Fake Christmas

Today is Fake Christmas at Schloss Schneereise.
What it really is is the first Sunday in Advent and also my friend Di's birthday. Di is my third oldest friend, again, not in years of age but in years of friendship. I think technically I must have met Eve and Kerry the same day as Di, but I was sat next to Di, so with Holmes-like precision, I figure I must have made friends with her on the first day of school. Happy Birthday Di.

This morning we all had Austen's world famous eggs poached in cream with sage and smoked salmon for brekker, yummy yum, yum, then off to church. I'm wondering if, when the smoking in public places ban becomes law next year, they'll have to stop filling the church with incense. I fancy not somehow.

My main annoyances with my own church are historical - killing lots of Catholics in a vile manner - and the continued patriarchy of it. Patriarchy in reality could be good, if it were followed in the way it was meant, kind and loving responsibility for a family, but what it more often is taken to mean is simply blokes in charge. Well bollocks to that.

But what is true for me and what endures is that the church is a stillness in the turmoil, a comforting and guiding light in the darkness. I wouldn't want it not to be there. I love that the seniors in the community are so well-represented, as though they, finished with the child bearing and rearing in their lives were using their years and wisdom to pray for us all. I trust the prayers of old ladies more than anyone.

After church, Buck's Fizz. They call this Mimosa in Canada, but here, nothing says Christmas morning better than Buck's Fizz. No musical pun intended.
And now we are about to sit down to turkey, sprouts, roasties, oh you know, the lot.
Thank-you for the greetings yesterday, and a Happy Fake Christmas to one and all.