I can’t believe that we are again on the end of a year – where has the time gone?

For me and my family this year was truly eventful, when I think back the biggest and most painful time was when our big boy Mika died back in may. He is missed so much every day and I still can’t get myself to finally finish and update his webpage. This will change in 2008!

Photographywise things changed a lot for me too. I have learned so much, probably more than in the years before. And, through this I have met some wonderful people too. Hey, all you guys who come here to read my blog – Stephanie, Jennifer, Lottie, Rebecca, Angela and many more. My dear family who do read all my post but never leave any comments (hint hint), Pepe (who helped me so much with my webpage and my blog) and of course all the people who come, read and go again – I hope you all find the one or other interesting thing on here and like to look at my pictures.

I have a little surprise for you all at the end of this post but talking about changes – I will have a big one for 2008!

You probably noticed that my blog looks a bit "out of order" right now. This is because I am in the middle of a redesign. Mainly the blog will stay the same, just the design will change once more. The main changes will be on my webpage wich is currently down and hopefully will be open in early January with all the new blink 

There is  a big name change and domane change coming up but I will tell you more when everything is ready.

So *sigh* the end of 2007 OMG I really hate this time of the year when I get so very emotional     I wish you all a lovely last day of the year 2007, a glorious move into 2008 and much Happiness, Health and Success for all of 2008!

I will see you all next year!

… an old tradition here in the UK.

Even though this is our 4th christmas here, I have never been to a traditional Boxing Day Hunt – this year I went!

The past few years I have been following the news each boxing day, seeing reports on TV from animal right activists who were trying to stop the hunting and then, in 2005, the ban of hunting foxes with dogs.

To keep this (I believe 700 year old tradition) alive, the huntsmen now follow a scented trail without any killing involved. This is the way I know they carry out hunts in Germany since years and there is no trouble with anti hunt people since then.

This way of hunting I can support willingly and that was the reason I went this year.

Of course, you all know I love photographing dogs and that’s why the majority of my pics are dogs, again!    

and my favourite one of the lot

… say the welsh people round here. Frohe Weihnachten – that’s what we say back in Germany but here it’s Merry Christmas!

Just a couple of days to go and the biggest day of the year is here again… This year will be our 4th christmas in the UK and every year I am thinking back of how we used to celebrate christmas back in Germany. I was looking something up today and came across some very interesting things, some of which I didn’t know.

I have always believed that the red and white candy canes was an american thing but in fact it is not – it’s german  In the year 1670 the local choirmaster at the Cologne Cathedral gave his young singers sugar sticks to keep them quiet during the long ceremony. He had the candy bent in the shape of shepherds’ crooks to celebrate the festive occasion. In the 1920’s a man named Bob McCormack made candy canes by hand for his friends and family and in the 1950’s his brother-in-law, Gregory Keller, invented a machine to mass produce candy canes.

Thinking about our german traditions I have also noticed that the Advent wreath is not very well known here either. We always had an Advent wreath at home and there was always a huge one with 4 big red candles in every church.

The tradition of the Advent wreath began in Germany as a Lutheran family custom over 400 years ago. Advent wreaths didn’t become popular in churches until the middle of the twentieth century. The light from the candles symbolize the light of God coming into the world through the birth of His Son. The four candles represent the period of waiting during the four Sundays of Advent, which themselves symbolize the four centuries of waiting between the prophet Malachi and the birth of Christ. At the beginning of Advent a single candle is lit and each week an additional candle is lit, reminding us that the birth of the Light of the World is coming closer.

How about the christmas tree? Did you know that a legend indicates that the english Saint Boniface spent a great deal of time in Thuringia, Germany. He used the fir tree in his ministry as an analogy of the Holy Trinity with each corner of the tree’s triangular shape representing either the Father, the Son, or the Holy Spirit. It was only until 1846 when german Price Albert, Queen Victoria’s husband brought the christmas tree to the UK.

In Germany we used to get our christmas tree in the morning of christmas eve and them my mum used to decorate it during the day. My sisters and me weren’t allowed in the living room to see the tree. Later on in the afternoon we used to go to church and had christmas dinner. Only then were we allowed in the living room to see the tree, lit with real candles and all the presents under the tree.

Like the old tradition in Germany,  our tree was up until the 6th of january, the twelfth night, called Epiphany which is the arrival of the 3 kings bringing the gifts for newborn Jesus.

