Happy January to all my Friends and Readers
New Calendar picture with this
beautiful watercolour painting by Hanka Koebsch
"Winter in Sicht"
"Winter is Coming"
I guess every Harry Potter reader has a name for her. Hedwig used to be a popular name in Germany for girls my age but there were not many afterwards though it was used more often in the last 20 years, no doubt because of the famous owl.
Read more on their website here. *
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I hope everyone had a very merry Christmas. And a lovely December.
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Now, we are at the beginning of a new year. What is 2026 going to bring us? We should all not just hope and pray for peace on earth but try to contribute to it ourselves.
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It's tough to decide my favourite book of the year. I waver back and forth between:
Hislop, Victoria "The Figurine" - 2023 and
Brooks, Geraldine "Year of Wonders" - 2001
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One of the highlights was the exchange of our DIY Advent Calendar. 25 people get a number each and make 25 packets with the same content. We had a lovely meeting where we exchanged our goodies. That way, we all have a nice little surprise on every day.
I just talked to someone about our nativity scene at Christmas. I have posted a picture already in 2017 and you find it here on my blog. Obviously, as it's a huge tradition in our family, we have added to it over the year and it looks like this in the meantime:
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* You can also have a look under my labels Artist: Frank Koebsch and Artist: Hanka Koebsch where you can find all my posts about the two artists.
☃️ I wish you all a very Happy January! ☃️
That nativity scene looks quite active and cheerful. I wish you a lovely new year.
ReplyDeleteHave a lovely day.
I have three happy nativity scene builders, Lissa, don't need to move a finger. LOL
DeleteThanks for always being such a constant blogfriend.
Happy New Year! What a lovely nativity scene!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Deb. As I said to Lissa ^^, three nativity scene builders in the house. Mind you, my father also was building a scene like that, so it's in the family.
DeleteHave a great year, my lovely blogfriend.
That is a cool nativity scene, looks like a fun thing to do and add to every year. The watercolor is pretty and funny I thought of Hedwig before I read your post when I saw the owl.
ReplyDeleteWishing you good health and good readig!
Thanks, Tina. Always a big event in the house. And I am not surprised you thought of Hedwig. I am not a huge fan of Harry Potter but, same as with the nativity scene building, I have three "men" in the family who are.
DeleteLooking forward to another great year of blog exchanges.
Happy New Year Marianne! I do hope that you & your family have an excellent one...
ReplyDeleteThank you, Kitten, we did. As always, I am happy when my boys are home. I hope the same for you, my always faithful blogfriend.
DeleteHappy New Year! I hope 2026 is a good one for us all. :D
ReplyDeleteThank you, Lark. We all hope so. It definitely should be a great year for us bloggers. Hugs, my blogfriend.
DeleteI love the nativity scene. We used to have one (much simplier) when I was a kid. Martin still has one he bought in Betlehem, and it is up this holiday as well.
ReplyDeleteI hope you all have a good 2026.
Thanks, Lisbeth. My parents used to have quite a large one, as well, so I think I inherited that love for the scenes. And hubby loves model building anyway, so no escape. We started with the holy family about 45 years ago and always added something, first a shepherd with a sheep etc. They have given up this series, so no more figurine additions anymore. However, there are always other things, trees, buildings, tools ... LOL
DeleteHelping my Grandma put out the nativity scene every year was one of my favorite things about Christmas. I would lay on the floor for hours and rearrange until I thought it was perfect. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, friend <3
ReplyDeleteI think that is what most kids like most about Christmas decorations, Sarah. I had my niece over with her two-year-old and she was rearranging everything. It was soooo cute.
DeleteI hope you had a great Christmas and wish you a very good year.
Thank you so much. It was very different this year, but good to be with family. Here's to a great 2026 for both of us!
DeleteThat would be wonderful, Sarah. But knowing you wish that for me is already wonderful. Thanks.
DeleteYou're most welcome <3
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DeleteYour nativity is beautiful! I collect nativity sets. I picked up a lovely olive wood statue of the Holy Family in Israel to display with my other nativities.
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year, my friend!
Thank you, Susan. We also have a few more around the house, both sets as well as statues. But this is our main one. Might have to do another post with more.
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