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Sunday 1 December 2013

A nativity scene - Story Telling Sunday 3

And so for the last time I am joining in with Sian over at High in the Sky for Story Telling Sunday 3. It has been a lot of fun over the past three years recording stories on the first Sunday of each month which might otherwise have been lost. I am thinking of doing a Blurb book to put all the stories into so that they can easily be passed on in my family. Of course this year Sian has asked us to share a precious and with it being December I have decided to share something Christmassy.

We have lots, and I mean lots, of Christmas decorations. We love to decorate the house, putting up lights, hanging decorations, the tree, decorating the fireplace and so on. A lot of the decorations we have had since we were first married. Some of the tree decorations have been passed to us from family members. Some of the tree decorations we have bought on holidays as souvenirs. Some of the tree decorations the children made when they were little. I don't have a themed tree, mine is a tree of love and memories.

So, which decoration am I going to talk about? Well, this one ....

..... which has nothing to do with the tree! Hugh's family always have a nativity scene on the hall stand. My family never had one. When we had Ben we decided it was a tradition from Hugh's family that we wanted to continue. This photo was taken the first time we set it up, 24 years ago.

At the time we were living in Leighton Buzzard and I was good friends with my next door neighbour, Leonora. She had three children, the youngest a year older than Ben, so we got together frequently for coffee and to chat. Just before Christmas she gave me an invitation to a 'Save the Children' fundraising evening at her house. I arrived to find that to raise funds they were selling Christmas decorations and there was this wonderful little nativity scene. It wasn't very expensive, which was good, as I was a stay at home mum and money was quite tight. So I bought the set and took it home. Hugh looked at it - 'yes, that's great, but we need a stable'. Of course, being Hugh, he knew exactly what to do to remedy that situation. In his shed he had a box which had contained two wine bottles, a Christmas present from his company the previous year. So, out came his tools and within an hour we had a stable!

Over the years, as the children grew, we had additional animals visit from their toy zoo and farm collections. The children loved to put the scene together and always took it in turns, never fighting, over who placed what and where. Now that Ben has left home it is Penny who puts it out every year. I have seen some beautiful sets since, which we could now afford, but Hugh and I always look at each other and say 'no'. This set means so much to us we just couldn't replace it.

So, that is my last precious for this year. I hope that you have enjoyed reading about it. Do please pop over to Sian's blog to see the last stories from everyone else this year. Have fun and see you soon!


18 comments:

Jo said...

That is so precious and I can understand why you wouldn't want to replace it x

scrappyjacky said...

It certainly is irreplaceable,Becky.

Sian said...

What a perfect story to finish up the year with! It's a lovely nativity set and I'll be thinking about it as I set out my own this year. My sister gave it to us for our first married Christmas and like you it was one of the few decorations we had at the beginning. I can remember cutting a picture of a wreath out of the Boots catalogue and sticking it on the wall!

With very many thanks from me to you for your never failing enthusiasm and support for Storytelling Sunday. It's been a pleasure to catch up with you every month. Thank you x

Lou said...

I wouldn't want to replace it either x a lovely pick your precious x

Jane said...

very precious, I love it x

Sheena said...

This is so very precious Becky x
Many thanks for sharing :)
I've loved coming over here to read your storiesxxx

Fiona@Staring at the Sea said...

The perfect precious for December. How clever of your husband to make the stable to complete the scene.

Missus Wookie said...

What a lovely and yes very Christmassy precious, I like that Hugh made the stable that adds to the love and memories :)

Melissa said...

What a wonderful precious item to begin December! It's lovely!

Amy said...

That is a lovely nativity and I absolutely LOVE your idea of the photobook for your StS posts ... an excellent idea!

Abi said...

I really like your idea of putting the stories into a book. Great idea! Such a sweet nativity. We have a playmobil one we put out every year!

Heather said...

I know what you mean by not being able to replace it as I bought a 'cheap' nativity set about 20 yrs ago & fortunately the pieces are all still intact :)

alexa said...

A lovely post just full of years of treasuring! I hope it continues to be a focal point for Christmas memories in your home for a long time to come.

Karen said...

A perfect way to end the year of Precious!

Maria Ontiveros said...

I agree with Karen. A perfect ending for this year. I collect Nativity sets and love each one. But my favorite is still my first - one created by my mother in law.
Rinda

Miriam said...

and I have the last four remaining pieces from the first crib my mother had. I put it on my kitchen windowsill every year...A lovely ending to this years stories Becky.

Deb @ PaperTurtle said...

What a sweet story, Becky. I agree, you'll never be able to replace this wonderful treasure. I love how the stable came to be too!

Anonymous said...

What a wonderful precious. I almost wrote about our nativity scene. I bought it the first year I was working (way back in the 60's).