Christmas Books

The reason I have a blog is because I love writing, it doesn't matter about the quality I can just ramble on and it doesn't matter what I write it just pores out. I love writing and I love reading, they go hand in hand in a way.
Those who like cooking usually like eating, those who like acting like the theatre and so on.
I love Christmas, so when I see a display of Christmas books I am tempted to read as many as I can during the Christmas holidays.
My books are divided into three categories,
Books I keep and never lend, they are part of me and I get pleasure just looking at them on the shelves.
Books I enjoyed reading but will probably never want to read again. I will try and think of someone who might also enjoy them and pass them on.
Books I didn't particularly enjoy and wouldn't recommend to anyone. These are taken to book shops who will give you something in exchange and then sell them on as second hand books.

Here is a quick review of my Christmas reading.

The Christmas Train by David Baldacci.
This is a story about a journalist going on a train journey across America at Christmas time. I really enjoyed thinking about the vastness of America, the diversity of it's states and the people that live there. a nice enough read for a cold day.

Silent Nights, Christmas Mysteries, edited by Martin Edwards
About fifteen short stories by different authors set in a Christmas atmosphere.
These were all written in good old fashioned English and short enough to read at bed time.

Mystery in White by J.Jefferson Farjeon (1883 - 1955)
Another story about a train and the snow. Another book that is a good enough read.

It's a Wonderful Life by Julia Williams
A contemporary story about modern family life in Britain. Perfect for Christmas when families and their ups and downs are in the spotlight.


Some advice that was given on a Creative writing course I did was that you don't want to waste the time of a perfect stranger by writing rubbish. I hope I'm not wasting your time, you who are reading this. Reading should be entertaining or informative or in someway enriching. So I do hope you find something rewarding in reading what I write. Thanks for reading anyway.
They will all be put away now until next year when I can lend them to friends wanting to get in the mood for Christmas.

Taking Down the Decorations

If the Christmas decorations weren't taken down by Twelfth Night then my mum would start to panic. In Italy there is no such problem, decorations can easily stay up until Easter, especially in the mountains where they make everything more cheerful and festive. At home though when school starts it's time to take them all down, so you can start cleaning in all the corners again, because let's face it while the tree and cards are up it's a great excuse not to dust and sweep quite so vigorously.

Today I took down my Christmas cards and thought how much nicer it is to write them and then put on display the ones you receive.
There's even a lovely line in 'White Christmas',

I'm dreaming of a white Christmas,
With every Christmas card I write,
May your days be merry and bright,
And may all your Christmases be white.

We didn't have a white Christmas but it was lovely all the same.
But to get back to the cards, I love writing them and thinking about all the people in my life,  or who have just passed through it, or maybe aren't part of it anymore, but there they are in my address book and it's a chance to tell them it was nice to have met them even though it was twenty years ago on holiday and they did make a difference to my life.

There's no song about taking them down. It's different, There are no more mince pies, the days are already longer and brighter, there are no holidays to look forward to. Taking them down though is a chance to read them once again, maybe more carefully than before Christmas, maybe notice something significant, take note of a change of address, a new baby, a career change, or just register in your heart the warm and happy greetings sent just for you. There might be a card or two from someone who you didn't send one to, so it's a chance to thank them or send a New Year card. It's a chance to reflect again on all the people who make your life better, who are part of your mosaic of ups and downs, the ones who stick by you and the ones who although you don't see them it makes the world a friendlier place just knowing they are there.
So putting up the cards is a chance to be grateful to all the people who are part of your life and taking them down is a chance to reinforce your goodwill and desire to keep them part of it.

When you've finished make a cup of tea and watch the January sunset, full of promise for a brand new year.

Happy January to you all

Happy New Year and Thank you for your smiles in 2016

Many people round the world will have been raising their glasses and making toasts last night at the stroke of midnight.

Like me, I'm sure many people will have drunk to world peace, love, health and family unity.  We all know how difficult those things are and how important and how precious.

Thanks to modern technology it is much easier to keep in touch with those we love even if they are on the other side of the world. Facebook, blogs, skype, face time, mobile phones have changed our lives and we can look at technology through the lens
of deep needs and wants. We need to feel loved and appreciated and wanted, and modern technology can help fulfill those needs. It's not the technology that's important, it's how we interact with it. It can heal and bind and keep us together. We can use technology to stay closer together.


Antonio Gramsci (1891 - 1937), an Italian Political Thinker, professed a dislike for New year's celebrations he wrote a lot about this, saying every day should be an occasion to put our lives on the balance, not just once a year, that life is a continuous thread that shouldn't be interrupted.

This is what he said, 'every morning, when I wake up under the blanket of the sky, I feel it's New Year's Day.'

Well I suppose he had a point.

On this New Year's day of 2017 I am going to share his thoughts with you and also a poem by Emily Dickinson (1830 - 1886)

The heart is the capital of the mind
The mind is a single state,
The heart and mind together make
A single continent.

One is the population,
Numerous enough,
this estatic nation
Seek - it is yourself.

For me though New years eve is a chance to thank everyone who helped me and gave me precious memories and just made my life better, from family and friends to the man in the toyshop, the girls at the supermarket check out, the postman, everybody who smiles at me.
So many people to thank for giving me strength, comfort, understanding, joy, love and friendship in 2016.

May every day be New Year's Day for each and everyone of you, may each morning be a chance to celebrate. Wishing you all a happy and healthy year and the chance to make happy and precious memories.

The first sunset of 2017

Italian New Year gifts

use the brooms to sweep away all the hurt, pain, resentment and negative thoughts from all the corners of your heart. Use the mini calendars to remind you to love(amare) and smile (sorrisi) every day of the year.

Two inspirational quotes:_

Let's greet this New Year which makes our friendship older without making our hearts grow older, by Victor Hugo.

Life is like a play, it doesn't matter how long it is, but how well it is acted out. May this coming year be among the best Acts of the play of your life, by Seneca