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Minimalist Advent Style. . .

My take on an Advent wreath this year sans the violet or purple candle for the fourth Sunday.  Sadly, I could not find one that is unscented, so white it is.  Of course, the red berries are fake (I know, I know), but they provide a bit more visual interest than simply four white candles sitting there at the center of the table.


The Advent period is almost upon us, so I took a couple of hours today to hang some honest-to-goodness evergreen wreathes on either side of the front door outside, set up the Young Master's Advent house, and put up some white icicle lights along the eaves at the front of the house.  

We don't go crazy with Christmas decorations here at Totleigh-in-the-Wold, and we get a few weeks closer to Christmas before putting up and decorating a couple of trees, but it's nice to have a few seasonal items around the interior of the first floor to help brighten the dark mornings and evenings between now and the first few days of January when we put everything away and get on with the job of winter. . .  plus the start of the new semester (Groan!).  

In the meantime, here are a couple of photos showing how we brighten up December in the run up to the solstice and the start of the Christmas festival in earnest.

-- Heinz-Ulrich



Finding Poinsettias small enough to fit on the mantle is always a challenge.  We've got cats, and these are highly poisonous to felines, so they need to be small enough to keep out of easy reach.  So, two small plants in each basket, which, along with the Advent star in the window, dresses up the library a bit until we put up the trees later in the month.  No sense in rushing things.

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