The Calm Christmas Podcast with Beth Kempton

S3 Ep8 CHRISTMAS TIME IS HERE: And breathe… you’ve got this

• Beth Kempton • Season 3 • Episode 8

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It’s nearly Christmas Eve. Can you feel the magic hovering? If ever there was a time to take a deep breath and let go of all that has not been done to embrace what is here, that time is now. Pull up a chair and relax, my friend. It is Christmas, after all. This very Christmassy episode will ease you into Christmas, reminding you what really matters and encouraging you to let things be perfectly imperfect.

This episode includes: 

  • A little story from the Arctic Circle
  • A letter from Father Christmas
  • A moment of reflection
  • A wintery writing prompt 
  • A quick craft idea to give you a fun thing to do on Christmas day
  • Christmas traditions from around the world (from lovely listeners!)
  • Our nature corner
  • Those last few get ahead tips
  • My Christmas message for you

With inspiration from: Matsuo Basho, Laurie Lee, Johnny Coppin, @NadiykaGerbish, Yaroslav Hrytsak, Dot May Dunn, Elizabeth Jenner, Malcolm Bird, Alan Dart, Kenneth Grahame, JRR Tolkien, Bailey Tolkien and Father Christmas.

 Handy links:

Ingredients for Roasted Nuts recipe shared in this episode:

  • Your choice of nuts (such as pecans, walnuts, brazil nuts, cashews and almonds, and macademias) 
  • Any extra flavours you might like such as pumpkin or sunflower seeds and fresh rosemary
  • Maple syrup
  • Butter (optional)

Featured in this episode:

You can find all the show notes here: https://bethkempton.com/ccpodcast-shownotes/ 

Christmas night

Candlelight

An otherworldly glow

Another year

Another tear

The festive season flow

 

We’ve been counting down

And building up

Waiting for this day

May there be light

May we be bright,

Give thanks in all we say.

 

Christmas Eve

It’s time to breathe

Still hoping for that snow

Another year

Cupful of cheer

The festive season flow

 

Buoyed with joy,

Weighed down with sad

However was your year,

Pull up a chair

Get cosy there,

Christmastime is here

 

Hello my friend and welcome to Episode 8 of the Calm Christmas Podcast. I am your host Beth Kempton, and this episode is called CHRISTMAS TIME IS HERE: And breathe… you’ve got this. Those opening words were from a short poem I penned inspired by the opening line of Coldplay’s gorgeous song Christmas Night, which always reminds me that there are many versions of Christmas, depending on our personal circumstances, life stage, and expectations.

 

Whatever kind of a year you have had, you are here. You made it. You may not be the same person you were last Christmas. You may see the world differently because of all that has unfolded in the past few months. You may want and need something different from Christmas this year. In an everchanging world, Christmas is one of the few constants we can rely on. May we pay attention to this annual marker in our lives at it arrives again.

 

This is a moment to breathe, reflect and be thankful. 

So now, pull up a chair and relax my friend, it is Christmas after all. 

 

Once upon a time a Japanese poet named Matsuo Basho wrote a haiku which went, 

Even in Kyoto, I long for Kyoto. 

This perfectly sums up the romanticism and nostalgia I feel about the festive season.

Even at Christmas, I long for Christmas. 

My wish for you is that you sense the quiet and subtle beauty of the season beneath the chaos and the noise, that you can soak in the festive sparkle and magic, inhale the bittersweetness of another year coming to an end, light a candle in the face of any darkness, and focus on all the blessings in your life.

I’m going to keep it short today because Christmas is nearly upon us, and we all have things to do, I’m sure. For me, it will, I hope, mostly be a treasure hunt with my children, hot chocolate by the sea, some unhurried food preparation while listening to Carols from Kings on the radio, a Christmas movie perhaps, the ritual of stockings hung by the fire and The Night Before Christmas read before bed, and a lovely candlelit dinner with my husband. How about you, I wonder?

It has been so lovely hearing from so many of you these past few weeks, sharing where and how you have been listening - on a dog walk, on a long drive, by the Christmas tree, in the potting shed while making a wreath, even tramping through the snow in the Arctic.

