Sunday 7 January 2018

A Christmas table (December 2017)




So this is our December/Christmas corner. The children's agates are on it again, the reeds went out for soft fir tree twigs (albeit in the same vase with the same sand). As you can see plenty of christmas decoration. My favourite is the little ram made from wool. I got it in a Maroccan art shop (in Frieburg, funnily) about 10 years ago and the moths have nibbled on him a bit (poor thing), but he's still very cute and I wouldn't throw him out just because of a few dents here and there. I might take a bit of wool and needle felt away his injuries before he goes into "aestanation".

A lot of our Christmas decoration we have has some link to traveling (we'll never be able to make up for our CO2 imprint...). The little metal reindeer (there are 4, but you can just see 2 stripey ones in this picture) are from Riga, The little hears (red/white and blue white) are firmly stuffed fabric hearts I got in Laos. I will never understand, why in Lao I could get a design that strikes me as swedish, but there you are, that's how it is. The Frobel Stars I made myself. The wooden Nativity scene is made in the Ore Mountains in Germany. They are famous for their skills in woodturning. These little figures are all made by hand in this technique. I got them in Leipzig (a beautiful city!!) on the Christmas market from a stall with the nicest and most patient ladies ever (they had so many wonderful little things (and big, but I couldn't get anything big...) and I was overwhelmed...). This the company http://www.firma-ulbricht.de/   (no, I don't get any cookies from them, I just love the craftsmanship). Behind the miniature figures you can see a big piece of platanus tree bark, which we found on one of our walks.

I admit, I like a bit of blingbling, too, so we've put a small piece of amethyst and a small piece of rock crystal. My grandfather (maternally) had lots of big amethyst and rock crystal pieces which I adored when I was a small child (and was never allowed to touch... but we used to look at them together, how they sparkled!). I don't know what happened to those after my grandparents died, but I hold fond memories of both of them and these two little pieced remind me of them.

The table is never as static as it seems on the pictures, the kids rearrange the figures, the three holy kings move closer to the nativity scene, stones are added and taken away, some are painted. Even the teelightholder as exchanged, sometimes we have one the children painted on it, and they, too, change places.

Eugene Grasset, La Belle Gardinière, Décembre https://www.wikiart.org/en/eug-ne-grasset/la-belle-jardiniere-december-1896

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