Solstice

There are two kinds of solstice. Summer solstice and Winter solstice. Around 10 o'clock (PM) on the 21st  of December was winter solstice: The longest night and after that it stops being so dark again and then eventually it's summer solstice and after that it gets darker and darker until winter solstice. Winter solstice is when the north (or the top of the planet) is facing furthest away from the sun so it also means it is the darkest if you live north of the Equator but if you live south it's probably extremely bright. Summer solstice is the opposite. When we lived in Finland it was a big thing because as you see, it gets very dark there and the day can sometimes last only a matter of a few hours. We would have a solstice party on the 22nd to celebrate the sun coming back and it did mean a lot to us and our friends. We would have the party at 10 am as that was when sun rise was but since we moved to England ( a year a go) we still have it at 10 am because none of us (except for Ernest my little brother) would be capable of getting out of bed at 6 am. though  I found a picture on the internet of Winter in the north while summer in the south. You also get equinox. Spring and Autumn,  That's when the planet is completely strait and the heat is acutely balanced out. although not completely acutely because the equator since the world is a spear, is still closest to the sun.

I post this cos I find it rather interesting and I hope others do to.

Liliom

P.S In my last post I sayd that next would be a post called the Mad scientists but that has not got any were:)

Yule Traditions: Doctor-Who-Christmas-Special-Day

The day I wait for most is Doctor-Who-Christmas-Special-Day on the 26th. We ususlly have to wait for months after the normal Doctor Who season has finished until the Christmas special. I really like Doctor Who so waiting is really hard. This is the prewiew from the one we watched this year. If you have never watched Doctor Who before then you shoud . It is fantastic!

Doctor-Who-Christmas-Special-Day is such a big part of our Yule that we even decorate the tree with Dalek gingerbread biscuits (The Daleks are The Doctors worst enemy).

I was talking to Mum and Apa about the Christmas story and we made this nativity scene. The ony things we could find to be the 3 wise men were the 2 Daleks and the Cyberman figure.

Yule Traditions: Festive Feast & Present Day

We don't really celebrate Christmas but when everyone around us is celebrating it would be rubbish to miss out. We like to eat yummy food and get presents too.  We pick and choose and mix up traditions from Finland, Hungary and the UK.

People in Finland and Hungary normally celebrate Christmas on the 24th December. They eat their dinner and get the presents afterwards. We normally decorate our Fényfa in the morning (remember it only got the lights on at Solstice) then do a lot of cooking and have our feast. My favourite things from our feast this year was the onion tarts we had to start and the garlic spinach. We don't get our presents on this day though.

When we all wake in the morning we light a lot of candles and last year I made a pretty candle for mum which she saved to light this year. Then we opent the presents tht are under the Fényfa. Our presents aren't from Santa or Jésuska (Little Jesus brings presents in Hungary not Santa) they are just from our family. When I was little though I used to think it was the postman who put the presents there adn I was 6 when I realised it was Mum and Dad who did it.

This year I got lots of books, a clarinet, a spirograph, a Star Wars Lego game and my very first Pointe shoes for ballet. Because we ate our feast the day before we have the whole day to play with our new things.

 My dad made these really nice catupults. You will ssee more of them later...

Our Snow Castle / A Hóvárunk

Yule Tradtions: Solsice Breakfast

On the morning after the longest night (normally 22nd December) we have friends over for breakfast and have a party. We celebrate that the longest night has gone and thet from ten on the sun will get stronger. 

We have friends from all around the world so they bring lots of different kinds of food. This year we had breakfast food from Finland, Korea, Japan and chocolates from Brazil. There were lots of cakes, my dad baked apple pie, banana loaf and fresh bread. My mum made traditional Finnish rice porridge. I really liked te Korean food (I can't remember what it was called) and kept going back for more.

We were too busy having fun to take any pictures.

Yule Traditions: Solstice

The 21st December is Solstice. We light lots of candles and sometimes we light a bonfire. We put the lights on our tree but don't decorate it yet. Our tree is called Fény Fa (fény = light, fa = tree, the Hungarian word for pine tree is fényőfa).

We live so far north that it gets very dark in the winter. Solstice is the darkest but after Solstice it gets lighter so that is why we celebrate Solstice.

Yule Traditions: Télapó

On the 6th of December Télapó comes to our couse (and the houses of other Hungarian children). Télapó, which means Winter Father, is a bit like Santa. On the 5th we put our boots on the window sill and after we go to bed Télapó comes and puts small presents in them. This year I got LIZARDS! All of us got sweets and different kinds of exotic fruits. Mum got some chocolate so Télapó moved the boots to the piano because our window sill is right above the radiator and the chocolate would melt.

This year I helped our friend Annemarie teach all the children in her school about Télapó when thay had Hungary Week.

The Song of the Pine Tree Fairy

The Song of the Pine Tree Fairy
(from Flower Fairies of Winter) 

A tall, tall tree is the Pine tree,

With its trunk of bright red-brow –

The red of the merry squirrels

Who go scampering up and down.

There are cones on the tall, tall Pine tree,

With needles sharp and green;

Small seeds in the cones are hidden,

And ripen there unseen.

The elves play games with the squirrels

At the top of the tall, tall tree,

Throwing cones for the squirrels to nibble –

I wish I were there to see!

by Cicely Mary Barker