Of course I have to tell you about tinsel as well, I have found a lovely little story:

The Legend of Christmas Tinsel

A long time ago, a German mother busily cleaned her house in preparation for Christmas. She was a very poor widow, and although she had no gifts for her children, it was her greatest wish to do something special for them. She had gone into the forest the day before and cut a small tree. There were no decorations to place on its boughs, but still she prepared a place of honor for the little Christmas tree, dusting and sweeping the spot where it would stand.

As the broom swept the floor, several spiders scurried out of the way and into a corner, praying they would not be discovered. Closer and closer the flying broom swept, until the spiders began to fear they would be brushed out the door to perish in the frigid winter air. Crying out in plaintive chorus they begged the woman to spare their lives. Softening at their plea, the woman felt pity for the poor creatures. She bade them go to the attic and stay where they would be safe from the cold, while she would be assured that her house was clean.

Christmas Eve arrived and the mother and her children went to bed. The spiders in the attic, wishing for only a glimpse of the tree, crept from their attic-hiding place to take a look. Expecting to behold the glory of a fully decorated tree, they were stunned to see the barren fir tree in the corner. Realization dawned on the spiders: the woman who had spared their lives had no gift to give to her children other than the tree itself.

The spiders started to work with a purpose. Crawling over the tree from top to bottom, they spun their silken webs to cover the tree with the gift of the only decoration they could offer.

An angel watching overhead watched the spiders at their toil and, impressed with their charity, touched the tree in blessing. The silken webs immediately turned to silver and gold.

Actually, tinsel was first used in Germany in 1610 and was originally made of silver. Machines were invented to stretch out the silver into thin strips soon afterward and inventors tried unsuccessfully to create tinsel from a mixture of lead and tin. However, the mixed tinsel tended to be too heavy and prone to breaking, so people reverted to the use of silver until the mid-20th century.

Christmas songs anybody?

In 1818, Joseph Mohr wrote Germany’s most famous christmas song: "Stille Nacht – Heilige Nacht" which is well known all over the world as "Silent Night".

Christmas cards are a true english tradition. First of all it was little boys practising their writing, sending littel christmas greetings to their parents. The first that’s recognizable as what we now think of as a Christmas card, i.e. a printed card sent by post, was sent at Christmas 1843.

Our christmas over here is a mixture between the english and the german style christmas but on top of that is my daughters birthday on christmas eve. So, we are having a birthday party during the day of christmas eve and settling down for Fondue in the evening. After our dinner the kids normaly open the "german" presents (that with much disgust of my dear hubby) and at around 11 pm we are getting ready to go to midnight mass.

On Christmas day morning we are going over to see my husbands parents where all the family meets with the children and more presents are getting opened. This is always a "very merry" family get together and extremely joyful with all of the children around.

But how about you? Have you got any special rituals you always do at christmas? I would love to hear about your christmas.

I guess it’s time now to end ….

To all my dear blog visitors and friends,

wishing you all the very special gifts of christmas

Peace

Joy

and lasting Happiness

Sue

with my head full of thoughts ….

Yes, I know – I said I would be back on the 5th of november but it’s already the 1st of december and christmas is coming near. I just needed the time to settle down, catching up with lots of things and then the photography is going really slow right now.

My holiday was great  I was so enjoying my family that there was simply no time for photographs. We went for walks with the dogs, talking, did a lot of laughing and just have been together as a family – what more does it need to have a great time? Sadly the week went far to quick and it was time to go back home agin.

But I did bring something back for you which I was touched by very much.

Unlike USA and UK, Halloween is not a big thing in Germany but on the evening of the 1st of november, everybody goes to the cemeteries and remembers the dead. People put candles on the graves of their family members or friends they have lost and we all went to my grandparents gave. The athmosphere at this special night is very touching and not spooky at all. I took my dad’s tripod along and tried to catch this athmosphere on that night to show you. Unfortunatly it was pitch black dark and I couldnt see anything through my vierfinder, so these ones didnt turn out brilliant but they are special.

As absurd it may sound but I love cemeteries and I enjoyed being there very much. I love the cemeteries here in the UK too, they are not as "tidy" as in germany but they are old, quirky and I love the weather beaten gravestones over here.

Being in the cemetery in Germany made me thing of Mika a lot again and that is has now been 6 months since he has gone. I still miss him very much every day …

Here is one of his last photographs I was able to take of him: