Can you believe it, it is Advent time 2017?!
Do you know what Advent is and does it mean anything to you?

Well, if you are a Christian then you may know that Advent is that time of the Christian calendar year, that the Christian church designates to coming of the birth of Jesus Christ, on Christmas Day (December the 24th) in the Western Christian church! It follows Joseph and Mary’s journey to Bethlehem, and the rest is history! I wrote my own book about it, called The ACE Seasons,Advent, Christmas and Epipany, which is available from lulu.com publishing. See this link:The ACE Seasons, Advent, Christmas and Epiphany

So, where did October and November go to, on this my blog, as there are no posts here from those days?
Well, I did have a weeks holiday with my wife during the October school halfterm week and we spent a good day in Carlisle visiting my mum in her care home and meeting with my sister and her children and grandchildren. We then visited Durham, where Hilary had done her degree and still has a great liking for. She showed me the Durham sights and of course, Durham Cathedral is a prominent highlight and resting place of Saint Cuthbert (an early Saxon saint).

Coincidentally, the History channel has just started “The Vikings” series 5 (I watch it on Amazon Prime TV), which is a fabulous show about Ragnor Lothbruck and the Viking conquests, especially their battles with the Saxons.

Anyway, back to Advent and it is time to put up some Christmas decorations! Some Christian folk only decorate for the 12 days of the actual Christmas time, but at this winter solstice December 25 celebration, many put lights inside and outside their homes to brighten the dark days of winter especially in the Northern hemisphere!

Many shops have had Christmas goods on sale from September and October as commercial greed builds to the big Christmas day celebration (whether a pagan one or the Christian celebration). Tonight, we plan to bring our Christmas tree inside the house and decorate it and maybe our friend and guest for the evening (Derrick), may help us or regale us with some of his Christmas stories!

Below, is an image of our real Christmas Norway fir tree, bought and chosen yesterday and about to be brought inside our house, to be decorated. When it is decorated I will post a picture!

Happy Advent everyone (irrespective of religious denomination and calling). It would be great if this season of carol singing and good works, could bring more peace and happiness to what is still a troubled world for many in 2017! 🙂