I spent quite a bit of time in the kitchen this weekend.
With varied results:
I put this collapsed cake on my Facebook status yesterday – wondering at the same time (in my head): why does one? However, one friend commented that it cheered her up to see it, as it made her feel less alone… So who am I to deny the rest of the world the same comfort?! ;)
“Success is not final, failure is not fatal:
it is the courage to continue that counts.”
~Winston Churchill~
My second Christmas card came from England, too – as did the first one. The funny thing is that this Christmas Tree Fairy looks just like the one in that other card (where a fairy is the top decoration on a Christmas tree).
In Sweden I don’t think I’ve ever heard of Christmas fairies. Angels are quite common as decorations, but not fairies. (Not that I’m all that sure that I can tell the difference. But I think our angels usually wear long garments… No bare legs in this climate!) However, I think a star is the most common decoration to have at the top of the Christmas tree here.
Now I’m curious… What is (or will be, or used to be) on the top of your tree?
I like how your kitchen is decorated. That postcard is lovely.
ReplyDeleteAh! The Curtains are up!
ReplyDeleteOn top of the tree we always used to have an angel - with a long dress and holding a trumpet. Or maybe it was a hymn book...
These days I have a gold star.
Two Christmas cards have arrived here. I thought of you when I saw them in the box. :-)
Katherine, your comment about the angel holding either a trumpet or a hymn book reminds me of an old evening prayer in Swedish from my childhood (it was my grandmother who used to read it to me when I was staying with them). It involved an angel walking around the house (that would have been the guardian kind of angel, I suppose!) carrying two golden candles AND holding a book in her hand. I always wondered how she managed that! (as at the first line I imagined the angel with one candle in each hand - and then suddenly came the next line, which clearly stated her holding a book in her hand as well! Ah well. I guess angels can manage some things we humans can't... Perhaps even playing the trumpet with one hand while holding a hymn book with the other?
DeleteThe kitchen is looking very festive.
ReplyDeleteThe cake looks edible to me. It wouldn't score very highly for appearance but it is the taste the really matters.
The cake is edible Adrian. Recommended to use a spoon though... ;)
Deletei have never seen fairy's on a tree, the top or on the tree... angels or stars are what we have always used. mine has a star on one and the other one has a Santa that is a ceramic one that is a candle climber. he is there because i don't have another star. Mother always had a star. i love your kitchen, the curtains are so pretty and cheerful... makes me happy to look at it... and our angels all wear robes not short dresses.
ReplyDeleteSounds like the climbing Santa is a good man for the job, Sandra. :)
Deleteforgot to say when mothers cakes collapsed we did not care because they still tasted good and i bet yours does to
ReplyDeleteYour kitchen is even prettier than I remembered! The cake, maybe it could now be brownies? Did you know that in the bible, there are no female angels? They are ALL men. I don't know where the idea came from to make them mostly women in modern culture!!
ReplyDeleteYes Ginny, I know that the angels in the Bible are referred to as "he". I don't know how far back the depicting of them as feminine goes... I think I shall have to see if I can find some facts on that!
DeleteI would guess the cake TASTED okay and if you did not feel able to offer it around, then all the more for you! I think the fairy is painted by Cicely Mary Barker who I mentioned in my post about Surrey a few months ago. I love her work. I have an idea a fairy on a tree is a German idea. In Nuremberg I once interviewed the Christmas fairy of the whole town, believe it or not, for an article! :)
ReplyDeleteThanks Jenny. I know of the Flower Fairy book and I have received other postcards from the same series before. But I keep forgetting the artist's name (not printed on the back of the card). I don't think I've ever heard the idea of the Christmas fairy associated with Germany before. But if you've actually talked to one, I suppose I have to believe you! :D
DeleteYour kitchen looks very pretty.
ReplyDeleteAn agel is a religious being. A fairy is just fantasy.
Oh Louise, this gave me the giggle of the day... No disrespect intended! When I said I'm not sure I can tell the difference, I was not thinking in terms of mythology or religion; only of Christmas decorations...
DeleteAt my parents', it is either a star on top of the tree or a pointed, spire-like decoration, made specificially to sit on top of the tree, made of glass like baubles.
ReplyDeleteChristmas fairies are not common here, either; people here are crazy about angels, too, with long garments as you describe them, or putto-style (baroque, fat little kids with wings).
The cake looks tasty nonetheless, I hope you didn't throw it away!
No Meike, I did not throw the cake away. I cut it into smaller portion pieces before putting it into the freezer. :) Interesting to compare your answer about fairy vs angels, compared to Jenny's comment above. I think I shall have to do some research!
DeleteDon't worry about the cake....have it with a dollop of ice cream and it's all good.
ReplyDeleteLove the look in your kitchen, all your hard work paid off.
If I were to have a Christmas tree (which I'm not going to have) then it would have a star on the top. Most Christmas trees that I can recall friends having have stars. I wonder what CJ and Jo have on theirs.
ReplyDelete