Hearing about that reminded me how years ago, when our eldest was tiny, we went to the Arctic Circle, to a place called Kakslauttenen where you can stay in a snowy cabin, or sleep in a transparent igloo and watch the northern lights. It was so cold my eyelashes froze. Our daughter got sick – she threw up all over Mr K in the restaurant and he had to get back to the cabin in minus ten with nothing on under his jacket, and at one point had to be taken 100km to the nearest clinic to get medicine for chicken pox. It was terrifying, and she slept through most of the trip, and missed the reindeer encounter entirely. They then served reindeer for dinner which I could not imagine eating, and the whole thing was nothing like we had imagined. But it was also incredible in so many ways. Mr K went snowmobiling in the moonlight, we drank glogg by the fire as we watched the snow keep on falling. The northern lights were otherworldly – purple and green pulsating waves in a field of stars. But the best part of all was that the owner of Kakslauttenen, who we had gone there to interview, was the spitting image of Father Christmas himself. I never did find out whether it was actually him or not. Some things are better left as a mystery.

But just in case, I thought I’d share a reading from a very magical book I have shared on this podcast before, one which I know so many of you subsequently bought and have treasured. It’s called Letters from Father Christmas, and is full of letters written by *Father Christmas* to the children of JRR Tolkien, as collated by his daughter Baillie Tolkien. This entry is actually from Boxing Day 1928, written in a wobbly hand, in fountain pen and dark red ink. 

Boxing Day, 1928

I am frightfully sorry – I gave this to the Polar Bear to post and he forgot all about it! We found it on the hall table today.

But you must forgive him: he has worked very hard for me and is dreadfully tired. We have had a busy Christmas. Very windy here. It blew several sleighs over before they could start.

Love again, Father Christmas

That was the cover letter to a missive dated December 20, 1928 which recounts a story of the Polar Bear falling down the stairs while carrying a huge pile of presents. It ends like this:

“Well my dears, I hope you will like the things I am bringing: nearly all you asked for and lots of other little things you didn’t, and which I thought of at the last minute. I hope you will share the railway things and farm and animals often, and not think they are absolutely only for the one whose stocking they were in. Take care of them, for they are some of my very best things.”

Just delightful. I rather hope Father Christmas sends a letter to my children this year. You never know…

So how will you be spending Christmas Eve? Carol singing, like author Laurie Lee did as a boy? Listen to this, from Cider with Rosie by Laurie Lee as featured in A Country Christmas edited by Johnny Coppin (The Windrush Press p.47)

“Our first call as usual was the house of the Squire, and we trouped nervously down his drive. For light we had candles in marmalade-jars suspended on loops of string, and they threw pale gleams on the towering snowdrifts that stood on each side of the drive. A blizzard was blowing, but we were well wrapped up, with Army puttees on our legs, woollen hats on our heads, and several scarves around our ears. 

As we approached the Big House across its white silent lawns, we too grew respectfully silent. The lake near by was stiff and black, the waterfall frozen and still. We arranged ourselves shuffling around the big front door, then knocked and announced the Choir.

A maid bore the tidings of our arrival away into the echoing distances of the house, and while we waited we cleared our throats noisily. Then she came back, and the door was left ajar for us, and we were bidden to begin. We brought no music, the carols were in our heads. ‘Let’s give ‘em Wild Shepherds,’ said Jack. We began in confusion, plunging into a wreckage of keys, of different words and tempo; but we gathered our strength; he who sang loudest took the rest of us with him, and the carol took shape if not sweetness.

This huge stone house, with its ivied walls, was always a mystery to us. What were those gables, those rooms and attics, those narrow windows veiled by the cedar trees. As we sang ‘Wild Shepherds’ we craned our necks, gaping into that lamplit hall which we had never entered, staring at the muskets and untenanted chairs, the great tapestries furred by dust – until suddenly, on the stairs, we saw the old Squire himself standing and listening with his head on one side. 

He didn’t move until we’d finished; then slowly he tottered towards us, dropped two coins in our box with a trembling hand, scratched his name in the book we carried, gave us each a long look with his moist blind eyes, then turned away in silence.

As though released from a spell, we took a few sedate steps. Then broke into a run for the gate. We didn’t stop till we were out of the grounds. Impatient, at last, to discover the extent of his bounty, we squatted by the cowsheds, held our lanterns over the book, and saw that he had written Two Shillings’. This was quite a good start. No one of any worth in the district would dare to give us less than the Squire.”

