Winter Landscape by Caspar David Friedrich (1811)

 


Train in the snow 06 Hawkins

Flying Scotsman at York Philip Hawkins

Winter Scene With Skaters Griffier

Winter Scene with Skaters Jan Griffier (ca 1652-1718)1652-1718

Christmas Catechism 02



13. What was the name of Messiah's mother? She was called Mary.

14. What was the name of the man she was pledged to be married to? His name was Joseph.

15. Where did they live? In Nazareth in Galilee.

16. How did Mary became pregnant? Through the Holy Spirit. He overshadowed her so that although she had never been with any man she was able to become pregnant with the holy one, the Son of God.

17. Who told Mary she was going to have a baby? The angel Gabriel.

18. What did Gabriel say about the baby she would give birth to? He would be great and called Son of the Most High; God would give him the throne of his father David and he would reign over God's people forever, his kingdom never ending.

19. How did Mary first react to this news? She humbly accepted it by faith.

20. How did she react later on? She wrote a song about God's kindness to her and to his people. It is found in Luke 1.

21. What word do we use for the fact God became man and was born a man on earth? We call it the incarnation.

22. How does John refer to Messiah before his birth? He calls him the word.

23. What does he say about the word at the beginning of his Gospel? The word was with God and he was God.

24. What does he then say about the word? That the word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.

Horslips Christmas Album 50th Anniversary re-release


Known for their impact on Celtic Rock and the incorporation of Irish traditional music, Horslips have a special release for fans.
Horslips have announced they will release the 50th anniversary re-issue of Drive The Cold Winter Away on November 7.
The acoustic folk album was originally recorded in Dublin and released in 1975.
"While it probably wouldn't be the first time a rock band recorded an “unplugged” album, we thought to give it a unique twist by making it a seasonal record," said Horslips drummer Eamon Carr.
"Everyone in the band had fun suggesting tunes and songs and it was a joy to hear the arrangements take shape. Getting back to Trend Studios in Dublin, where we’d recorded our first demos and early singles, and work again with larger than life studio engineer Fred Meijer, was another important milestone."
Horslips are considered by many to be the 'founding fathers of Celtic rock' and are regarded for their Irish traditional music influences. The band came into the scene in 1970 and performed their final show in 2022.
Track listing
SIDE A
  1. Rug Muire Mac Do Dhia
  2. Sir Festus Burke / Carolan's Frolic
  3. The Snow That Melts the Soonest
  4. The Piper in the Meadow Straying
  5. Drive the Cold Winter Away
  6. Thompson's / Cottage in the Grove
  7. Ny Kirree Fo Naghtey

SIDE B
  1. Crabs in the Skillet
  2. Denis O'Connor
  3. Do'n Oíche Úd I mBeithil
  4. Lullaby
  5. The Snow and the Frost Are All Over / Paddy Fahey's
  6. When a Man's in Love

Two Nice Children's Books



I picked these two up at a nearby charity shop today. The first one gives it straight and has a bonus CD of Peter, Paul and Mary singing it. The second adapts Clement Moore slightly to make it even more child friendly.

The Beatles 1968


In 1968 The Beatles issued their penultimate Christmas disc for the fans. It includes these two poems by John Lennon

Once upon a time, there were two balloons called Jock and Yono.
They were strictly in love, bound to happpen in a million years.
They were together man.
Unfortunate timetable, they seemed to have previous experience which kept calling them one way or another.
You know how it is.
But they battled on against overwhelming oddities, including some of their beast friends.
Being in love, they clung together even more man.
But some of the poisonous monsters' outdated boss, lordy ape claws did stick slightly, and they occasionally had to resort to the dry cleaners.
Luckily, this did not kill them and they weren't banned from the Olympic Games.
They lived hopefully ever after and who could blame them.

Once upon a pool table there lived a short-haired butcher's boy by the way of Ostergrad.
It comes in scented cesspool or be careful.
Her father was in a long story cut short in the middle of this life sentence.
We're indebted to the colloquial office for its immediate disposal of her honorwitz, including, I might add, half a fell of her twotem.
On the other handbag, I mean to say l'amour nous sommes toujours realistic, strictly speaking.
For this film is about an hourglass houseboat.
The full meaning of Winchester Cathedral defies description.
Their loss was our Gainsborough nil.
The sound of a manservantile defectively lasting barred
Up in a love-dizzy gar-di-dell time.
How close can you Gettysburg and ever underly council ya originally a Birdbath feeling ...
Cut!

For a transcript of the wholedisc try here
https://genius.com/The-beatles-the-beatles-1968-christmas-record-lyrics