I'll be picking my daughters up on Christmas Eve, then returning home where we shall await the arrival of my step-children. A nice, chilled-out Christmas Eve will then ensue.
Christmas Day will be spent at my in-laws'. There will be 18 of us this year, so Christmas dinner should be, erm, snug! This Christmas will be the first time my wife's brother and his family have been in the country for Christmas in six years so it'll be great to have them here. They've just returned from living in Australia and they're all looking forward to a 'real' Christmas.
On Boxing Day, I'll be taking my daughters back to their mum's house in the morning, then it's back to the in-laws' to Hoover up any leftovers.
I'll pop in to see my dad at some point but he hates Christmas with a passion and so will be spending Christmas Day alone. I find this odd, and it bothers me that he is on his own when I am with nearly all of my wife's side of the family. Still, he's old enough to know his own mind and if that's what he wants, then who am I to question it?
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My wife's family are coming to us this year :-(
Here's a snap from the last time we agreed to that....
sgnewwave.com/images/2011/08/addams-family.jpg
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TBH wolfie, we avoid Xmas like the plague, have done for years now more-so now we live where we live,
Got plenty of family scattered to the four winds, but we'll see them fore & aft Xmas,
Don't get me wrong though, I'm not a miserable ole git ... (am really!)
Also, being a crank, I go on bread n' water from the 25th to the 31st.
:)
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well after"4 Rattles and a Funeral", I am waiting for the next episode, "A Rattle Family Christmas" And I thought the Simpsons and Family Guy was fiction!
Last edited by: Zero on Sun 20 Nov 11 at 13:30
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I might call in on Dog - two cranks together!
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Can't you manage to see your dad for a hr Badwolf on Christmasday? Just thinking.
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"Chrimbo" - don't you mean the Yuletide Feast?
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>> "Chrimbo" - don't you mean the Yuletide Feast?
>>
Didn't it get called "Winterval" a while back, in a politically correct move by some large city council?
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It's a good old Nordic festival hijacked by the God botherers!
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>> Didn't it get called "Winterval" a while back, in a politically correct move by some
>> large city council?
No it didn't. A myth created by the Daily Mail on their own admission;
"We stated in an article on 26 September that Christmas has been renamed in various places Winterval.
Winterval was the collective name for a season of public events, both religious and secular, which took place in Birmingham in 1997 and 1998.
We are happy to make clear that Winterval did not rename or replace Christmas."
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I know it seems incredible but on this one occasion it does seem to have erred ever so slightly and no doubt for completely good reasons
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No idea yet. Girl and her significant other might come, or they might go and see his lot in Jockland. We, and probably Boy, will be at home regardless. Some decent wine on hand.
GB for some reason thinks I have deep pockets - I have short arms anyway, so I will be making my usual Christmas Eve raid on Waitrose and buy whatever looks good at a knockdown price. This approach hasn't gone wrong yet - we just never know whether it's going to be turkey, beef, pork or a tin of Spam. Came pretty close to the Spam last year, they were down to the last few organic free range turkeys but I still managed a half price one ;-)
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I hate, absolutely HATE Christmas.
It promises so much and delivers so little.
It is full of materialism and consumerism, tat and crap. If there once was any spiritual dimension it doesn't resonate with me.
I shall enjoy the special food in moderation. (I've already made a cake and puddings and will entertain SWMBO's offspring for a tasty meal or two, cooked by me.) I shall drink sparingly and with discrimination. None of this has much to do with Christmas as retailers would like it to be, nor as our spiritual leaders would have us believe.
If it is fine a good long country walk amid the subtle colours of winter will do me fine.
Christmas? Bah...
Last edited by: FocalPoint on Sun 20 Nov 11 at 19:47
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Can I issue the first "Humbug" of the season ?
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I come from a large family so have known many typical Xmas gatherings which included much feasting of course,
I suppose the thing that turned me away from Xmas feasting was when we all used to go to (the then) Warners Sinah Warren holiday complex in Hayling Island which was based around eating and drinking and eating and drinking and eating and drinking (you get the picture)
Also, when we were kids, Xmas and Christmas dinner was something special, but TBH we have a Xmas dinner 2 or 3 times a week these days, so bread & water is a welcome change,
Of course, we have a typical Christmas dinner, on Xmas eve (from my German encounter) and we also have a piece of fillet beef on new years eve (how the other alf live!)
