We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand. ~Isaiah 64:8



Wednesday, December 3, 2014

Saint Nicholas Feast is nearly upon us!

Jan Steen - The Feast of Saint Nicholas - 1663
Amsterdam, Netherlands
Today I had to run a couple of errands, and so that means, as is almost always the case, a child or two is with me.  This makes shopping for Christmas tricky.  But I'm good at distraction and subterfuge.  Which is good, because I had a couple more things to pick up for St. Nicholas' feast day.

Are you celebrating?  It doesn't have to be a fancy celebration...shoes by the fireplace with a bit of chocolate and maybe a very small gift is certainly in the spirit!  Sometimes we do a lot, sometimes we only do a little.

This year it will be a little feast as we have a busy Saturday.  Some goodies in the shoes and a breakfast of freshly made gingerbread.


Here are some posts to get you started:

  • And, if you homeschool, perhaps a little Picture Study using Jan Steen's Feast of St Nicholas (that's the image above).  Here's a little background from the Rijksmuseum where this painting is housed.
I'd love to hear how you celebrate!  Please share in the comments - and link to your blog if you have a post about your celebration!  I'll update here!




2 comments:

senk said...

St. Nicholas Day! Two of my sons are old enough to anticipate this lovely day - it makes it much more fun. We usually give a clementine, pear, or other delectable fruit, a little pouch of favorite chocolates (currently, that means mini milk chocolate buckeyes), and a small gift (sometimes a book, other times a toy like a ball, other times a more meaningful item, like a flashlight). I usually place these gifts outside their bedroom door or by the wood stove. We always talk about the day, incorporating it into our usual Advent preparations.

The best part is that we then make sweet treats to take to our neighbors! The boys love doing this. We usually make chocolate-dipped pretzel rods, sprinkled with crushed peppermint candy or almond slithers, and ginger molasses cookies, and another treat of the boys' choosing - put these in a bag with a card, our contact information if our neighbors need help throughout the coming year, and some clementines - and then take them to our neighbors. If someone isn't home, we just leave it on the door knob.

St. Nicholas Day is such a fun time. Thanks for posting about it!

Kerry said...

What a wonderful celebration you have in your family!! Sounds just lovely!