Christmas when I was growing up was a lot of fun. We'd wake up to my Dad asking 'Has He Been?' and dash downstairs to a pile of gifts under the tree. But we weren't allowed to touch any of them until Mum was awake, we had all had breakfast and we had washed all the pots (the days before dishwashers). Then we had our presents, whilst Mum sat making a list of who had bought each of us what...very sensible, my mother. Usually then we would travel to see my Dad's side of the family for Christmas lunch, alternating years between my grandparents and Dad's Auntie and Uncle. There were usually up to 14 of us. The men would all go to the pub for a drink while the women cooked and chatted. Christmas lunch would start with a Yorkshire Pud and gravy whilst everything was being dished into massive dishes so we could all help ourselves and pass everything around. After lunch certain members of the family would have a nap whilst the washing up was done (again, by the women ;-)) Then more presents, and the youngest two in the group would hand out the presents to everyone.
Then we'd go and do it all over again with mum's side of the family in the evening and a buffet tea.
This is why I love Christmas, it's just fantastic to spend time with so many fabulous people and to laugh with them and eat with them and be silly. Even if we only caught up with the extended family once a year it was enough if we had that much fun. Boxing day would just be immediate family and a lovely drive into the countryside for a long walk.
Obviously, things change and people move on and move away and start families of their own but it's still good to keep in touch with everyone and to try and meet up when we are able to over the festive period. I hope that it'll get to the point where we can do a big family gathering again at some point, but I sometimes wonder how we all fit in, it was very cosy, let's put it that way!
Anyways, this year, there's quite a lot of decoration going on in my flat, mainly in the lounge. So I thought I'd show you what is making it feel all festive.
The snowman is a new addition this year, he's very colourful and rotates through lots of different colours.
These are little drinks mats. Bought many years ago by my mum and dad but they always brighten up the flat at Christmas time.
These wooden blocks came from Laura Ashley last year.
This is our moose/reindeer. He's very squidgy and cuddly and I think maybe he might be a doorstop or something, but we like him too much so he sits by the TV. I always forget that we have him and he's usually the first thing I spot out of the Xmas box.
My reindeer candle holders came from Woolworths many many years ago and they are my favourite thing in the Christmas box. They are really cute but solid and heavy.
We have two of these stockings, a gift from my sister and her fiancé.
A little blurry I know, but if you look in the middle here, you'll see a tree present. In our family, it's a tradition for there to be a small gift on the tree for each member of the household, and when the tree is taken down after Christmas, we open the tree presents.
Here's what our tree looks like this year.
That's about it from me now on this blog until after Christmas, I have plenty of things to be doing in the last few days, but I want to wish you a very Happy Christmas, I hope that you get to Eat, Drink and Be Merry!
Love Jo x
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