Christmas greetings from the cottage

Hello everyone and Beannachtaí na Nollaig daoibh go leir, (Christmas Greetings in Irish) Well I know it’s been a bit longer than usual since you heard from me but what with the holiday season and around fifty other things, not least a new book out, I’ve not had a chance to write. But I’m here now! I’d like to wish every one of you a happy and peaceful Christmas. It’s been some rollercoaster year for each and every one of us, and I doubt there are many in the world that won’t be relieved to see the back of 2020 but we’re still here, so far so good.  I have a little video for you this time – I’ve never sent a video link before now, but my twelve year old daughter Éadaoin (pronounced Ay-Deen) plays the harp and last night she was practicing for the school carol concert so I recorded her  singing and playing Away in a Manger. One of our little dogs and my husband make cameo appearances as well 🙂  It’s not exactly Spielberg quality and you may need to turn up the sound to hear it, but it might make you feel a little bit Christmassy. It’s a very old tradition in Ireland for women harpers to sing and play simultaneously and Éadaoin has kind of naturally gravitated to that under the encouragement of her wonderful teacher Síle Ni Dhubhaill, herself a wonderful harpist.  Watch Eadaoin Grainger play the harp and sing here (https://youtu.be/hbUI8YCZoIk) Meanwhile, my new book The World Starts Anew, is doing very well thanks to all of you. It sits happily at #1 in Jewish Literature today, something that cheers my heart no end.  If you have yet to pick up a copy you can do so here: The World Starts Anew (mybook.to/theworldstartsanew) Life is strange for all of us right now, we’re missing meeting up with loved ones, not doing all of the things we took for granted before, and our world is in so many ways unrecognisable, but the end is in sight and hopefully before too long the wonderful vaccine (thank you scientists, from the bottom of our hearts)  will be available and we can eradicate that horrible virus for once and for all. I think we’ll all be changed as a result of living through these times, and I for one will try to be much more appreciative of the little things that mean so much. Hugging my parents, family and friends, sharing a meal in a restaurant, going shopping without fogging up my glasses with the mask, shaking hands, a gig, a party, travelling, so many things.   In the meantime we just need to hold on, stay safe and enjoy Christmas whatever it brings, (Shameless plug alert – 🙂 – all of my books are available as paperback and Large print paperback on Amazon and might make a nice gift!)  So from my home to yours, Nollaig shona, agus ath-bhliain faoi Mhaise daoibh go leir,  (Merry Christmas and a very happy new year to you all)  Le grá agus buiochas, Jean x