CALENDARS

I know I’m getting older, but… when did Advent Calendars stop being for children and morph into expensive and sometimes ridiculously extravagant self-gifts for adults? As my cousin wrote this morning: ‘What is with these hundred-pound-plus beauty advent calendars? Have we gone completely crazy?’

It's a stretch to go back to my childhood these days, but I vividly remember the excitement generated in our home by my parents handing out Advent Calendars. Each had a Christmassy picture printed on to a foolscap (sorry… A4-ish) sheet of card, with the usual little doors cut into the scene and numbered. Every day the opening of a door revealed a little picture, and I can still feel the delight, and hear the loud proclamations from my younger brother that his was the best. Sometimes the numbers were hard to find, hidden in the detail of the Calendar. The pictures were very simple: robins, holly, lights, a church… but the best was always the last on Christmas Eve: a Nativity scene hidden behind a larger, or perhaps even double doors.

At some point Advent Calendars became more complicated and chocolates replaced the pictures hidden behind the doors. I suppose this heralded their transformation into adulthood. I’m not yearning for the past, but my nostalgia for a simpler, less self-indulgent lifestyle can’t be swept away by today’s richer offerings.

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A year ago, as I was recovering from my first cataract operation, choosing and sending Christmas cards and gifts was a struggle. This year sees a new ‘normal’ and I threw myself into the task with renewed enthusiasm. And this year everyone in the family is getting a personalised calendar! I started with a ‘Family History’ version for M, which led to a ‘Cars and Old Family Photos’ one for my brother. I sorted through hundreds of old photos to arrive at suitable choices for each month of the year 2020. I spent several days wading through childhood scenes, prompting memories and even dreams of our childhood, before reaching December. Even my computer seems to have been taken with the idea, for some inexplicable reason seizing upon this old photo of C, (which incidentally my transfer from a slide has mirror-imaged) and making it the start-up photo when I log into Windows!

The rest of the family will receive smaller calendars with ‘Garden Scenes’ taken from my huge collection, some of which are visible on my website (here: https://www.prfordauthor.com/gallery). Once these were complete and saved to a ‘basket’, the printing company was keen for me to purchase a variety of other gifts, all sporting my photos. Soon, little magnet calendars, cards and a mouse mat were also in the ‘basket’. I’m a sucker for this kind of thing, and was easily drawn into such temptation! However, the results have been well worth the effort, and I can only hope that the members of my family will appreciate their calendars as much as I have enjoyed making them.

Roll on the next round of tasks: the Christmas cards. Oh, and I almost forgot to tell you: I'm also knitting everyone a scarf...