Adding a little sparkle to Christmas….

Adding a little sparkle to Christmas….

Hi there

Ho Ho Ho! Happy Christmas! Thanks for popping in. I hope you are doing ok, and that you are enjoying whatever it is that you are doing this Christmas? This mornng flew by! What, with a TV show and a LIVE hour in the SHAC Shac, I really didn’t have time to even think about who wasn’t here! That’s the secret: Keep busy.

After our Coffee and Mince pie get together in the SHAC Shac, which was such a pleasure and a privilege actually, went for a walk in the old woods up the road, and didn’t see a single soul. It was earily quiet. Nice though. Peaceful. Cold, bright and fresh.

Then I sorted out the turkey, cooked a lovely Christmas meal for the two of us, listed to the Queen at 3 o’clock, and that was that for another year.

You know how we were talking about things that go wrong at Christmas? Like the Aga running out of oil and all that jazz? Well, Mum had a funny story to tell me this morning too. Apparently, her ceiling lights in the kitchen blew yesterday, so she has to cook either when it’s light outside – or in the dark! So my brother popped over there to see if he could do anything, but it’s a bigger job.

“I’ll have to get you a sparky” he said.

And here’s how it played out from there…

Mum: “Vot?!?”

Steve: “A Sparky, to help.”

Mum: “Now I have heard it all! Eine Wunderkerze?!? You sink I vill hold a Wunderkerze!”

“Not a sparkler! A Sparky, Mum!! An electrician!”

I dug out our Wunderkerzen as soon as I heard the story!

Even though my Mum has lived here in England for over 60 years, she still sometimes gets her wires crossed (refer to Bob’s your ankle). She thought a sparky was a sparkler. ie. Wunderkerze (loosely translated wonder candle). So she actually thought that Steve was suggesting that she use sparklers to light up the kitchen!

So we had a little sparkler moment here, Dave and I…and it was just lovely. Simple and festive. And the kittens weren’t even remotely phased.

Lookie lookie! The Colgate ring of confidence!!

And before we’d even cleared away the dishes, Grace was Facetiming from early morning New York New York, and we were all buzzing again.

It is what you make it, isn’t it.

Sparklers rock. Sparkies on the other hand can’t do diddly until the end of January. Mmm.

Anyway, have a good day. Have a safe day.

Love and light

Barb xxx

31 thoughts on “Adding a little sparkle to Christmas….

  1. What a fab blog. Would love to meet your Mutti. Thank you for everything you have given us this year. Hoping to see you soon in the new year. Enjoy your kiln xx

  2. So happy you had a good Christmas, in spite of everything. Loving’ the sparklers!
    My mother-in-law was Greek and we often had some wonderful confusions over translation. For example, she always referred to her boss as her ‘menageress’ (for a long time, I though she worked in a zoo!!! 🤣) I have made far more mistakes with my Greek, so I really shouldn’t comment. Merry Christmas 🎄

  3. We have just come back from a christmas day very chilly and icy walk! It snowed here earlier but thankfully it didnt last! Loved the sparky story, made me chuckle. Enjoy the rest of the day!

  4. So glad you had a happy day, your smile is so infectious. Hope your mum gets her lights sorted soon, or you will run out of sparklers. Have a lovely evening. Hugs. Annette X

  5. Ich möchte Ihnen auch für alles danken, was Sie das ganze Jahr über für uns Kundinnen etc. getan haben. Seit einigen Jahren bin ich ja Fan von Ihnen – insbesondere das Groovi.

    Ihnen allen ein besonders schönes Weihnachtsfest und ruhige Feiertage und ein#
    GUTES NEUES GESUNDES JAHR 2021

  6. Lol. I love your mum’s story! Hilarious. Thanks for sharing that. Surely in an emergency, an electrician would be allowed in to your mum’s house, especially if she stayed out of the way. No light in a kitchen is a bit of an emergency! However, when the Wunderkerzen arrive, she’ll be sorted! Lol. I’ve kept busy today. Nothing else for it. Lots of love, Hxxx

  7. Merry Christmas to you both Barb. Samuel and I miss you so much. I was passing Christmas presents through the window, to my grandchildren during the Shac Shak this morning, so I caught up later. Samuel always smiles when he hears your voice! I need to get some sparklers for him – he would love them!
    We’ve had a lovely day, even if we were on our own!
    Merry Christmas to all our Clarity friends and crafters xxx

  8. It was so lovely to join you on the telly then in the Shac Shac this morning. So love hearing all your stories. Enjoy the rest of Christmas 🎄 😊 x

  9. Ha! You always make me laugh when you talk about your mums German/English crossed wires, it’s like me talking to my mum who is hard of hearing, conversations can often take a strange turn.

