The Laboratory

It's become a tradition on the penultimate day of the Advent Calendar to share with you how the Swedish Royal Family is getting on. Since 2012, when Crown Princess Estelle was born, there has been an annual video showing Estelle, her parents Victoria (who will be Queen one day soon) and Daniel, and lately her little brother Oscar, doing some Swedish Christmas crafts. Here's this year's candlemaking, at an old house in the Skansen in Stockholm, with a flashback to 1980 when Victoria did the same thing with her parents.   Hard to believe it's 11 years since you first saw Estelle on the Advent Calender. Here once again is her first ever Christmas video! And for four more years of classic Estelle and Oscar action, revisit our 2017 page: https://adamcreen.blogspot.com/2017/12/19th-december-2017.html

Last Sunday in Advent, last candle on the Advent Ring, and churches will have their nativity scenes set up, ready to be filled by children dressed as shepherds, princesses, and Groot, bringing up antique china figurines of the wise men. At home, you might have a small nativity, possibly Lego or Playmobil, or maybe like this woman, made by your child 40 years earlier and still produced every Christmas: Alternatively you might live in a completely different sort of house where you collect things that are green and scaly, and put together this sort of nativity: Or you might be the minimalist type: Or you just love knitting: Or you have an exceedingly well-balanced mobile nativity:

In the battle of the corporate Christmas cards, there's been a bit of a theme this year. Both Adam's school and the local Maths Hub have gone for a stylish holly wreath, this one drawn by the talented Mr Kern: You can also watch the (blink and you'll miss Adam) Salesian School Christmas Video at: But the big battle is between the two best colleges in the land, Royal Holloway University of London (RHUL) and Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford (LMH). You may have your own opinion on this but Adam and Sarah will never agree. How did their Christmas email greetings compare? LMH: the evidence - a snowy picture, and a choral video introduced by the Chaplain RHUL: the evidence - an animated drawing of the college, a link to the Annual Report, and a request for money This goes all the way back to 2013 when we held a poll for Best College Christmas on the Advent Calendar and got our alumni friends to try and fix it. The results are lost in the mists of time...

And look! We're up to date. Just in time for the end of term. Which used to mean a "brown lunch" for Adam with his friends from the Drama department, Tony and Jason. But that was 15 years ago, they've moved on, and so has the brown stodge. We have a healthy end of term spread with lots of variety and colour. Not in any way like this: Wishing all of our teaching friends a happy holiday! Enjoy your 17 days off!

We're into the final stretch, and there's so much more we want to share with you. Especially some fun Christmas food - so much food! In Aldi we puzzled over this name. Who's Tommy K? But then we remembered a few years ago and the whole Platty Jubes thing meaning Platinum Jubilee. So ... Tommy K! And though it isn't as good as the usual Festive Pie, Adam did try the McDonalds x Terry's "Chocolate Orange Pie" And Adam's first visit EVER to a Toby Carvery, with his Maths department chums. It was amazing - as many as 5 meats, and as much vegetables and trimmings as you liked! And if you have the app, you can get 25% off, so it's a full roast dinner for £8. EIGHT! One of Adam's colleagues admitted that they had been to Toby once a week for a whole year. It is really a thing. You should try it out! Finally, we found another terrible cracker joke. Is it a joke? We can't tell.

As well as going to the Scandi fairs with Adam's sister Gail, we also visited Maison Diptyque on New Bond Street, a very exclusive candle and fragrance shop. Why? Because it had an installation by Lucy Sparrow. She's an English artist who creates decorations and objects out of felt. And it really was a display of wonder! Imagine stepping into a delicatessen brimming with festive treats, wine, chocolates and cakes, all made out of felt. There were also iconic Diptyque designs to be discovered – fragrances and candles reimagined in felt, right down to the flame.​ Even the cash register is made of felt! Completely hand-crafted by Lucy Sparrow over the span of more than a year, these artworks took over 2,500 hours to make. Not cheap to buy, but amazing to look at. And it's open until 7th January 2025. Do pay a visit upstairs, at the front of the store. Who knows what you will find! https://www.diptyqueparis.com/en_uk/c/maison-diptyque-london-lucy-sparrow.html