There are quite a few delightful aromas around at this time of year to make us feel festive, even in these strange and troubled times.
Sweet evocative smells of childhood Christmas. Pink sugar mice, marzipan and chocolate.
Herbs and spices, dried fruit and mixed peel. All things citrus. Coffee, hot chocolate and mulled wine or cider. The kitchen aroma of mince pies fresh from the oven and gingerbread biscuits too.
The spruce smell of the door wreath.
I expect you all have a favourite.
This year we will miss visiting Little Moreton Hall and Haddon Hall for their Tudor Christmas events and displays. Below are some photos taken in past years.
Little Moreton Hall near Congleton, Cheshire.
Haddon Hall, near Bakewell, Derbyshire
Time now I think, for a mug of tea and a mince pie.
Yes.. A very different Xmas this year.We havn’t put up the big tree as we are having no visitors but we have put one in one of the front windows and a candle bridge in the other and lights on the mantelpiece which you can see from outside.We have put them up earlier this year because everyone needs whatever brightness they can get.
ReplyDeleteThank you Barbara, it is such a strange year this year, we too were thinking of putting lights near the windows so they can be seen from the outside, there are more lights than ever as I look down our side of the Crescent, people do need some light and joy in their lives:
DeleteWhat a lovely evocative post. Definitely cinnamon, cloves and oranges are Christmas for me. Hopefully the houses will be open again next year. Bx
ReplyDeleteThank you Barbara, Little Moreton was always our way of beginning to feel festive and we always looked forward to it. Cinnamon and cloves are very evocative of the season, oranges too:)
DeleteSuch a shame about not been able to visit the houses but so nice you have your memories. So many nice smells, its always tough to choose a favourite but kitchen aromas always tempt me. I haven't seen those little pink mice for a long time.
ReplyDeleteThank you MM, yes it was lovely to look back of photos of past Chritmases. I saw some of the sugar mice in a shop in a living Museum last year or the year before. I'd not seen them for ages either:)
DeleteWhat a lovely post, conjuring all sorts of comforting smells. I love the smell of Christmas spices. One morning a few years ago I was cooking red cabbage and my daughter came into the kitchen and said, "It smells like Christmas!" x
ReplyDeleteThank you Mrs T. Cooking does bring back memories of family Christmases and the anticipation of lovely things to eat together:)
DeleteOh yes, all those wonderful scents and smells. Our village had absolutely no cloves this year so I only managed one stuffed orange this year with a few left over ones! 🎅
ReplyDeleteThank you Karen, I have some old cloves lurking at the back of the cupboard which I only use for pomanders, although those in the post were made a few years ago as I haven't got any larger oranges yet to make them this year:)
DeleteA mince pie and a cup of tea. That's what I call spoiling yourself! It has to be a warm mince pie that's right under your nose as you bite into it, lifted from a crumb catcher plate (I use the tip of my left index finger to retrieve every crumb). And if it's one of your homemade ones, then there are few things closer to heaven. Yummy!
ReplyDeleteThank you Robert, the mince pies were okay but not my best effort. We had a couple last night with custard on them as they seemed a little dry:)
DeleteClementines remind me of Christmas, i've just had three in fact! I love their smell, followed closely by a warm mince pie :)
ReplyDeleteThank you Pam, yes those small oranges always seem Christmassy and smell delicious:)
DeleteWhat a lovely seasonal post Rosie. I do like studding oranges with cloves and Christmas baking. In fact, I love everything about Christmas including all the preparations :) I've missed Christmas visits to Packwood and Baddesley but there again the last few years when I have got there all the tickets have gone! Could never understand why they didn't let you book in advance. Lovely to see the photos of Little Moreton Hall and Haddon Hall from past years. My son and I went to the former last year around Halloween time and loved it there. A really interesting and atmospheric property.
ReplyDeleteThank you RR, glad you enjoyed the post. Let's hope that this time next year we'll be able to visit these places again. It does seem a shame that the tickets for Packwood and Baddesley Clinton can't be booked in advance as people may perhaps have travelled miles to get there and be disappointed. I was enjoying looking through the old photos. Little Moreton is wonderful in all seasons:)
DeleteOur aromas at Christmas wouldn't be quite the same except for maybe Christmas cake & fruit mince pies, but being summer here we definitely have smells evocative of the festive season too. Hope you can get out & about again in the new year. Take care, stay safe & huggles.
ReplyDeleteThank you Susan. Your smells and armomas must be different to ours because of the season but some the same too. When we have a free day it seems to be raining so we can't go for a walk I'm hoping for a few dry days together so the garden dries up a little, Take care:)
DeleteThose sweet spices do indeed conjure up the aromas of Christmas. It's a shame that your visits to Haddon Hall or Little Moreton Hall for the festive events won't happen this year. I've recorded some television programmes about Christmas traditions, one featuring Hampton Court Palace and others in the Historical Farm at Christmas series as I find them interesting and don't mind watching them again.
ReplyDeleteThank you Linda, we've been watching programmes like The Tudor Monastery Farm at Christmas' and A Tudor Christmas also Christmas at Hampton Court and the History of Christmas Carols,all very enjoyable although, like you, I'd seen some of them before:)
DeleteI love mince pies and all the various scents you speak of Rosie. Hopefully you will be able to visit the Houses for their traditional Christmas events next year. We will wake up in January 2021 and realise that 2020 was all just a dream! x
ReplyDeleteThank you Simone, I think visits to all these places will be different for a while and may even change depending on how this virus pans out but let's hope they don't disappear for ever. Let's hope for better times next year although I still find both virus and brexit very worrying. I wish they were both a dream. Take care:)
DeleteI think citrus is my favorite scent this time of year, and cinnamon. And anything baking. Hope your eyes are improving!
ReplyDeleteAmalia
xo
Thank you Amalia, so many lovely scents around now. The last few times I've been in the car as a passenger I haven't had to wear an eye patch so the glasses seem to be working and helping my eyes adjust:)
Delete