.......... AND SO IT BEGINS

You will be pleased to know { or not ! } that I have started my Christmas preparations, even though we are not sure what sort of Christmas we are going to have. We usually go and choose our Christmas tree every year but, this year I have ordered one from Croft and Cole ..... fresh cut and delivered to my door in mid December.

I have also started buying presents. I have quite a lot to buy ..... our children, their partners, grandchildren, sister, brothers -in-law, neices, nephews, the neices and nephews children, cousins, cousins children etc. etc

Christmas has always been a wonderful time for our family. As a child, our parents made it so magical even though we weren't rolling in money. We always had a real tree and, I can remember my mum dragging it back from the shops ! We would all be part of decorating it ..... often with a few arguments ! That moment when the lights were turned on for the first time was fairylike and so magical. Then there would be a trip up to London to see Father Christmas and Uncle Holly at Selfridges ..... do you remember Uncle Holly ? ..... and, eating hot chestnuts bought from the man on Oxford Street and having a knickerbokerglory at Lyons Corner House and, if we were lucky, seeing a show at The London Palladium.

Apart from his day job, my Dad played in a band at weekends. He used to take an empty gin and whiskey bottle with him and, when people offered to buy him a drink, would gradually fill the bottles up, ready for Christmas !!!!! ..... and then there was Christmas itself. Going to bed on Christmas Eve and leaving a flat pillow case at the end of the bed to wake up on Christmas morning to see that pillow case overflowing with things and bulging at the sides ..... nothing was very expensive but they were all amazing to us. Board games, books, paints and paintbrushes for me, gold chocolate coins, a chocolate tool kit that tasted soapy but who cared .... eating chocolate at 6.00 a.m was brilliant. And then, after breakfast, our aunts and uncles and cousins would come round and there would be more presents .....  a leather netball, Jacko roller skates, more games, something from an old aunt that was a bit boring ..... we would open that one first !! 

The above photograph, taken in the mid 1950's,  is my Dad being Father Christmas at his works Christmas party !!! That's me on the end on the right with the red face, wearing my delightful bolero, knitted by my Mum ! My sister is on the left, also wearing her delightful bolero ! The Father Christmas outfit leaves a lot to be desired ! Looked as if it had been well-used and pretty moth-eaten but, we didn't care. I think we knew it was our Dad and were told not to say anything ! Our Dad loved to take photographs. We have hundreds of those tiny black and white ones when we were on holiday but, there aren't any of Christmas. There are some movies but I can't find any stills ! Maybe he was too busy, playing in the band and getting his bottles filled up or drinking too much of the gin on Christmas Day ?!! { actually, he looks as if he's had a couple of gins in the photo .... he looks a bit dishevelled !! }

I hope that we made the same memories for our children and that our grandchildren find it all just as magical. 

Well, there are just a few memories of my Christmasses .... what are your special Christmas memories ?

 

XXXX

image 1: via vogue portugal, image 2: via pinterest, image 3: via me

WINTER WONDERLAND ..........

Snow has descended, turning our little world into a Winter Wonderland. 

 I went out at 7.30 am and took these photographs of our house. 

We haven't had this much snow for a good few years so it's a bit of a novelty. I think that the whole of the UK is blanketed in snow......

the perfect time to dress the tree .....

Keep warm.

XXXX

all photographs via Me !

HERE WE ARE AGAIN .......

It only seems five minutes ago that I was putting the Christmas decorations away and now, here we are again and it's that dreaded time of buying the tree !!! Around mid-December, a deadly hush descends on the 'Home' household.

... a bit of background :  

Many Italians arrived in Hertfordshire in the late 1950's and it was small market towns like the one I live in where they chose to settle. 

From small acorns grow big trees and when a local farmer sold off some of his land, a few Sicilian families bought it and started their own market gardens. Along with fruit and vegetables came plant and flower nurseries and joining the Italians came many Dutch families, and so the area became rich in garden centres.

Usually, I have every tree out for inspection, hum and haw over this one and that one, change my mind back and forth before choosing 'the' tree but, in the last few years it seems to have got easier ... don't ask me why !!

... a look at the carousel ...

... and a mulled wine or hot chocolate watching the skaters and the tree is bought for another year .....

..... and, I'm happy to report that not a tear was shed nor cross word uttered between us !!!

Putting it in the stand was another matter altogether and nearly resulted in divorce proceedings !!!

XXXX

image 1: via zsa zsa bellagio, images 2, 3, 4, 5,& 7: via me, image 6: via van hage

IT'S THAT TIME AGAIN !!!! ..........

Well, we are now approaching December 1st, and, it's around this time that a deadly hush descends over our household .....
.......... Mr. Home starts to get a weird look on his face and his eyes glaze over and beads of sweat start to appear upon his forehead........ he opens his mouth and quietly utters those chilling words " It's that time again, isn't it ", he says in a very quiet voice.

I bury my head in my hands and quietly say, " Yes, I'm afraid it is ", and we peruse the calender for a time suitable for both of us to ...............................

CHOOSE THE CHRISTMAS TREE !!!!

It always has to be after work, therefore it is dark....VERY dark !! ..........

.......... and, it is invariably raining. It's either pouring with rain OR there has just been the worse storm of the year and everything is soaking wet and the wind is howling..........

.......... I am always wearing the wrong clothes, having been out for a Christmas lunch and then, running late, I don't have time to change ..........

.......... so, we arrive at the Garden Centre and, all of the trees are OUTSIDE, in the rain or freezing wind and we set about choosing THE ONE. We always have a seven footer so Mr. Home has to force his way to the back of the pile to pull out the one that I think could possibly be THE ONE, drag it out (remember, it's really wet) and hold it up, straight, for me to look it over. He has to turn it around, so that I can see it from all angles, until I tell him that it's not the one. This can go on for quite a while and we are getting soaked, me in my high heels and posh frock but, Mr. Home is sensibly dressed in waterproof coat.
Last year we had a bit of a disaster. I had spotted what I thought was a really good tree, but, just as we approached it, an elderly couple pushed in, grabbed it and proceeded to drag it to the netting machine. I was a little cross but, as luck would have it, I spied an even nicer one which was part of one of the displays. "Go and get that one " I told Mr. Home and, we both climbed onto the display, over some beautiful rusty railings and through some fake, decorated trees. Said tree was propped up in a zinc container. "Just pull it out" I said. Well, pulling it out was a bit of a problem. It seemed to be stuck. We pulled and we pulled and, the upshot was that the tree would not budge . It was caught on the railings. The railings all fell over like dominoes , knocking the artificial trees down. All of the decorations fell off of the trees and, three reindeer's of varying sizes made out of twigs, fell to the ground. Mr. and Mrs. Home were seen running as far away from the display as they could....AND...... I think that they have CCTV there !!!! We will try not to do anything like that this year. When we do find THE ONE, we have to go through the whole process again, on a slightly smaller scale, when we choose.......... .......... HOLLY and ...........

.......... MISTLETOE !!!!!!!!!!
I have to say that, after the tree has been chosen, we have a lovely time as, the Garden Centre that we go to is beautiful. There are always coach loads of people who come from all over the country and many foreign tourists who visit. They have the most wonderful Christmas display and, an outside ice-skating rink, where we sit, with a drink, and watch the skaters while we listen to Christmas carols.
I am hoping that, avoiding all disasters and divorce proceedings, that our tree will look something like the one above. I wish you a happy time, choosing your tree and hope you avoid any of the little mishaps that seem to happen to us, every year.

Jackie