I hope you are enjoying a safe and happy holiday season. Hello and welcome to The Hearth and Soul Link Party. Are you looking forward to a better year ahead? I know I am!
The Hearth and Soul Link Party welcomes blog posts about anything that feeds the soul. Things that feed the soul may include (but are not limited to) recipes, decorating, crafts, family, home, DIY, organization, travel, book reviews, the arts and self improvement.
NB. Please only share blog posts. I’m sorry, but links to Facebook posts etc will be deleted.
What’s Been Happening?
Covid-19 cases in our area have gone up, so we, like most of the UK, are in Tier 4 (the highest) restrictions. My husband and I spent Christmas on our own, but we were in close touch with our family and friends on FaceTime. We really did have a lovely day.
No one is going very far these days, so while I’m enjoying Christmas present and looking forward to a better year ahead, I’m also having fun looking back on our memories of Christmases past.
We attended a Christmas party at Highclere Castle (the real Downton Abbey) a couple of years ago and had such a lovely time. If you’d like to read more about it, check out An Evening at Highclere. We also attended a Christmas dinner at beautiful Beaulieu Castle last year. If you love castles, you will want to check out A Magical Evening at Beaulieu Palace House too!
When I was growing up, we always used to enjoy “Christmas Cakes” well into the New Year, so it’s still not too late to make one of these delicious Last Minute Christmas Cakes! (They are not all fruit cakes either!)
One of our family Christmas traditions involves making these delicious treats. I’ve recently learned that we are definitely not alone! Learn more about the history of our tradition as well as how to make these easy, flavourful, gluten-free, semi-healthy Marzipan Dates.
Thank you all for sharing your content with the Hearth and Soul Link Party.
A Better Year Ahead Featured Posts
Get a better year ahead off to a great start with this Hot Cocoa Bar with a Gingerbread Theme from Lori at Dining Delight.
I have never actually made a gingerbread house, partly because the gingerbread used for gingerbread houses often seem quite tough. Joanne from My Slices of Life and her son got round this by making a Sugar Cookie Gingerbread House. Doesn’t it look pretty? Joanne also made a traditional gingerbread house. Which one would you choose?
Lisa of Lisa Notes is sharing 20 Things To Learn From 2020, looking back at a year gone by whilst looking forward to a better year ahead.
Shirley of Gluten Free Easily combines two of my favourite ingredients in a delicious recipe for Blueberry Gingerbread. I would never thought of this combination but I can’t wait to give it a try.
On with the party!
The Hearth and Soul Link Party
- Please do not link to anything except blog posts. Please share the permalink to your blog post, and not to the home page of your blog.
- Linking your blog posts here means you consent to me sharing as many of them as I can on Pinterest, Twitter, and both my blog Facebook page and The Hearth and Soul Facebook Page and featuring them on my blog with photographs from the post. It’s easier for me to share if you have share buttons on your blog, and if you put links to your social media on your home page.
- Please consider sharing the party with your friends and followers. There are share buttons at the top and bottom of this post to help make it easy.
Wishing you a better year ahead – a very happy, healthy and prosperous 2021!
Comments & Reviews
Hope you are having a lovely holiday season dear April.
Thank you for hosting such a lovely party today!
I hope you are having a wonderful holiday season too, my friend!
Thank you so much for featuring my Hot Cocoa Bar! So exciting to see it highlighted here at your wonderful party April! You look amazing in that black dress – yes, here’s to better times ahead with lots of parties!
I’ so glad you are pleased, Lori, and thank you so much for the lovely compliment!
Wishing you and your family the very best of 2021 and thanks so much for all the wonderful parties from last year. I hold a dear memory of our virtual tea this past summer, thank you dear friend!
Miz Helen
Wishing you and yours a 2021 full of blessings, my dear friend. Our virtual tea is one of my favourite memories from last year too. It was so lovely to finally get to ‘meet’ you 🙂
Thanks for hosting!!!
Thank you for visiting! Hope you are having a lovely holiday season.
I’m glad you had a good Christmas despite the lockdown. I hope 2021 brings and end to COVID.
We did, thank you, Barbara. I hope you did too. And I hope the very same thing – that this time next year we are looking at a world where COVID-19 is no longer an issue!
Happy holidays April. You look lovely in the black dress.
Much love
Naush
Thank you so much, Naush! Happy holidays to you too. Much love.
Looking stunning April and I’ve been so pleased to check up on your former post re. visiting Highclere. Long been on my bucket list and now you’ve tempted me to keep my eye on Christmas celebrations for the future. I had previously missed your feature, what a joy!
