We celebrated today, though I believe technically it occurs tomorrow at some precise moment in the wee hours – as far as we are concerned, today is the turning point, from tomorrow onwards the nights will start drawing out, and we will start to get the light back again.
We feel it – although himself and I went for a walk, there is very little daylight, and the cold and bad weather makes it difficult to get much outside work done. Very much into Yule now, which is a happy time of a lot of indoor time and, as I have said before, the focus on food preparation and crafting, playing cards and board games, with some playing music thrown in for good luck.
We had hoped to light a bonfire but it was just too windy, so we roasted our ham, had a mincemeat and clementine pavlova and a glass of elderflower champagne from stocks carefully saved from summer. And it was an instant taste of barbecues and summer evenings!
Someone asked recently what special meal we might be cooking for Christmas – we go the traditional route of turkey and trimmings etc, but when I think of it, the feasting we do at this time of year involves the most planning. We raise turkeys from August, and booked them earlier still. We make chutneys and pickles and have in mind all the meals we will have during the festivities. I make beer and liqueurs in advance, and I even gather, steep and freeze elderflowers in June, so we can toast the solstice come December. No other meal gets such attention and planning, and it does make it all the more special.
