoon, I made some sloe gin muffins to pop in the freezer for Christmas Day morning. The sloe gin I’d made in October is now ready and after decanting it, I didn’t want to waste all those delicious sloes. Removing the stones took a little while, but there was no rush, only an opportunity for mindfulness. With Christmas music in the background and my husband making dinner by my side, it was a lovely experience.

We thought we ought to try one! Image: Karen Costello-McFeat

I made the muffins because I wanted to. There was no obligation – only a chance to try a new recipe. We need to hold strong to doing things not out of duty but out of love. We need to blow away those clinging cobwebs of convention and embrace what brings us – and just as importantly, others – joy.

A picture of an elf – just because! Image: Karen Costello-McFeat

The early Quakers – devout though they were – did not celebrate Christmas or any other feast day. For them, every day was sacred and should be valued as such. Though most modern Quakers, and the rest of us, do enjoy these special celebrations, perhaps a balance can be struck.

Christmas Day is both wonderful and ordinary. Its brilliance lies in the efforts we make to contact loved ones, share gifts and food. It reminds us to be our best selves. And if we remember, simultaneously, that is it just a normal day, perhaps we can take the stress of perfectionism out of it.

Better still, we can carry the essence of the season throughout the year. Cards, gifts, fellowship and sharing food is not just for Christmas. An unexpected card will always bring a smile, as will a little ‘unbirthday’ gift. We can share food with the needy through Food Banks and drop samples of our creations round to friends. Christmas Day marks the turning of the year – towards light, life and hope. It offers us a new beginning, as every day does. Let’s make the most of it.

Seasons Greetings from us all! Image: Jeff Costello-McFeat

Which leaves me to wish you a Very Merry Christmas! And I look forward to joining you in the New Year. Much love, Karen

Virtual Craft Club

Monday mornings were usually filled with the gentle hum of chatter and quiet industry. Since lockdown, there has been only silence. I miss my craft club and I miss my friends’ company, but not all has been lost. Creative thinkers (and doers) that we are, we have found a way to continue via social media. Though I hope we shall be getting together again in spring, we still have many cold, dark weeks to get through. Till then, craft club will exist only in the virtual realm.

Keeping momentum

The craziness of this year has made it very difficult to keep any sort of momentum for our activities. However, for our sanity’s sake, we must. Structure anchors us and a diary containing entries is far healthier for us than a blank one. Mine is filled with virtual encounters, but they are no less enjoyable for that. Craft club met on Mondays, so that is the day scheduled to chat with those friends. Book group has gone to Zoom and volunteer meetings are held via conference calls. I have never been so grateful for my laptop!

With the ability to post images of our work, our craft club has been supporting each other via WattsApp. Crafting is, after all, a sociable activity Perhaps we want encouragement for a work in progress or congratulations on a job well-done. Either way, these interactions reward us for the long hours spent crafting and encourage us to do it again.

Show your love

You may well ask why bother at all. You can buy almost anything on-line and it seems almost perverse to make it yourself. In a way it is – but if you have a creative itch, you have to scratch it.

But there are less selfish reasons too. In making homemade gifts we are given the opportunity to show that we care. As we are making the gift, we are imbuing it with our affection. While making the quilt for my granddaughter, I thought of each stitch as a little kiss. I can’t give her them in person, but I can send them via my work.

In a world of mass production, handmade gifts can be tailored to the recipient’s interests and make them truly bespoke. Jane Belcher’s picnic quilt below was made for a friend who is part of her quiz team. It’s a little joke about his (lack of) geography knowledge with world maps to improve it. The man is, of course, brilliant in every other way and the quilt a humorous memento of quiz nights.

Detail of Jane Belcher’s geography quilt Image: Jane Belcher

Jenny’s son is a biologist with a particular love of butterflies, so what better gift to send to him abroad than a beautiful embroidery of Sussex butterflies to hang on his wall? It is a reminder of home and of how much his mother cares.

Local butterflies – a perfect gift for a biologist. Image: Jenny Timberlake

Express yourself

Just as we might use our creative gifts to please others, we should also use them to please ourselves! Creative activities like painting are simply good for us. They challenge us intellectually, improve our mental well-being and help to hone and maintain our fine motor skills.

Sharing our beautiful work with others, like Jane’s gorgeous picture above, extends the pleasure. I can’t help but smile when looking at this!

Share your talents

Making baking into art Image: Penny Smith

Since March, Penny has been unable to attend her pottery classes regularly. The up-side is that she has had even more time to work on her already impressive baking skills. These were made to celebrate a friend’s birthday.

