And suddenly it was advent! ¡Y de repente era Adviento!

Me and Alex have been very cosy this winter. Alex has been making some delicious treats, experimenting with pastry to makedelicious apple turnovers and a caramelised banana tart... yummy. All I've wanted the last month and a half is to seek out heat. Eat yummy food and hibernate.

turnovers

We've also had some fun nights out recently. It was Laura's 30th in November and we went to La Banca in Cotteridge for a delicious Italian meal. We also met up with Pete, Vicky Steve and Leon and Teresa for a night out in honour of it being Leon's birthday, a reunion and also Pete and Vicky's engagement.

Laura's bday celebs

Pete and Vicky looking glam

Al and Steve

Leon and Teresa

I was sat in St Nicolas a few Sundays ago and suddenly it was the first weekend in Advent. The Jesse tree was up, the first advent candle was being lit and we were singing our first carol; 'Oh Come Oh Come Emmanuel'. Suddenly there was something to get excited about. The last few months have been hard; the wintry nights have drawn in, the wait for the bus has got colder and my bus partner Marilyn has been put on a new rota so we no longer get to chat to pass along the time. Then suddenly the German Christmas market made its annual appearance and the lights went up and the city centre became a twinkly forest of Christmas goodies. I felt very upbeat.

That sunday, after a very lovely service, Rob the vicar announced that during the Restoration they had found the body of a small baby buried just outside the church boundary. The small child had died in the 1500's, and no doubt had been buried in secret by a distraught mother, perhaps this anonymous buriel was the closest she could get her child to salvation. After the service Rob said that he was going to give the baby a buriel and that anyone who wanted to attend would be very welcome. In the end the majority of the congregation piled out into the wintery cemetary to commemorate this sad event. It was amazing to be a part of that community. Kings Norton was a village 500 years ago and it still is in many ways. For the sake of a mother who lived centuries before any of us were born; for the love of her child we buried that baby, and felt the bonds of our own family ties all the more strongly. And that's Christmas isn't it? For the love of a small child men crossed a continent on camels looking for a miracle; Parents risked their lives and a King fled his own nightmares. God knows the trials that mother endured back in 1500. But ever since her and for many more centuries men and women will visit this church and bring their own pain and tragedy with them in the hope that they'll find some sort of peace. I love Christmas, but not just for the sparkly decorations and the presents, but because it honestly does remind me of how loved and lucky I've been. I was glad to be able to do that small thing for that mother; I hope she knows she's not been forgotten.

The congregation gather