Happy New Year to you both
Pamela x
http://www.style-yourself-confident.com
Thank you so much, Pamela! Do keep an eye on the Highclere website and it’s worth signing up to their newsletter too. I’m so glad you enjoyed my feature. Happy New Year to you and yours. x
Hope you had a wonderful Christmas and are looking forward to the new year, hopefully one with fewer concerns about social distancing. Blessings, April!
Thank you, Donna. Wishing you and yours a New Year full of blessings!
You look gorgeous April! ♥ Wishing you and yours a Happy Healthy 2021 ♥
*hugs*
deb
Thank you so much, Deb! Wishing you and yours a Happy and Healthy 2021 too! *hugs*
How fun to look back at Christmas pasts! We had a quiet day at home too but it was okay. Somehow it helps to know that many others were doing the same. (Misery loves company? ha). Thanks for sharing my post this week!
I’m glad you had an enjoyable day as well, Lisa! Wishing you a healthy, happy New Year!
This is what I featured on my blog 12-21 to 12-26-2020. On Tuesday was Egg Nog Pie. Wednesday was Philadelphia Creamy Salsa Dip. Thursday was Reindeer Pancakes. And Friday was Chocolate Crinkle Cookies. Enjoy!
Thank you, Marilyn! Wishing you a healthy, happy New Year!
Happy New Year, April! Thanks for hosting in 2020!
Thank you, Kristie, and thank you for your support of Hearth and Soul too! Happy New Year!
Thank you so much for featuring my sugar cookie house!
It’s a pleasure, Joanne! 🙂 Thank you for your support of Hearth and Soul!
Thanks a lot for hosting this party. I got a chance to get together and check all these. Have a lovely holiday season to you April and a wonderful year ahead…
Thank you so much for visiting, Sharika! I hope you are having a lovely holiday season too, and I wish you a wonderful 2021!
We’ve been put into lockdown as well, until Jan 28th, but not as strict as the first time. Big box stores like Walmart are still able to be open, with people shopping for non essentials and many people are still going to work. It seems to only affect small businesses and restaurants this time around (which is so unfortunate!). I’m glad you had a nice Christmas and thank you for hosting. Wishing you all the best in 2021!
I hope you had a lovely Christmas too, Cindy! Wishing you all the very best in 2021! Here’s to a happier, healthy New Year without the need for so many lockdowns 🙂
Hi April, You look gorgeous in that black dress you wore to Highclere Castle and the Virtual Tour was fun. Thanks for hosting. My husband and I plan to play it safe and remain at home for the holidays. Perhaps we’ll look at a photo album with pictures we took on a cruise to Hawaii. That way it will be easy recall that sweet memory.
Thank you so much, Nancy! It’s lovely revisiting happy memories of good times. I hope you will have a safe and happy rest of the holiday season. Wishing you all the best in 2021.
Thank you for hosting, and have a great week!
Thank you, Cherryl! I hope you are having a lovely week as well.
A hot cocoa bar sounds wonderful right now!
It really does, Lauren! I must admit, I have had more than one hot cocoa recently!!
We are in lockdown here in San Francisco Bay Area and will be for some time. Technically you are not able to see anyone outside your household. It is what it is. Just count my blessings that I have a house, food and a job. We will get through this.
Thanks for hosting and everything you do. May you and your family have a wonderful and blessed 2021. Happy New Year.
We definitely will get through this, Patrick! Thank you so much for your support of Hearth and Soul. Wishing you and yours a wonderful 2021 full of blessings. Happy New Year!
Things seem to be intensifying all over. I love the look of your Christmas cake and the unusual date recipe looks delicious too. Best wishes for a very Happy New Year.
Thank you so much, Judee! Wishing you a happy, healthy New Year!
Happy New Year dear April – thanks for all that you do! 🙂
Happy New Year, Ramona! Thank you for all your support and for your wonderful link parties!
Those Marzipan Dates look like a fun twist. :)Wishing you the best of 2021! Thanks for hosting! I brought by some Apple Crisp. Hope you enjoy. 🙂
Thank you, CJ! Happy New Year!
Playing catch up and thanking you for the feature of my Blueberry Gingerbread recipe. I appreciate it! Hope you had lovely holidays despite how very different they were this year. Ours were very quiet but still lovely. Grateful for that!
Shirley
We were in a similar situation, Shirley. I’m grateful for all the blessings of this season, even if it wasn’t exactly as we would have hoped! Take care, my friend.