I just love a good story at this time of year, don’t you? I hope that if you are the same you can find a few minutes to curl up with a book, if not today then perhaps in the days ahead. 

 

At this point what is done is done – well done for getting it done – and what isn’t yet done, may not get done, and you know what, that is probably OK. 

 

Why not take a look at your to do list and see how many things you can strike off it, to make time just to enjoy this sparkling moment in the year instead. Put some Christmas music on, light a candle, pour a mug or glass of something wintery, and take a moment for gratitude, before the chaos tumbles in. And if you are going to be missing someone at your table this Christmas, please do go back and listen to Episode 7: In the Bleak Midwinter – pausing, remembering, honouring.

 

And while we are gathered here today, let’s open up to the Spirit of Christmas and remember that those of us who feel safe and cosy at home, we are the lucky ones. Let’s take a moment to think of those who are caught up in, or suffering from the fallout from war this year.

 

[Quiet]

 

I’d like to share some words from the lovely book A Ukranian Christmas, by Nadiyka Gerbish and Yaroslav Hrytsak. (Sphere p.11 and p.15)

“Many Ukranian carols have a distinct trace of sadness to them. Even the traditional Christmas fast, unlike Advent, is spent in abstaining, prayer and contemplation. Likewise, Ukranian Christmas Eve dinner traditions are focused on commemorating deceased family members, gratitude for being alive and together as a family, and expressing hope for a rich harvest in the coming year. As an agricultural society, Ukranians have always depended on the crops from their fields to survive…

 

Christmas is a time that reminds us that justice and love prevail, even when it seems that both are slowly dying. It ensures the indestructability of hope in times of the greatest hopelessness.”

 

This is an extract from Dot May Dunn’s memoir of life during WWII, Christmas Around the Village Green by Dot May Dunn (Orion, p.46)

 

“As we eat we listen to Christmas carols on the wireless. For tonight the war is forgotten. Father has a good voice and he sings all the carols with gusto, only stopping when a young boy’s voice sounds, clear as a bell ringing, and then a choir joins him. Mother loves her music. She seems to rest only when the music plays on the wireless on Saturday night. Now, she sinks on to the settee. Father places his finger to his lips and all is silent. We know to give Mother her moment of peace.”

 

Nature corner

And now it’s time for our nature corner. Either today if you are up early, or tomorrow morning, look out for morning mist which brings a particular kind of hush to the landscape.

 

According to Elizabeth Jenner in What to look for in Winter (Ladybird) “(Morning mists) happen when warmer water in the air cools rapidly, causing it to change from invisible gas to tiny water droplets. As the day progresses and the sun moves further overhead, the air heats up again. The droplets then evaporate and become gas, and the mist vanishes…” 

 

Of course it depends where you live, and what kind of weather you have, so let’s extend this to going outside today and spending five minutes in the weather, noticing what is happening in the sky, and marvelling at the miracle of it all. 

 

Writing exercise

Inspired by our nature corner, why not take a quiet moment to write a poem called ‘The Sky on Christmas Eve’. See what comes.

 

Christmas traditions 

I am thinking of you all in your Christmas Eveness, and would like to share some stories sent in by listeners from all over the world, about their traditions at this moment in the year.

 

Grainne @thesageheaven We live in Galway, Ireland and Christmas Eve evening is my favourite part of the celebrations. Before bed we make hot chocolate with all the trimmings!! The girls then open their Christmas Eve boxes which contain their festive pjs, a stuffed toy, a book, a decoration for the tree, and sometimes a little surprise. It’s like Christmas Day without all the pressure and cooking!! 🎄

 

Sarah Welsh @beautiful_serenityuk Christmas eve we'd walk down to church. Walking along what's now a busy main road, back then it was beautifully lit with Christmas lights- angels and bells, trees and stars. Often the night was crisp, so we wrapped up warm. After the service and glorious hymns we'd excitedly head home to warm mince pies, sausage rolls and drink mulled wine and spiced punch before heading to our cosy beds. Sarah - Solihull

 

Kelly Hargie @wild_words_by_kelly Hello. I live in Northern Ireland. When I was a child every Christmas Eve, my 4 siblings and I would sing Jingle Bells on our way up the stairs to bed. Now my own 3 children carry on this tradition as do their cousins and we share the videos with their grandparents so we are all still part of it. It's only a family tradition and no idea how it started but it remains a magical moment before Santa arrives.