Finding some Christmas spirit

Since August, my crafting time has been somewhat diminished – puppies and crafts are like oil and vinegar – they don’t mix.

However, Christmas is not Christmas to me without at least some attempt at personal gifts. Since I can do stuff in the kitchen (my puppy can’t reach the counters just yet) I thought I’d make soaps. My first attempt was a bit of a disaster, but the second went to plan. Adding a little flourish with the wrapping, I had at least one little handmade touch to add to my Christmas presents.

Not everyone wishes to do Christmas cards anymore, but I never feel in the Christmas spirit till I’ve made mine. This year, I’ve made origami and calligraphy based ones and I hope that the friends gets as much pleasure from receiving them as I gained from making them.

Christmas inspired crafts Image: Karen Costello-McFeat

Experiment, explore, enjoy

The joy of arts and crafts is that there really is something there for everyone. Above is a tiny representation of all the things my friends and I do. I confess to being the least proficient of the group, but I try to make up for that with enthusiasm.

It doesn’t need to be perfect (machines do that), and it doesn’t need to be a competition. Craft club is about encouraging and inspiring, laughing at our mistakes and misadventures and rejoicing in our successes.

And if you don’t have a craft group or want ideas on how to start or good instructions, YouTube has the solution. I regularly consult it for new origami patterns and a good friend became expert at crochet with only YouTube teachers as her guide. A note of warning: there are so many wonderful instructional videos out there that you may never leave the screen to do them!

While our lives are a little in abeyance, it is a perfect opportunity to explore our creative side. Post your results to friends or better yet, give them as gifts. And with the brilliant news about a vaccine, we will soon be able to craft together, in person. And I suspect that when we do, that morning will be very noisy!

Dark Days

As December sets in, the days begin to shorten ever more rapidly, compressing down to a mere eight hours of sunlight when the Earth tilts the furthest from the sun on the winter solstice.

With the weather often dismal, the skies an impenetrable grey, it seems as though dawn and dusk are interchangeable – a long, dull ache separating the night.

These are the dark days.

Life in monochrome Photo by Riccardo Chiarini on Unsplash

To combat this, almost all cultures have created winter festivals that celebrate light to combat the gloom and expel its accompanying sadness. Yet, this very insistence on jollity can itself be a burden for those who find this period of year a difficult one.

Christmas is presented as a time of family reunion, friendship and conviviality, but for many it will be a bitter-sweet reminder of those they have lost. My brother died when he was a young man and I have spent every Christmas since becoming a little unhinged (which fortunately my husband understands) until I have visited the cemetery and laid an evergreen wreath. This year, it will be for my father too. Blessed are those who will not be grieving someone this Christmas.

With the focus on parties and socialising, those suffering from isolation are isolated further. Harsh weather conditions make mobility even more of a mine-field and fragile health will cause many to stay indoors to avoid the risks of cold and flu. But in doing so, they will miss the tonic of friendship which fends off melancholy.

Unfortunately, depression will strike most of us at some point in our lives. Usually, we can shrug it off, but if it continues, we need to have the courage to ask for (and if appropriate) offer help. In certain instances, it is related to the weather. Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) is most common during the winter months and is worsened by staying inside. If your depression is seasonal, the NHS gives helpful information here: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/seasonal-affective-disorder-sad/ If your depression has gone beyond what you feel able to cope with, contact your GP or an organisation such as The Samaritans https://www.samaritans.org/how-we-can-help/contact-samaritan/.

Chiaroscuro – light and shadow

Light and shadow Photo by Jaye Wagner on Unsplash

The great masters knew that the best way to perceive darkness was through the addition of light – that as a sort of optical yin and yang, they were inseparable from each other.

And this is the essence of this post. No-one’s life is composed of solely happy, carefree days any more than a year is filled with temperate, summer ones. Our days, like the weather, shift and change, fleeting as the clouds on the horizon. The assumption that because it is the Christmas season, we will be happy is as misconceived as it is dangerous.

We know very well that this is a period of real mental trial for many. If I have been a bit of a downer in this post, I apologise, but I didn’t want to go full swing into the Christmas period (which I love) without first giving voice to my concerns.

Dark days are not to be shunned and those who experience them outcast. They are reminders of the transitory nature of things and as such to be welcomed and acknowledged with the same grace as any other part of our lives.

So, if you are struggling at this time of year, please know that you are not alone. We just need to hold fast. Brighter days are coming.