    We have be using a couple of lamps for the lighting in the downstairs for months. It wasn’t too bad in the summer but its certainly interesting in the winter. We’ve had electricians out many times this year to change the fuse in the box but now it’s past it and needs the house rewiring! Anyway thats not happening for a good few years, so lamps it is then!
    Hope you enjoy tomorrow before getting all tied up with your ribbon on Sunday
    Take care,

  10. So glad you have had a good day. Just me and hubby here. Guess what I got in my cracker – pencils! As if I need anymore ha ha. We had a quick visit with our grandsons yesterday which was lovely if emotional as we had not seen them for 6 months and they didn’t want us to go. Had a lovely quiet day. Enjoyed a short time I. The shac this morning in between preparing veg. Thank you for giving your time. Lots of love for a better 2021 xx

  11. You made me laugh out loud with your mum’s sparklers! Funny when things get lost in translation!
    Really chuffed with myself, as I have cooked Christmas Dinner for the first time ever!! Never had to do it before as we were always at my parents or his, or sometimes both! (by second dinner if I managed starter and trifle I was doing well!)
    This year we are all in our own homes, cooking our own. Strange not spending the day surrounded by family. We did a doorstep swap of parcels with my parents, and had an hour in my daughter so we could see our first grand Augher on her first Christmas. Special times.
    Happy Christmas x

  12. Lovely story with the sparklers mix up made me laugh out loud. So good to see your sparkler moments. Enjoyed the time with you this morning the Shac.

  13. Hi Barbara
    Another lovely story.
    Loved tuning in to Shav Shack your stories and memories were a tonic definitely brightened my morning made me laugh out loud at one point
    Anyway enjoy the rest of your evening with the lovely Dave. Hugs T

  14. Glad you had a lovely day. Enjoyed the show and the SHAC this morning thank you so much. Loved the idea of lighting the kitchen with sparklers. We have put strings of battery operated fairy lights up in the kitchen and it’s almost bright enough. It’s so pretty I am tempted to
    leave them on permanently. Bought them for £2.50 a string in the m and a sale a few years ago and so festive.

  15. This made me laugh. We were moving this time last year. Our first “own” home. It’s a bit of a fixer upperer but we love it. However, there was no lighting in the kitchen, so I grabbed some icicle Christmas lights and put them along the counters. Sometimes, it was still too dark, so I wore one of those hats with a light in it, to see what I was actually making. We had many a laugh during that time.

  16. What a good laugh for Christmas evening. We’ve had a quiet day and thought of you when we were watching the programme about the Royal Christmas speeches. Apparently the lady who wrote the words King George used, starting ‘ I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year…’ lived in Crowborough. They showed a snip of her and she was in front of a house called Brooklands. I wonder if you know it? We hope you’ve enjoyed the rest of your day as much as pre-blog ! Janet and Bea

  17. My bright spot of the day was being able to join in the ShacShack again. Unfortunately, the rest of the day has been a washout, not the floods that so many have suffered. No, mine was waking up with a stonking headache, and a very painful neck. I am seriously overdue to visit the chiropractor, and at the same time my sinuses totally seized up. Perhaps I need a good dose of WD40. I banned my daughter from coming near me to avoid passing this cold to her family. The only way she could stop herself disobeying me was to have a nice alcoholic drink. She knew she would never get behind the wheel of the car with any alcohol in her system. So I have settled today for snacking on a load of the treats I got in. Never mind, we had already postponed Christmas to the summer anyway, and this will pass. You would laugh at me going upstairs right now. The light in the hall died two days ago and I have not felt like replacing it, then the landing light is getting dimmer and dimmer. So out comes the trusty, ultra bright head torch, brighter than any of the other lights. Crafters can sort anything! Off now to see how many more TV programmes I can sleep through before I go to bed and wake up. Barb, I loved the ShacShack this morning and your great stories, especially the one about the “dirty” Pyrex – cheeky woman. She deserved to get both barrels. By the way, I was wide awake through both your shows today. A very safe and happy Christmas to everyone. xxx Maggie (Silvercrafter)

