Discovered in the Wassail Bowl

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Wassail!

I'm a little bit later posting than usual, just due to life, and sorry it's Monday and not the weekend, but here we are finally - and I am extra pleased this year, to present to you the twentieth Pros December-Christmas-Winter-Solstice-festival-of-light-of-all-kinds challenge! That's right, we have been doing this for twenty years!

Happy twentieth anniversay, Pros December-Christmas-Winter-Solstice-festival-of-light-of-all-kinds challenge!

This year's theme is courtesy of tinturtle, who thought Discovered in the Wassail Bowl might be fun, and since that also fits very nicely with the twentieth-anniversary tradition being pottery/china/porcelein, I ran with it. Thank you tinturtle!

The twentieth-anniversary traditional colour is - rather fittingly - Professionals emerald green!

What is wassail? Like the Pros December-Christmas-Winter-Solstice-festival-of-light-of-all-kinds challenge (*g*), it's an English tradition - and an even older one. To go wassailing is to go from door to door on Twelfth Night, singing to the householders and offering a drink from the wassail bowl in exchange for gifts. It's a bit like carol singing, but with more alcohol and rowdiness, and something that probably ended up in a pub somewhere. It's more of a revival now than anything else, but I reckon it's something our lads might have been likely to join in... *g* The wassail bowl itself was a very big cup with multiple handles so that it could be easily passed from one person to another, for sharing the warming beverage inside - which was not tea!

(In fact there are two types of wassailing. These days most people probably think first of the old south-west English tradition of wassailing among the apple orchards, with offerings of toast and cider, to ensure a good harvest in the new year when the apple trees awake again in spring.)

And what does wassail actually mean? Well it's a toast - good health! Or as more commonly said these days - Cheers!

So - I think we all know the drill after twenty years... *g* ( But if you'd like a reminder, then keep reading here under the cut! )

1st Wassail!	2nd Wassail!	3rd Wassail!	4th Wassail!	5th Wassail!
6th Wassail!	7th Wassail!	8th Wassail!	9th Wassail!	10th Wassail!
11th Wassail!	12th Wassail!	13th Wassail!	14th Wassail!	15th Wassail!
16th Wassail!	17th Wassail!	18th Wassail!	19th Wassail!	20th Wassail!
21st Wassail!	22nd Wassail!	23rd Wassail!	24th Wassail!	25th Happy Christmas!
26th Wassail!	27th Wassail!	28th Wassail!	29th Wassail!	30th Wassail!
31st Wassail!				1st Wassail!
2nd Wassail!	3rd Wassail!	4th Wassail!	5th Wassail!	6th Wassail!