 

Shaleen @sharly_hi from Germany In our family we have the tradition of going to the cinema at noon on the 24th. We’d always watch the latest Disney movie with the whole family ranging from young children to grandparents. Especially as a child I was always super excited about this activity. It felt special as the cinema itself was calm and not as busy as usual.

 

French @annecharlottelabonde On the 24th we are all cooking together at my great aunt's house, then all get ready together (big family, lots of cousins my age). Christmas means proper shiny dresses, hair and make up done like no other day! My family is a bit crazy so some years we have enough different desserts for each person at the table 😂 After dinner we play board games and chat until we are too tired to move. Not a French tradition per se, but I love it nonetheless.

 

@allyberryphotography I grew up in Romania and Father Christmas comes on Christmas Eve over there. My grandad used to dress up as Father Christmas every year. I have this distinct family of a Christmas Eve when I was about 3 or 4. My grandad went out to buy bread, and while he was gone, Father Christmas came. I was quite sad that my grandad had missed him, but he reassured me, that he bumped into him as he was coming back … 😂

 

Sofia Barata @barata4054 Portuguese tradition. A simple meal of cod for dinner on Xmas Eve. Going with all the family to church at midnight. Comeback home and exchange presents with all the family, with more sweet treats - king and queen cakes, filhos and rabanadas e sonhos - lots of hilarity. Going to bed very very late! Xmas day is quieter, taking stock.

 

Nicola Haughey @art.by.nicola I am living in Ireland in Co Armagh and every Christmas Eve my family and extended family go to Christmas Eve mass. The choir is always wonderful and we have a little candle burning on our loved ones graves. Then everyone comes to my house for mulled wine and cheese and salmon and lots of wonderful different bits and pieces. The house is all lit up with fairy lights and full of happy excited voices. 

 

Jade @brierleyandclover in Victoria, Australia. My children's favourite Christmas tradition is the Christmas Swim. After getting up at the crack of dawn to open presents, they're in the pool by 6:30 am. We all sit outside under the patio, enjoying croissants and savoury toast, watching the kids swim. My favourite traditions are buying a special Christmas candle and lighting it just before our friends arrive for our annual Christmas party - and driving around, looking at Christmas lights whilst listening to Christmas music.

 

Janine Everett @neeningtons Christmas morning walk to see the sea swim, sometimes my husband braves the chilly Atlantic waters. Thousands of people line the beach, it’s a wonderful atmosphere & we always see people friends and exchange festive greetings.

 

@bru_trevisani Every Christmas morning me and my little one wake up, make hot chocolates, open the presents and have cuddles in sofa with our cat listening to Christmas songs and later on watching Christmas films. It’s nothing unusual about it. But it feels like the most special thing in the world for us and it is something to look forward through the year.

 

So many lovely stories. I wonder if you will be carrying out old traditions this year, or bringing in some new ones?

 

In the lovely book A Country Christmas edited by Johnny Coppin I found this old time tradition: “Girls who want to see an image of their future partner should walk backwards around the nearest pear tree nine times… In Northamptonshire, the girl who goes into the garden at midnight and plucks twelve sage leaves, will see the shadowy form of her future husband approaching from the opposite end of the garden.” (Makes me wonder if Mrs Clause must be from Northamptonshire). 

 

Here in my house we have been lighting the advent candle and taking it in turns to read a poem aloud from 100 Best Christmas Poems for Children that he edited, and then opening our advent calendars. It has been such a lovely gentle way to start each day, I will miss it. 

 

RECIPE

Right, it is time for this week’s recipe. I have something very easy for you because it’s Christmas Eve –Roasted Nuts, a lovely snack to offer as you hand around Christmas drinks.

 

Roasted Nuts – I like using things like pecans, walnuts, cashews and almonds, and macademias if I am feeling fancy. It’s nice with pumpkin seeds and some fresh rosemary too.

 

Preheat the oven to around 170 degrees. Take any unroasted, unsalted nuts you like, scatter them on a baking tray lined with greaseproof paper, squirt on a couple of tablespoons of maple syrup and some sea salt, mix it all round and cook for around 15 minutes, stirring half way through. You can add a little melted butter at the point you add the maple syrup if you want a deeper richer flavour, or olive oil if you want a dairy free alternative. Make sure you let them cool before you tuck in.

