In the run up to Christmas, I normally make an effort to visit a different town every weekend, to see their lights and have a browse around the Christmas markets. Unfortunately this year, there were two weekends with severe storms which coincided with the special Christmas events in Tenterden and Rye, where I decided that it wasn’t worth the bus/train fare, not to mention the bother of the lengthy public transport journey time, to go out and get soaking wet and buffeted by the wind.

I did venture to London on the Sunday of the second storm however, although it involved an epic journey of cancellations (trees on the line), delays (signalling problems near Victoria) and a broken down train – and it was only thanks to my younger son who rescued me from Faversham station after the aforementioned train broke down, and drove me to Ashford where there was a near normal service, that I managed to make it at all! I had been on the verge of giving up, but persevered because we had tickets booked to see The Gingerbread City at The Gaumont on the Kings Road., an annual exhibition organised by the Museum of Architecture, with over fifty architects creating an entire city of gingerbread buildings. Luckily my daughter, who was already in London, was able to explain my travel predicaments to the lady on the door and arrange a new later timed slot for us, and it turned out to be well worth the effort of getting there. The buildings looked (and smelt!) amazing and the attention to detail was incredible. We spent a long time pouring over each one – and I may just have picked up a children’s trail with things to look out for!

(And I have to say that since visiting and having a go at putting together and decorating my own gingerbread house – and realising that there was a reason why I have only ever attempted it once before and that was many years ago, because even trying to get it to stay standing is quite stressful – I have even more respect for their creations.)

As we left I spotted an Anthropologie shop almost opposite and so had to go in. Always dangerous because they always have so many lovely things, I spotted these cute gingerbread house mugs and couldn’t resist. We had only just come out of a gingerbread exhibition. It would make a perfect souvenir of our day. It seemed like fate!

My daughter then introduced me to the wonderful John Sandoe Books, which is exactly what you would imagine a perfect old fashioned book shop to be like – an absolute warren, with creaking floorboards, narrow wooden staircases and books arranged seemingly in no particular order, not just on shelves but in author piles on the many tables. It was in such a pile that I discovered the novels of Angela Thirkell. I am a sucker for a seasonal read, and so the front cover of High Rising, featuring a 1930s lady in a wintery landscape caught my eye first. I had never heard of Thirkell before, but the blurb for High Rising sounded just my kind of thing, and I was delighted to discover that she had written almost thirty books through the 1930s to the 1950s, all set in the fictional county of Barsetshire (borrowed from Trollope), many featuring continuing characters and plot threads. Also my kind of thing. And what luck that it happened to be the first in the series! This was also duly purchased and I have been thoroughly enjoying both book and mug – often together – this month!

That was enough money spent on myself, and I thereafter kept out of shops, with the rest of the day devoted to admiring window displays and Christmas lights, as we walked from the Kings Road to Southbank, via Bond Street, Piccadilly and Covent Garden. The decorations in Bond Street are always impressive,

but to be honest, my favourite ones were the 12 days of Christmas decorations that we found in the Duke of York Square, just off King’s Road, at the very start of our walk.

We always make sure that we fit in a trip to Rochester at Christmas time.

Their Christmas market is held in the grounds of the castle, with a good mix of food and craft stalls, mostly from local makers and producers. There is also a Bavarian food village with a variety of tastes represented, but we always look forward to having our annual vegetarian schnitzel plate.

The market runs for three weekends, with one of these coinciding with the Dickens Festival. This is a fun event with a parade of Dickens characters (as well as people in general Victorian garb), street entertainment, readings and concerts. It has become increasingly popular over the years however, and although I would recommend a visit if you have never been before, we now tend to avoid that particular weekend as it is impossibly busy.

I also spent a lovely morning browsing the stalls at Faversham’s Christmas market. Everything there was from local producers and there was a great range of food, drink and gift items.

There is clearly a very active group of WI knitters in Faversham who create postbox toppers for special occasions throughout the year, and I really enjoyed wandering around and spotting the Christmas ones. (I love a postbox topper and have a secret ambition to one day create one for the box at the end of our road.)

And whilst I am on the subject, here are some wonderful carol singing mice that I found on a post box on Chartham village green after a walk along the river path.

It has become a tradition to go to Ramsgate on the last day of term for a late lunch and a wander around the harbour to look at the illuminated boats; a way to shrug off all thoughts of work and mark the start of the Christmas holidays. Seeing the boats strung with fairy lights is quite a magical experience and something quite different from the usual Christmas lights.

This year I also found out about a Christmas tree festival that was being held in St George’s church just off the High Street, so we made a short detour to look at that too. It was really lovely. There were twenty eight Christmas trees, each decorated by a different community group, many of them themed according to that particular group’s activity.

For example, the church cleaners had decorated their tree with baubles created from shaped sponges and crackers made out of dusters, which made it a lot more interesting than just looking at multiple trees with baubles and tinsel, and we spent a long time examining them all. At the end you could vote for your favourite tree, and mine was one that was decorated with a seaside theme, including ice lollies, boats and fish, finished off with a mermaid tree topper.

Another tradition we always follow is our Christmas Eve walk from Whitstable to Seasalter, choosing that direction as there are generally fewer people about. We take a flask of drink and a pastel de nata for a snack, and generally following an hour up the coast and an hour back approach, sit on the beach at the turning round point to enjoy them, contemplating the view across to the Isle of Sheppey opposite (sometimes through binoculars if I have remembered to bring them!) It is such a peaceful spot and I really appreciate the moments of calm it gives me before the full on-ness of Christmas begins.

The subtle nod to Christmas that these seaside decorations give always makes me smile.

I have thoroughly enjoyed December this year. It has seemed much longer than usual – but in a very good way – because of the daily Advent activities that I have continued to carve out time for each day. It has been an absolute joy to bake and craft and do all the things that I always say that I want to do but never quite get round to. Even though it has occasionally thrown me in a panic that I was getting behind with wrapping presents and other necessary preparations, it made me slow down and really appreciate the festive season, and it will definitely be something that I continue with next year.