  18. I love that you happened to have sparklers in your house. Haven’t had one of those for years! Merry Christmas everyone x

  19. Happy Christmas! – Hopefully a little quiet time for you and Dave has been a tonic today albeit really sad that you cant be with your family.
    Mums, ‘ey 😂 They do become quite entertaining with some of the things they say as they get older. My Mum would have us all in stitches sometimes. The only worrying thing is that my kids seem to be waiting for me to entertain them in the same way since I Iost my dear Mum just waiting for the same kind of slip up to make them laugh about me too! Hopefully, I will keep them waiting a bit longer!! 😃 X

    1. That’s the best story I have heard today….ok like it was the only one other than the ones you told this morning. Thanks for making me laugh. Much love❤️

  20. A lovely couple of hours with you this morning Barbara. I laughed a lot at ‘the dirty pyrex’ it reminded me of a neighbour ,years ago ,bringing back some pans she had borrowed. They shone like mirrors !! What a waste of elbow energy…
    Enjoy your Boxing Day [more pottery time for you hopefully] xx

  21. so glad you had a good day. Hopefully your Mum & Dad could see enough to be able to eat their dinner! I would have thought an electrician could still come out in an emergency.
    Love the sparklers – really made me smile. Thank you for continuing to light up our crafty corners. Missed you on TV this morning, but will watch on catch up over the next couple of days.
    Fortunate to have both my sons living back at home at the moment, so we had a really nice day with a long walk this afternoon in the winter sunshine. We’ll be seeing the family on zoom tomorrow.
    Blessings Deborah

  22. Could their home insurer help with an electrician? They have lists to get people out all year. Or the Community Hub for their area may know someone. They can certainly put the word out. Checkatrade or some trade body may only be useful after the bank holidays. They may put off drinks with no lights and that is an emergency.

    Thanks for all your support and entertainment today. The new stamps sound great.

  23. Have yet to catch up with the SHAC Shack & tv show, although I did put my nose round the door to say hello .
    We were lucky to have our daughter & 2 granddaughters join us & my mom for the day. They came for breakfast & went home after supper, they hadn’t seen my mom other than on zoom since February so there was a lot of catching up. In fact the youngest didn’t stop talking for ages – she said she had such a lot to tell us & was making the most of us being there in person.
    Love your Mom’s Sparky story – if all else fails you could always put the LED Christmas tree lights round the kitchen – joking aside though surely it would be classed as an emergency – elf & safety !!
    Right off to check out the shows

  24. You are such a sparkle in all our lives, loved the story and the laughter. Pleased you did get to enjoy your day and thank you for the Shac Shack this morning. Great start to the day. Xxx

  25. Thank you for our ‘get-together’ on Shac Shak yesterday and lovely to see Dave. Few tears but lots of laughs about the Pyrex dishes. Then just now about Sparky. Take care and see you on Monday.

  26. Came here last night and having a fairly lazy day was just too tired to type ! Glad you had a good day despite the circumstances, we did too. I enjoyed the hour not participating but listening while I peeled the potatoes and pottered in the kitchen. Now I get to listen again today and do the work ! Love the sparkler mix up ! Usually doing a buffet for 9 today but that’s not happening as you can imagine. I’m wondering if I’ll ever be able to cope again with the noise of meeting up with everyone after hearing my niece and her family at my sister’s yesterday over FaceTime ! Have a good Boxing Day x x

  27. Hi Barbara I loved the Shac Shack yesterday morning. It was an oasis of calm. Later in the day we found that my parents-in-law’s heating isn’t working. We live a distance away so there were lots of phone calls to get someone to go round. They need a gas engineer. Someone has lent them some heaters. It is such a worry when you are too far away to help also we are self isolating. Thank you for being there. Take care. Hugs xxx

  28. Hello Barb, oh bless your Mum, she is such a character, and todays blog had me in stitches. Hope that maybe you get a kind sparky out before January. Take care and wave those sparklers. Bx

  29. Am going to have a bit of me time today and indulge myself in your video from yesterday. We’re in isolation due to health issues so only contact with family was by video chats on our phones so I didn’t want to miss them or watching the grandchildren playing so excitedly! So it only remains for me to say many thanks for all the fun that the SHAC provides and all the effort that you provide as a company in keeping us entertained and the excellent service from Clarity…it’s much appreciated!.Merry Christmas to you all.🎅🎄💖

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