Hi there,

Happy Sunday. How are you?
This 100-day countdown has certainly been picking up speed, hasn’t it? And in December there always seem to be several countdowns running in parallel.

You’ll certainly have heard the word Advent. Most of us think first of Advent calendars – 24 little windows, one opened each day in December, often with a chocolate reward inside.

But here at our little farmhouse, we uphold a different tradition, one my Mum passed on to me – the Adventskranz. Literally translated, that means Advent wreath. Ours isn’t actually a wreath, but a lovely brass star. I bought it decades ago when I lived in Nürnberg, and it comes out every year.

First things first – let’s say it properly in German.
Ready?

Add-VENTS-Kruntz.
The emphasis is on VENTS.
It sounds rather stroppy, doesn’t it? Say it out loud. Perfect.

Now that we’ve mastered the pronunciation, what does it symbolise?

The word Advent comes from the Latin adventus, meaning “coming” or “arrival”. In the Christian calendar, Advent marks the period of waiting and preparation before Christmas, traditionally covering the four Sundays leading up to it.

More broadly – and how many people understand it today – Advent has come to mean:

• a time of waiting
• a period of anticipation
• a deliberate slowing down before an arrival

Candles, calendars and wreaths are simply ways of marking time – not rushing forwards, but moving gently towards something that’s coming.

I like that idea very much. A slower pace. Not the frenetic chaos I see everywhere at the moment.

Yesterday I spent the entire day at home – cleaning, decorating, making the bedrooms lovely – in anticipation of Grace and Mark coming home on Tuesday. Read another way: I didn’t leave the house. I didn’t step beyond the gate. I didn’t join the Christmas shopping crowds. And I shall do the same today, except I will blog, write the Club newsletter, wrap a few gifts. I was even thinking about firing up the kiln one last time…bit of glazing required first…

I haven’t turned into a bah-humbug on the shopping front – I’ve just decided to wait until next weekend, and actually enjoy it with the kids. They love Christmas shopping in Tunbridge Wells and Lewes – it’s their Memory Lane – so I love it too when I’m with them.

Back to the Add-VENTS-Kruntz.

See the little angel musicians in the centre? They were a gift from my Mum. They’re very old, handmade in the Erzgebirge region of Germany, and among my most treasured possessions. Over the years, Mum and I gifted each other one ornament at a time – they’re expensive, so the collection grew slowly.

Mum has a whole Bayerische Kapelle at home – a full Bavarian band. I remember one year she was devastated after cleaning them with the wrong detergent and accidentally removing some of the paint. She painstakingly repainted them with the tiniest brush imaginable. That only makes them more precious to me now.

Lighting a candle each Sunday in the lead-up to Christmas feels as important as spending time in the company of these little figures. They represent my past, my history, my lineage.

So today we light the second candle…or the third? Nah! that would infer that we‘re only a week away!

I like the pacing of it. Advent isn’t something to rush — it unfolds week by week. One light at a time.

It also makes me think about the many traditions people hold at this time of year, shaped by where they grew up or what they’ve carried into adulthood. Some are religious, some cultural, some entirely made up. Some are carefully preserved; others quietly fade away.

For some it’s candles.
For others it’s food, music, carol singing, walks, certain films – or simply a pause before Christmas begins in earnest.

I’m always interested in these small personal rituals. They say a lot about how we mark time, and what matters to us. Who we are.

So if you feel like sharing:
do you have a particular Advent or Christmas tradition — or none at all?

The four Advent candles traditionally represent Hope, Peace, Joy and Love.

Wishing you a peaceful 2nd/3rd Advent Sunday.

Barb xxx