The Laboratory

The Advent Calendar we really wanted this year was the Bonne Maman Jam Calendar. Every day you get a little jar of jam or honey or chocolate spread or fruit compote, always unexpected and something you wouldn't have bought a whole jar of. And on 24th December you get a beautiful tree decoration. Last year we paid £30 and then saw it reduced to £12 in Fenwick and Selfridges, so this year we waited until ... everyone had sold out. So no jam.Next year we'll just have to pay full price again. It has really caught on and even the New York Times had a feature about its tasty jamness: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/29/dining/bonne-maman-advent-calendar.html

Today's guest post is by our friend @maxnugget : My eight year old niece Robyn and I made snow globes at the weekend. While we were glittering and gluing Robyn told me that Christmas is her favourite time of year because you see robins everywhere. I asked her if she liked being called Robyn and she said she loved it and that it was lucky because her parents nearly called her Honor when she was born. She said at least this way she's never had to worry about deciding what her favourite bird is. She was delighted to be making presents out of jam jars and other bits and pieces, and in the end we made ten which she'd allocated to friends and relatives and teachers before the glue was even dry. Only when she'd finished did she realise she hadn't made one for herself, so I made her a special robin snowglobe yesterday evening. I hope she'll be thrilled to get a jam jar for Christmas.