Hello all! Happy Almost-Christmas :) Oh, Christmas Eve when we post this! We know a lot of you are excited or maybe on your own holiday highs, we certainly are! Things are being redone and reorganized around here, so please don't mind the mess ;) We'll let you know when we're all settled in so you can give everything a look-see! :)
Thank you to everyone who's still hanging around here and keeping things up here and there. We know everyone is busy! Remember that you don't have to meet full activity this month but everyone has to do something with their characters or that is a strike against you. A journal, a thread, just something substantial like that. Sorry, but we just can't count journal comments since it's really hard to judge from a comment or two versus a full thread or a journal entry. :( We do love everyone who's been writing letters to McGonagall! If anyone has a character's parent or guardian they think might want to give our favorite Headmistress a piece of their mind, then have at it. We love reading these! :) There's going to be something special for everyone after the break.
Now, on the topic of the winter break, remember that everyone is home, but anyone could have stayed at the school. In Britain, there are several wizarding towns, including Coldstream in Scotland and Tara Hill in Ireland along with a the ones we all know and love like Diagon Alley in London. Feel free to make use of these!
The weather wasn't the best that year and was really a bit dreary:
Dublin had a chilly mist over the area. Anyone in London or the South London vicinity you have freezing rain, so bundle up and get out your wellies! The Cardiff weather wasn't much better with chilling wind and dark skies. Over in Belfast there was sleet, but nothing golf ball size we shouldn't imagine. Back on Coróinbáis, the home of our Sangster Institute, there was a dusting of snow and frost, but sadly nothing thick.
There's lots going on during the holidays! The Scottish have some interesting traditions! Visiting Edinburgh they can find a traditional German market and then there's whole Hogmanay, involving such customs as swinging a fireball over your head. Of course, they do this with chicken wire, tar, paper and other flammable material and not magical means ;) Each ball is 61 cm and swung on a nonflammable rope or chain that's 2 m. Don't worry, any balls that don't go out during the run up High street to the Canon and back are tossed in the harbor. This custom we found interesting and can be found in Stonehaven, Kincardineshire in north eastern Scotland. This is a hugely popular event and the runs are done at midnight then followed by fireworks. There's also fire poi, a pipe band, and street drumming while you wait. Our Welsh characters might have in their home a Calennig, an apple or orange on a tripod of sticks with a sprig of box sticking out the top. Wrapped in gold foil with raisins or not, this traditional holiday item was either displayed in the home or given to friends and was a token of good crops. Many might be happy that the stranger tradition of Mari Lwyd died out about a hundred years ago, but who says it did for wizards? Taking a horse's skull on a pole with a bunch of your mates and challenging your neighbors to competitions in song and verse? Just hope you win if you don't want a bunch of rowdy wizards in your home looking for some Christmas cheer :) For the Christian sort, even those not practicing or especially religious and just taking the claim, you could go to a Christmas Eve service like many other people. Then the Irish have off essentially until New Years and their Christmas ends around January 6th! How nice is that? :) Don't forget Boxing Day (related to St Stephen's day!) on the 26th of December! After all the new things everyone gets for Christmas, it'd be nice to box up a few things to give to those less fortunate.
If you're looking for something less fiery to do, here's a list of suggestions: -Caroling (singing, listening, throwing bottles ;)) -Shopping (busy lines, out of stock merchandise, mean cashiers) -Sipping hot cocoa on the street corner -Get stuck beneath a mischievous mistletoe ball (don't forget to take a sprig afterward!) -Be randomly given a gift from Santa (it could be a good gift, it could be a bad gift! Who knows if you've been naughty or nice ;)) -Be stalked by an elf -Participate in eating an actual house of gingerbread -Go to a tree lighting (magical or muggle!) -Celebrate it family style (however your family does it)
Those of you stuck at school could try out some of these: -Listen to a carol of magical mice -Receive a gift from a secret Santa -Catch snowflakes and study them -Ice up one of the hills by the castle and slide down it
Whatever you do in game and out of game, just remember to stay safe and have fun :)