Friday Fact
I go gaga for Christmas.
However, only parts of it. I'm not a huge fan of repetitive Christmas carols, perhaps from years in choir singing the same old tunes. That said, I still watch the Carols by Candlelight, but only the Melbourne ones, as they are held at the most perfect time, Christmas eve, when we're all excited from having left work early and buoyant from plenty of drinkies.
Christmas craft warms my soul - vintage fabrics and gingerbread and timeless motifs - all loverly. As we have organised to have Friday the 23rd off from work as a lead in to our two-week holidays, it will be good to have two days to make fresh goodies to include in hampers.
I really despise the earrings, jumpers and general kitsch that accompanies the season though - aren't I a paradox!
The feast for us is such a ritual, my whole family plans the day months in advance. Presents in the morning, a bit of a play with new toys, and then so much food your stomach groans to look at it. We love our prawns especially, and were dismayed when mum decided last year that we were having a 'traditional' meal - sans prawn. This year, they're back! I've planned three different salads that I'll be making, in the interests of a healthy alternative to taters and crackling.
Of course, now that Bec and I have our partners, it's a bit of a logistical nightmare getting all three families to co-ordinate the times of their celebrations. It was sad last year not having Nathan sharing the meal with us, but this year, everything seems to have aligned itself nicely. Thinking back over six Christmases with my sweetheart, I'm all warm and fuzzy, but I do look towards the event with a touch of trepidation - two families means two meals, and as much as I can restrain myself, I do have to be a polite guest, grateful to the mums who prepared such generous banquets. *Sigh* I think I'll have to eschew the weigh-in that week!
And the Christmas tree. Nothing evokes childhood regression like assembling the tree, carefully hanging the fragile decorations, and 'coming to an agreement' over who gets to place the star or angel upon the top branch. Mum's tree is the one which her family owned when she lived in Canada as a child, and many of the decorations are brittle family heirlooms. Of course, she's also hung on to the awful pipecleaner decorations and polystyrene garlands we all made over our school years, which we deftly remove when mum's not looking!
We bought a new tree last week, and I'm giddy just writing about it! My parents gave me the most thoughtful house warming gift a few years ago, a little tree and boxes of silver and cobalt blue ornaments, plus a blonde angel (Sussy?) bedecked in silver robes. But that cute little tree would look a bit forlorn set up in the new house, so we've gotten our forever tree - as tall as the ceiling will allow, featuring branches thick with lush, realistic foliage. We could hardly fit it in the car! It will be sad not to put together the housewarming tree - sentimentalist that I am - though we have some friends who are just freshly moved out of home, and might appreciate a virtually brand new tree to bring some cheer to their new abode.
I don't really go in for real trees, their scent is amazing, but the bugs and loose pine needles are a real turn off. Also, I just don't find their shape appealing, and the branches of most of the locally grown trees are insufficient for supporting many decorations.
Oh, decorations, I am going to need so many new ones, with all these branches to fill. I've bought a lot, but I fear that it will still look sparse. Beware the feisty brunette hoarding piles of silver and deep blue baubles in department stores!
Bec put up her tree about two weeks ago, which, um, is a bit too early in my eyes. December 1st up, January 1st down. But then, December 1st is a weekday this year, so I'm sneaking it up this weekend (tonight if I can distract Stu for long enough!).
Only a month until Christmas day!
However, only parts of it. I'm not a huge fan of repetitive Christmas carols, perhaps from years in choir singing the same old tunes. That said, I still watch the Carols by Candlelight, but only the Melbourne ones, as they are held at the most perfect time, Christmas eve, when we're all excited from having left work early and buoyant from plenty of drinkies.
Christmas craft warms my soul - vintage fabrics and gingerbread and timeless motifs - all loverly. As we have organised to have Friday the 23rd off from work as a lead in to our two-week holidays, it will be good to have two days to make fresh goodies to include in hampers.
I really despise the earrings, jumpers and general kitsch that accompanies the season though - aren't I a paradox!
The feast for us is such a ritual, my whole family plans the day months in advance. Presents in the morning, a bit of a play with new toys, and then so much food your stomach groans to look at it. We love our prawns especially, and were dismayed when mum decided last year that we were having a 'traditional' meal - sans prawn. This year, they're back! I've planned three different salads that I'll be making, in the interests of a healthy alternative to taters and crackling.
Of course, now that Bec and I have our partners, it's a bit of a logistical nightmare getting all three families to co-ordinate the times of their celebrations. It was sad last year not having Nathan sharing the meal with us, but this year, everything seems to have aligned itself nicely. Thinking back over six Christmases with my sweetheart, I'm all warm and fuzzy, but I do look towards the event with a touch of trepidation - two families means two meals, and as much as I can restrain myself, I do have to be a polite guest, grateful to the mums who prepared such generous banquets. *Sigh* I think I'll have to eschew the weigh-in that week!
And the Christmas tree. Nothing evokes childhood regression like assembling the tree, carefully hanging the fragile decorations, and 'coming to an agreement' over who gets to place the star or angel upon the top branch. Mum's tree is the one which her family owned when she lived in Canada as a child, and many of the decorations are brittle family heirlooms. Of course, she's also hung on to the awful pipecleaner decorations and polystyrene garlands we all made over our school years, which we deftly remove when mum's not looking!
We bought a new tree last week, and I'm giddy just writing about it! My parents gave me the most thoughtful house warming gift a few years ago, a little tree and boxes of silver and cobalt blue ornaments, plus a blonde angel (Sussy?) bedecked in silver robes. But that cute little tree would look a bit forlorn set up in the new house, so we've gotten our forever tree - as tall as the ceiling will allow, featuring branches thick with lush, realistic foliage. We could hardly fit it in the car! It will be sad not to put together the housewarming tree - sentimentalist that I am - though we have some friends who are just freshly moved out of home, and might appreciate a virtually brand new tree to bring some cheer to their new abode.
I don't really go in for real trees, their scent is amazing, but the bugs and loose pine needles are a real turn off. Also, I just don't find their shape appealing, and the branches of most of the locally grown trees are insufficient for supporting many decorations.
Oh, decorations, I am going to need so many new ones, with all these branches to fill. I've bought a lot, but I fear that it will still look sparse. Beware the feisty brunette hoarding piles of silver and deep blue baubles in department stores!
Bec put up her tree about two weeks ago, which, um, is a bit too early in my eyes. December 1st up, January 1st down. But then, December 1st is a weekday this year, so I'm sneaking it up this weekend (tonight if I can distract Stu for long enough!).
Only a month until Christmas day!
posted by Janet | 9:41 am
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