And as for the bread & water, well - I heat the water to boiling point, then introduce a bag o' tea, and as for the bread, well - it finds it's way into the toaster somehow, and is often accompanied to the plate, by a fried egg :)
Still basically bread n' water though, and I might have say peanut butter or almond butter on the bread but - that's about it from the 25th until new years eve.
Oh, and I feel quite fit & dandy after this 7 day bread & water 'fast'.
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Very nice Roger I mean the bird standing..;)
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>>This is me!
i115.photobucket.com/albums/n297/penfro/grinch1.jpg<<
When did you 'come out' then Roge??
:-D
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Whenever he leant over something I think Dog, judging by the photo.
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Outlaws over for tea on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day at home with the kids, then to my folks on Boxing Day. Various evenings in and out with friends planned between Boxing Day and New Year.
I am looking forward to 17 glorious days off work. My last time off was in May, so much needed.
I love Christmas. My parents always made it really special for us as kids and still do today. It has had a lasting effect on me, and I want to do the same for my kids. It's not about spending a fortune, but about spending time as a family with no distractions or interruptions. Phones off, work forgotten, and yes, a little bit of spoiling each other. Bring it on.
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I have to say this is actually the first Christmas I am looking forward to for a good few years.
Last year was a bit rubbish as I finished work on Friday had Christmas at the weekend and started a new job on the Monday.
We are flying back to Scotland for the festivities and my Mum will be joining us for what might be the last as a family.
It started early for us with the little ones as the big presents will not be coming on the plane with us. AND I got a "proper" pool and football table for the bar in the basement. Chuffed to bits with them :-)
3 weeks off and a few nights out in Embra around Christmas and New Year planned...
Last edited by: gmac on Sun 20 Nov 11 at 21:12
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For me, Christmas is for the new generation of weans that have arrived in the last 9 years...SWM was probing me this evening as to what I wanted from her ( as a present, stop it ).
I just don't want or need anything...she opted to get me the model loco I've had on order, in on 19th Dec. I've sorted her out, we have an old framed print in the loft which she rather likes but hasn't seen for 30 yrs. For the last couple of months she's been occasionally asking me to get it down so she can have a look at it.
Been fobbing her off as it's been at an art shop in the village for cleaning and re-framing for her. She's making noises about a Kindle as well.
We do ' Secret Santa ' for the adults. A name is drawn and that is the one person you buy for ( apart from partners ). I've drawn my son. Whoever draws me will be dropped a subtle hint about a bottle Ardbeg. Then it's me birthday...OMG ........clickety-click !
I'll have a sleep after grub...and probably again before bedtime ! Perhaps I'll get a callout on a job...that'd be good. It's a day for the littles, as long as they have a good time...so will I.
Ted
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My Christmas logistics will revolve around my three children (no.1 80 miles south, no.2 here and no.3 30 miles north) and my dad (100 miles south).
No.2 here doesn't finish school until Thursday before Christmas. I hope to have everything done and enjoy a nice relaxing couple of days on the Friday and Saturday, will do the last-minute fresh food shopping in the *very* early hours of Saturday morning to avoid the ridiculous daytime queues of the last few years.
Drive no.2 down to her mum on Christmas morning after opening presents, carry on to dad's to spend the day harrumphing at the telly before heading back to pick up no.1 and bring her up the M1 to stay with me for a week. I'm looking forward to covering 200-odd miles on Christmas Day, should be quiet.
Boxing day I collect no.3 nice and early and bring him home to open his presents and get the dinner on. Dad's coming up in time for food with us followed by a bracing walk in the countryside before he drives back home in the evening.
No.3 staying until 31 Dec, swapping no.1 and no.2 over on 2nd January because no.1 goes back to school on January 4th.
Happy holidays.
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Not planned yet apart from my daughter coming home - her significant other is going to his parents.
Number one son and his girlfriend are both working from 2pm-8pm on Christmas Day and they will need to fit in visits to her mum, stepdad and her siblings, her dad, step mum and their new baby and her grandparents plus us, all before work - after work they will be exhausted!.
It is also youngest's 19th birthday - so far he has upped the ante and actually asked for a new dvd AND an ipod. Usually it is just a dvd or video he is after but his old ipod was acquired by someone else during the past few months :-( hope the new 'keeper' enjoys Les Mis, Flanders and Swann and Queen!
