The crafty Lulu

My little town here has really hit the ground running. Christmas cheer is pouring out of every window.

Last night was the opening of the local Weihnachtsmarkt or Christmas Market. It gets the whole show off to a bang. The smell of Gluhwein wafting through the little wooden houses, filled with sparkly goods.

It certainly transforms the whole (and I must admit rather dreary) local market square. Children were singing carols and I resisted the call of the chestnuts roasting over an open flame… This is, of course, NOTHING compared to the wonders that can be found in Bonn and Cologne. My first ever Christmas market visit was Cologne, Altstadt. It was snowing and cold. Like a picture book. I will never forget it.

This afternoon we are off to prepare the Advents Kranz. Sitting in the local church hall, drinking coffee and eating biscuits, in the company of all the other parents guiding their children toward their first Communion next year. I am not catholic, but the rest of the mob are. So I get to enjoy the bits that are fun. First Advent falls tomorrow, the first candle will be lit, followed by one each Sunday though to Christmas Eve. The wreath seen in the photo was prepared by my clever father in law. As we will end up with two, I am thinking of decorating and hanging this one on the front door.

I suspect my neighbours have been reading my blog. First thing this morning, they were up and about, going about the task of bringing Christmas cheer to our street. Here are a couple of features that were NOT there yesterday:

Not only were the lights not there yesterday… but the tree has suddenly appeared overnight! As for Santa… I had to do a little super spy work and nicked a photo from behind a tree because they were still in the process of putting up the lights.