It’s beginning to feel a little like Christmas!

Feeling festive yet?

It’s official – I am starting to feel festive. Although we NEVER put our tree up until December is in double figures (soon, Mr Marr, soon!) and I can’t start thinking about buying presents till the shops have sold out of their best stock, my seasonal spirit was set alight last weekend by an afternoon making Christmas wreaths by the shores of Loch Ness.

It was tempting to stop the car on the drive down from Inverness just to soak in the view – the skies were radiant with the oranges and yellows of a sub-zero winter sunset, and the reflections over Loch Ness were breath-taking. But we had an appointment with assorted forest foliage and chicken wire, and were already running late. There was also a fear that the mulled wine and mince pies might run out, but we should have known better. The mince pies were still on the go and the mulled wine – poured into fine bone china cups from pretty teapots – was warming, delicious and plentiful.

Cameron’s Tearoom and farm shop at Foyers is widely known for its fantastic home-baking and great soups – Mary Berry has nothing on its owner Morag. Tucked into the corner of a field just west of the village it’s a real asset to south Loch Ness and a marvellous destination for coffee and cake on a cycle from Inverness.

But last Sunday afternoon was different; we drove. Morag had lit the fire and brought the outdoors inside, with armfuls of mosses, foliage, holly berries, windfall pears, and flowering ivy. Add in a load of chicken wire, some ribbons, sparkles and a few creative minds who were generous with tips and inspiration, and a group of about 20 of us got down to work, making Christmas wreaths to hang on our front doors.

I’m not known for my artistic skills; the only paint brushes I own are sized in inches, and the one I like using best has a slanted tip for getting neatly around skirting boards. But on the very rare occasions when I do decide to let my creative juices flow, I’m amazed by the results.

When I say amazed, I’m not boasting that what I created is conventionally beautiful; on purely aesthetic grounds I’d have swapped mine with anyone else’s  who was there. Rather I’m amazed by how much pleasure I get from getting my hands dirty on crafty projects. Luckily for me my pleasure in participating is entirely unrelated to the beauty of the end result, or to how long it might last. Because my wreath is rustic in the extreme but clearly delicious; the birds demolished the holly berries for breakfast on Monday morning.

This is it - my wreath. It's not perfect (you can see bits of wire everywhere) but I MADE IT!!!

This is it – my wreath. It’s not perfect (you can see bits of wire everywhere) but I MADE IT!!!

‘I made that’, I think, whenever I open the door. (And you’d be surprised at how many opportunities I have found this week to stand outside in the freezing cold admiring my handiwork.) It’s more than just a wreath, though; it’s a memory of a lovely couple of hours spent with good friends in a gorgeous café, eating, drinking, feeling Christmassy and hiding the secateurs from each other.

And it’s more; the process of creating something with my hands – not my brain – triggered memories of art classes at school, of eagerly skipping home with glitter-laden pictures, cards and presents, excited to show off what I had made. It’s a memory of a time when it hadn’t occurred to me that I couldn’t draw or paint or create; it’s something that we all just did. And it’s a memory of all the Christmas craft projects I started (and sometimes didn’t quite finish) with my own girls when they were wee; hand printed cards and wrapping paper, angel decorations made from wooden clothes pegs and facecloths, and home-baked biscuits and sweeties for family and neighbours. Most of the biscuits and sweeties didn’t make it into the gift boxes.

It’s at least another week till our two come home from University for Christmas – I just hope my moss, ivy, pine cone and pear creation lasts long enough for them to be able to spontaneously admire it, and praise my obvious talents, before I allow them into the house.

But how long it lasts is irrelevant. Because it has done its job. It has rekindled my Christmas spirit, and reminded me of the benefits of occasionally being creative.

Make do and mend…at the Repair Cafe!

make-doThere’s a new kind of café opening in America as an antidote to our modern throwaway culture, and in my fleeting flirtation with creativity, I’m keen to see something similar set up here. It’s not a new idea; it’s going back to what we have always done but have forgotten how to do – it’s a Repair Café.

Has your coffee machine stopped working? Your iron? The TV remote control? Instead of throwing it out and buying a new one, take it to The Repair Café. There, a trained technician will use the café’s handy stash of tools to teach you to repair it yourself, perhaps giving you the skills and confidence to fix your other broken stuff yourself.

I love this idea, and in Velocity Café in Inverness we already have something similar, although just for bikes. It’s back to the days of ‘make do and mend’ but it should be the future. Who’s in?

This column first appeared in six SPP Group newspapers week ended 9th December 2016.
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