Wondering whether to go out for lunch as it will only be three to eat - but it will need to be somewhere youngest can have his 'yorkies' with all the usual trimmings and birthday cake, obviously, instead of pud.
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I'm not really Scrooge but for many years I used to beg herself to let us go to a Muslim country for Christmas. Utter bedlam for several days and nothing but drink to calm one down, OK up to a point but after that - and after that sets in early in the festive season - er, not.
This year as usual I have no time and less inclination for Christmas shopping, although fortuitously I have a few quid for the purpose for once. And it seems no one is coming here for the actual day, alhamdulillah! Nevertheless there will be too many drinks at the other end of the lawn.
And on Boxing Day the nippers and the nippers' nippers (that's all so far fingers crossed) will swarm in like the Vikings.
Aaaaah!
But also, *********!
I'm not really Scrooge. They still talk to me and seem to like me although they may just be being polite and well brought up. But Christmas is a burden to me. I much prefer Carnival. And I haven't got that any more.
**********!
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24th - working 0700-1900.
25th - working 0700-1900.
26th - working 0700-1900.
Let's hope 'Peace on Earth' filters down to the people of Chorley...
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All my Xmas shopping is done...he say's smugly. SWMBO gets a book, as do her 3 daughters.
My Mum & elderly Aunt get vouchers offering a day out to anywhere they like, within reason. This is normally an afternoon drive in t'Dales where I live anyway, usually with lunch at Feizor.
Finish work 6pm on the 24th. Back on the 27th.
Easy.Total cost, including petrol, sub £100, including beer tokens in my local on the 25th for 3+ hours.
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Have you upset people in high places with those shifts DB?:)
Pat
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Double Bubble and ToiL probably!
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...Double Bubble and ToiL probably!...
Finishing at 7pm on Christmas Eve he should miss the worst of the booze-fuelled violence.
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I don't think I've upset the powers that be, although one can never be sure...
Normal rate for Christmas Eve. Christmas Day and Boxing Day is normal rate but with ToiL...
:-)
Last edited by: Dieselboy on Mon 21 Nov 11 at 09:03
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>> 24th - working 0700-1900.
>> 25th - working 0700-1900.
>> 26th - working 0700-1900.
Good God, that's horrible.
>> Let's hope 'Peace on Earth' filters down to the people of Chorley...
I'll have a stern word with them when I finish on the 23rd, if you like.
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My uncle was a Vicar in Chorley ! - he was the Chorley Chaplin !
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Don't know yet - SWMBO is a nurse so depends what shift she is on.
If she is on early, and away at 7am, I have told the kids that we will all just have a PJ day until mum comes back from her work and then dish out the presents....
Not a chance of that!
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Ambivolent really.
I love Christmas carols and especially Salvation Army bands in town centres. I adore Watchnight services and walking to and from them with scarves and gloves on followed by a dram before bed.
I love long family walks or cycle runs in forests on cold bright days between Christmas and New Year. I particularly like to walk with a dog on windswept beaches on a crisp Christmas morning ( childhood / teenage memory ).
I love buying presents for others ( not bothered if I don't receive any to be honest )
I love going to a forest to buy a fresh tree but hate decorating it afterwards.
I hate Christmas cards whether it's buying, writing, sending or receiving them.
I hate being drunk or watching / listening to others who are.
I hate having to spend my precious free time visiting or receiving people with whom I have nothing in common but some loose and obscure genetic connection by marriage.
Do I qualify for a half humbug?
:-)
Edit - Nearly forgot, the bit I hate most of all is office parties !
Last edited by: Humph D'Bout on Mon 21 Nov 11 at 14:54
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I`ve a bag of half-sucked ones i can post on to you if you like! - I was saving them for this year, but it looks as though your need is greater than mine!
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Cheers thanks ( only if you pay the postage mind ! ) I'll take them to the local Boxing Day Rugby match. I like that.
:-)
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This being the first Christmas since Mrs C's Dad died, I made a potentially catastrophic error and suggested her remaining family come to us for the first time ever.
Somehow the fact that Mrs C hasn't cooked a thing in the 27 years we've been married eluded me as the words were tumbling with glittering fate from my mouth, and now I'm committed to singlehandedly producing a Christmas Lunch for People.
I can hardly wait to see the delight on their faces as I serve another slice of gravy, especially as I rather think there may a visit from Mr Birdseye.
