Saturday 1st December - It is raining

The first poem in my Advent Book ('Haphazard by Starlight') is 'Advent Calendar' by Rowan Davies. If you google 'Advent calendar Rowan Williams' you will find several people have copied out the whole poem with or without out copyright; and here is the choral setting of some of the words by Phillip Ledger for SATB choir (with subtitles). It sounds fiendishly difficult to sing; I shall keep an eye out in case I trip across another recording. 

I strongly recommend reading the poem; it does exactly what poems should do; combine words and phrases in unexpected but apposite ways to create multi-layered images and meanings and connections and understandings...

Other news?

It's raining.

I thought I would do some sewing.

The cat went from this;

to this

in less than ten seconds. I would have let her stay, as she would have been a useful fabric weight, to hold everything steady while I cut round the wadding, but she was too quick and didn't give me enough time to get the red fabric positioned as I wanted on the wadding. So I turfed her off.

....

As part of Christmas preparations I am doing 'tidying' and' throwing out' and 'recycling'. Just before I threw this empty chocolate box (from about three Christmasses ago, probably,) into the recycling, I had a sudden thought - and Hey Presto! Each drawer holds a dozen tea lights! So I am storing my Advent lights in the box. A reprieve - I didn't really want to throw it out anyway.

At 6pm I shall light the first one.