Advent is here again...

No 1 was brought to you by Valerie...

She writes...

In a month of Busy, one has to be deliberate about slowing down, whether it is slowing to wrap cheap, acrylic wool around a bicycle tyre, or whether it is slowing to see these little pieces of art/hope/life/love that pop up around us in our homes and neighbourhoods.

Chatsworth Road changes so rapidly these days that those of us who frequent the road take in new sights seemingly every week.  So, will these stars stick out?  Will they catch anyone off-guard, slow anyone down?  Perhaps they will solidify for some observations of gentrification and ‘white-middle-class-craft’, and perhaps some will see them as a nuisance…

An artist or craftivist leaves art in the public space as a gift, and we have to leave it at that.  However these stars are perceived over the next 24 days…well, it’s out of our hands. 

Take it as you will, Chatsworth Road, and let us know if it inspires you, angers you, or leaves you wondering what it’s all about.

Twenty five

Hessian tonight. Hessian for the babe in a manger. The shop keeper from Kurdistan says 'Merry Christmas'. Possibly the only English phrase he knows. R's other half joins us. Mine has already been to a midnight communion service. Well. Half of it. We share bread and wine and wonder how is it that Advent has slipped past so quickly once more. We took our kids to see the #BethlehemUnwrapped wall today. 8 metres high and as much a monstrosity in Piccadilly as it is in Bethlehem. We graffitied words of peace and a big star and went inside to see the art. All of us did a bit of a double take to find men sleeping on pews amongst the works if art. Then we went on to the carousels in Leicester Square. An Arthur Christmas movie before bed and its easy to 'forget the baby Jesus' in the words of that rather over familiar carol from school. The third time K came down declaring he was scared if Santa coming I went to sit with him and regaled that other story to keep his mind off nighttime visitors. How would Mary and Joseph got through the checkpoint from Jerusalem to Bethlehem? Would she had to have given birth at the checkpoint? She wouldn't be the first. 

Twenty four

A Hackney altercation and extremely inclement weather jolts us out of our bollard complacency tonight. Four of us are thrust from the cosines of candlelight and fire side carols around the tree. From the heart of huggile (Danish feelings of snugness and warmth while we've been celebrating Lille Yule Aften) into the depths of a windy/rainy night on Chatsworth Road with a fight in full flow. R phones the police and runs after the warring factions but by the time she is talking to someone the fighting couples have parted. A police car saunters up as we're painting a gold 24 on the bollard farthest away from the very shouty guy. They don't seem too bothered by us and we quickly part making our way back to our respective cosy homes. Glad that we have them. 

Twenty three

Carol services abound. Two today. A Christingle and a carols by candle light. The Christingle makes sense in theory and I'm a big fan of embodying symbolism but in reality the kids just maim and destroy some oranges which get left behind after church. Then an altogether more satisfying carols by candlelight that same afternoon. A good mix of traditional and light hearted and the visiting choir declare it to be the best carol service they've ever been to. Result. 

Twenty two

The wrapping has begun. This is unheard  of. Usually wrapping starts around 1am on Christmas Eve after R and I have been to midnight service at  www.web.theroundchapel.org.uk/ and finished our last advent adventure. But M has been asking for a year now if we can get some presents under the tree before Christmas morning so we've pushed the boat out and done it. He will be beside himself tomorrow. And so will start a rather tiresome game where he'll push the boundaries and start doing a little bit of surreptitious peeling as well as shaking and feeling and we'll tell him not to about a gazillion times. I guess that's all part of the fun! So tonight we left a bow on the bollard. I salvaged this fabric from the bins at the Round Chapel after a Sikh wedding over a decade ago. I made 25 advent bags out of most of it to contain the play mobile figures which the kids open each day to make our nativity. So it's fabric that very much says 'Christmas' to me. Hope the punters at the market tomorrow enjoy it! 

Twenty one

Old curtains rear their satin head again. Proper vintage for Chatsworth Road. Don't hold your breath it'll probably be knicked by the morning and turn up on some swanky market stall on Sunday. R said she only went onto the second hand shop because her daughter was looking for something. Fatal. A couple of pairs of curtains is the least you can get away with in that situation. 

And V has done a rather lovely replacement for no. 12. See how long this cosy little number lasts. It certainly feels much 'righter' wrapping wool around. Maybe it's because the shape feels very neck like. Maybe it's the ways it gives and fills the spaces. Sort of comforting. And forgiving. 

Twenty

Twenty. Twentieth of December?? How did that happen? The kids' excitement as the Big Day grows closer mirrors my horror as the days count down. Too much to do too little time. I'm busy deciding which things can fall by the way side. Currently this includes finishing my Christmas bunting, making an Advent wreath, baking any more mince pies and sleeping. Still on the 'important' list is finishing sewing of presents, decorating the tree and cleaning the bathroom. Finding two 'winter wonderland' costumes tonight didn't exactly help me keep on track.