 

I just throw it all in without measuring but if you prefer a step by step recipe with specific amounts of each ingredient I have linked to a good recipe for Sweet Salty Spicy Party Nuts in the show notes, which is very similar.

-       https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/230159/sweet-salty-spicy-party-nuts/

 

Craft > for fun things to do if you have people gathered this year

-       This is something I have done secretly for the first time this year, inspired by the village Christmas fayre. Make a tombola for Christmas Day – you can wrap up random fun things, or anything leftover from the re-gifting box you have gathered all year, or perhaps fill empty boxes with jokes and forfeits or little tasty snacks, then make some raffle tickets (you need two of each number), stick one on each prize and fold up the rest, pop them in a dish or box and hey, there’s your tombola. I actually found an old book of raffle tickets on ebay for £1.27, so I bought that, stuck tickets ending in 5s and 0s on ten gifts, then tore up fifty tickets and have them ready in a drawstring bag, so not every ticket is a winner and it adds to the excitement. 

-       Also a fun little game, which is an old favourite from a beloved book I have had since I was a child, called The Christmas Handbook by Malcolm Bird and Alan Dart. See if anyone can work out how to tie a ribbon around a box-shaped parcel without letting go of the ends of the ribbon. It’s actually very easy, you lay out the ribbon on the table with the present placed on top of it, and if you fold your arms and then pick up the two ends of the ribbon, and then unfold your arms you will have tied the ribbon without letting go. Ta da!

 

Get ahead tips

-       Hand deliver any cards and gifts

-       Christmas food shopping

-       Get rooms ready for visitors, perhaps with a welcome gift on the bed (like a Christmas decoration to hang on your tree)

-       Clean the toilets!

-       Create a quiet space for anyone to retreat to if you are having guests

-       Put a recovery kit in the bathroom if you find visitors overwhelming, with a calming essential oil, some affirmations or a small poetry book perhaps.

-       Make sure you are subscribed to the podcast so you don’t miss the two special episodes going out on December 27, all about making the most of the Hush, and on December 30, on the cusp of the new year.

 

Also don’t forget you are invited to my Winter Writing Sanctuary which begins on December 28 and runs for ten days to January 6. Due to the cost of living crisis I have made it free this year, and you can join me and writers from around the world for some gentle inspiration and an intentional approach to the new year. You can sign up at dowhatyouloveforlife.com.

 

And actually I have something to ask from you this week. It would mean so much to me if you could take a moment today to give this podcast a rating and a review in whatever app you are listening on  – five starry stars would be nice, it is Christmas after all! It helps other people discover and try out the podcast. Thank you so much.

 

What’s coming up

-       Sun Dec 24 Christmas Eve / Carols from Kings via the BBC

-       Mon Dec 25 Christmas Day

-       Tues Dec 26 Boxing Day

-       Wed Dec 27 A special episode of the podcast Episode 9: SILENT NIGHT: Relishing ‘the Hush’

-       WWS starting on December 28

 

And so, it is nearly time my friends. Christmas Eve is upon us, Christmas Day will soon be here. Take a moment to remember what kind of Christmas you said you wanted and needed this year, and focus on that. Perhaps light a candle, enjoy a mince pie, and breathe.. you’ve got this my friend.

 

I am going to finish today with an excerpt from The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame (from Favorite Poems for Christmas: A Child’s Collection (pub Bushel & Peck books p.8)

 

Villagers all, this frosty tide,

Let your doors swing open wide,

Though wind may follow, and snow beside,

Yet draw us in by your fire to bide;

Joy shall be yours in the morning!

 

Here we stand in the cold and the sleet, 

Blowing fingers and stamping feet,

Come from far away you to greet –

You by the fire and we in the street –

Bidding you joy in the morning!

 

Wishing you a calm, joyful Christmas and a happy new year.

 

You have been listening to The Calm Christmas Podcast with me, Beth Kempton, produced by Untapped Talent. Don’t forget to subscribe, and please tell your friends. 

 

For a peek into my perfectly imperfect Christmas, come and find me on Instagram @bethkempton or on Substack @bethkempton.

 

Stay warm and cosy my friend. May you be visited by the Spirit of Christmas this year.