Growing up with a Swiss father and an English mother, my children have always been fairly multi-cultural, but sometimes the overlapping traditions cause all sorts of confusion. Christmas is a case in point.

Here in German-speaking Switzerland Santa Claus – locally known as Samichlaus – arrives on December 6th. He is generally accompanied by a grubby helper in brown robes, called Schmutzli (which really does translate as  a dirty little person) and whenever possible with a donkey in tow. Schmutzli carries a big sack – full of nuts and mandarines with the odd chocolate mixed in – and a twig broom. According to my husband – and I rather hope this isn’t true (please help me all you Swissies out there) – the broom is to hit the naughty children with and the bag to carry them away in. Yikes!

Samichlaus always came to school to visit when my children were in primary school and there are Samiclaus clubs where it is possible to book home visits on December 6th – which most Swiss families seem to do. (I never did – for reasons which will become apparent! ). The children were expected to say a rhyme or sing a song that they had learned and then Samiclaus would look in his big book and tell them what they had done well and where they needed to improve in the year ahead. This was always followed by the emptying of the sack and a huge rush for all the goodies.

Now how exactly does this square up with Santa coming down the chimney on Christmas Eve? Where are the reindeer and what happens to the donkey? Why does Santa come to all the English children and yet the Christ Child (Christkind) goes to the Swiss – and worst of all, why do the Swiss get their presents a day earlier (24th) and the English only the next morning? It all caused a great deal of perplexity when the children were young, but as they usually felt that they came out better with the way we did things, I could generally worm my way out of most of the tricky questions.

Wherever possible, I have tried to combine the traditions. While she was still alive, we visited my Swiss MIL on Christmas Eve and then she came to us for the Full Traditional English Christmas on the 25th, although she did balk a bit at being made to watch the Queen’s speech in the afternoon!

I’ve never joined in totally with the Swiss Guetzli (Christmas cookie) mania – which sees some people spending the whole of December making 20 or 30 different types of cookies, but I do manage to do a little bit, if only to keep hubby happy! I stick to one or two of the simpler favourites, but go the whole hog making a Christmas cake and mince-pies. Now my daughters seem to be taking over the guetzli baking mantle, which is lovely.

Since my MIL passed away, we’ve become distinctly more English, but thankfully my husband says he prefers celebrating on the 25th and making a whole day of it – and turkey with all the trimmings seems to beat fondue hands down, even if not everybody is totally taken with Christmas pudding.

One thing I’ve also discovered is that mulled wine and mince pies with some rousing carol singing is a big hit with my Swiss friends!

Helen

Today Daughter No.1 and I finally got our advent candle decoration made. Better late than never I say. We didn’t make it in time for the first Sunday of Advent, but at least we just sneaked in before December 1st. If you’d like to see how we make it, then there are instructions here.

Several Christmas decorations seem to have appeared too – a little too early for me, but it has all put me rather into the Christmas spirit.

This year I have resolved to try very hard to have a restful Christmas. I know this may be asking too much when I’ll have a houseful of people, a Christmas party to organize, not to mention a birthday in the middle of it all. I also know that I say this every year and it never, ever works out! For once though, I want to actually be able to stop and savour the moment and calmly reflect on celebrating the birth of Jesus rather than being permanently in a whirlwind of activity, which inevitably leaves me in bed with a migraine sometime before the New Year.

As there is no way the family will make do with any less than a full English Christmas with all the trimmings, the only options would seem to be a) delegation (and I do have two teenage daughters who could, if they wanted to, be fairly useful) and b) organization. With the latter in mind I shall put my mind to it and do a little bit every day.

Are you sitting down?

Today I wrapped some presents and sent off two parcels!!! The whole time I was wrapping things I was actually thinking about how I wasn’t wrapping them at 1.30am on Christmas morning – and it was a wonderful feeling! On top of which it means that little explorers with prying eyes will have no idea in advance what they are getting for Christmas!!

So I’m starting the way I mean to go on….and long may it last!

Wishing you a joyful start to advent!

Helen

I love quiet days at home. Days when I work on my translations and editing and in between can take breaks to potter, catch up with housework and admin, maybe play the piano a little and get the feeling that life is more or less under control – even if that only lasts until the teenagers come in from school.

I have a great big introvert streak and having time to myself helps me to tank up energy and feel that both my feet are standing firmly on the ground. When I’m out and about too much – like recently, and which I love, don’t get me wrong! – I always have a slight feeling that I’m flying by the seat of my pants and juggling too many balls in the air all at the same time. It feels good to be back down to earth.

This afternoon I even managed to find an hour to finish off all the flying geese for the border of Ilsa’s quilt. How I LOVE my Quilt in a Day ruler! I’ve said that before, I know, but it makes such a difference, so I’m sorry, but I’m going to bore you a little longer! Now I just need to finish the stars for the centre, but the pieces are cut and matched together, so it will only take a good machining session and I’ll be done.

Maybe this evening once I’ve got through helping with preparation for two French tests! If my brain is still functioning by then, that is!

Helen

I’m back. Did you miss me? I had a weekend flit to England to help my mother with her Christmas shopping and to check that all was well on the home front (it was, thankfully!). I had intended to check in along the way and let you know what I was up to, but my laptop didn’t like the look of the wifi at the local library, so that wasn’t to be. Did anyone notice I was gone?

I also managed to fit in buying and installing mum’s first ever DVD player as well as doing an analogue to digital switch over on the television – I have to keep saying this to myself as I was quite stunned that I was capable of managing such technical feats – but then, when a handy husband isn’t in the neighbourhood, a girl has to just get on and do whatever needs doing.

Did you know that you can buy a very smart DVD player in John Lewis for the princely sum of £29.95. Quite incredible. I couldn’t believe my eyes – and it wasn’t even on special offer!

I also had a lovely trip to York to meet Lindsay, complete with lunch at Betty’s, a trip to the Quilter’s Guild and a quick dash into the lovely yarn shop Ramshambles right in the middle of the Shambles.

I even have great photos of my adventures to show you – or I would if I hadn’t left my camera in the boot of Lindsays’s car. Which was, if I say so myself, a very stupid thing to do – but there you are, it was dark, we were swapping bags of Christmas presents and talking twenty to the dozen before I hopped on the train back to mum’s – and somehow the camera didn’t make it back into my bag. Hopefully now it’s on it’s way back here in the post. Lindsay and I are crossing everything that we have to cross that it doesn’t get nicked along the way, as that would be a very great shame.

My camera and I are joined at the hip, so I am feeling rather bereft – it’s a bit of a lost handbag feeling actually – and of course the blog is pictureless until I work out an alternative solution. Right now though it’s probably just as well that you can’t see the state of affairs round here. I’ve been gadding about and neglecting things here for the last 6 weeks or so and I’ve come back to semi chaos and lots of work to do….and don’t even mention the quilt that has to be finished for shipping for Christmas….

Ah well, nose back to the grindstone….

It’s nice to be home though and I’m looking forward to a nice bit of ordinary life.

Hope you’re enjoying the start of advent.

Helen

This made me smile today! (And a very happy Thanksgiving to all my friends from over the pond!)

Helen