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You can go to a catering cash and carry type place where you can just buy Christmas dinners already on a plate. Whack them in a microwave and job done. I have a friend with a restaurant who never does this at all when he's pushed over the Festive season. Perish the very thought...
( You get money back on the plates too I believe )
:-)
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About the only thing I do look forward to is cooking at Christmas - I've done it for years. But assuming you do the day-to-day cooking, CC, you should be able to scale it up accordingly. The key thing is getting organised.
You need to remember to get the timings right, so food is ready when it should be. Make sure you've got room for everything in the oven and on the hob. Preparation will take much longer than for a small meal. If you can do any preparation well beforehand, then do so. Remember that a tin piled up with roasting vegetables will take longer to cook than a half-empty one.
Delegate peripheral (but important) tasks like setting the table and pre-meal drinks to someone else.
I usually write out a timetable - a timed sequence of tasks - beforehand.
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>> I usually write out a timetable - a timed sequence of tasks - beforehand.
Mrs B does that too. Starts with meal on table and works back to up at 06:30 to preheat oven*. Ends up with half a page of A4.
*this bit has been deleted since we discovered the Kelly Bronze turkey.
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Crankcase, Last Christmas was our first without our cook-in-residence and we looked forward to it with great trepidation. The last time I had done the meal, goose that year, was when he was working on Christmas Day in 1993! This recipe was a fantastic success - have since used it for other roasts too, with a few adaptations. No getting up early and you are left with wonderful gravy ready made and the start of your Boxing Day hearty soup.
www.itv.com/food/recipes/phils-traditional-christmas-turkey
As said by others, preparation is the key.
If you have a three tier steamer (either on the stove or an electric one) for your vegetables, you can buy most ready to chuck in the steamer so just need seasoning and butter. Others can be roasted in the top of the oven. For bread sauce, grate stale bread anytime in the next month and freeze it for the day - and don't forget you can buy ready chopped onions, either fresh or frozen.
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I forgot to say, we did not remove the wishbone and used our own stuffing recipe.
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...I forgot to say, we did not remove the wishbone and used our own stuffing recipe...
A rolled turkey breast joint is much easier to cook.
Not quite the authentic experience, but it's all meat, so no waste to deal with.
Even a big one fits into any oven, and is much easier to handle than a whole bird.
You can do stuffing in a separate dish.
Something like this:
www.mettricksbutchers.co.uk/Chicken-&-turkey/c28/p127/Turkey-breast-joint/product_info.html
Also sold by the supermarkets.
Last edited by: Iffy on Mon 21 Nov 11 at 23:32
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May I half shake your hand, Humph?
I'm beginning to feel lonely already...
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S'pose we could sort of half-nod ( without eye contact of course ) and half-grunt if we encounter each other on a walk in that inimitable british way...
:-)
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I can't off-hand remember where you're based, Humph, but I will look out for you if the weather's fine.
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I like Carols - I like Handel's Messiah - I like Christmas as well. In laws coming here - so three dogs, 4 peoples - should be a good Christmas I hope.
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>> 24th - working 0700-1900.
>> 25th - working 0700-1900.
>> 26th - working 0700-1900.
>>
>> Let's hope 'Peace on Earth' filters down to the people of Chorley...
Only until about midday on the 25th Db. :-O
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A kindle I will be bying for my missus Diana.All these books are piling up in our house no room left.We will be going to our daughter on Christmas day and sleeping overnight.Our eldest son will be joining us at the daughters.Middle son lives in New Zealand first time this year he won't be with us.Wellington to far to travel.Christmas is for the children and family together.I will give my sister and brother a ring and cousin Luppo.Two years after the big op I've had and still winning fingers crossed.My mother birtday was on the 19th Dec.Ted strange, this model loco sounds nice.You know I might ask for a train set I'm still a kid at hart.;)
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My missus has everything planned with military precision. As much of the preparation for the Christmas dinner is done in advance.
Christmas Eve she plays the organ at the local church midnight service. I go to the pub with the darts team. She picks me up at about 1am after the church service and the pub have kicked us out.
Christmas Day she usually helps out at the local hospice and we then have our dinner in the evening. By the afternoon the family descend on us and I'm usually fully recovered to help get the meal ready.
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Melting Snowman, that sounds ideal. I'd love to be in your shoes.
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We get back from holiday just before Chrimbo and then I'm on-call so it'll be an entirely sober affair. Mum's staying up in Yorkshire so there'll just be me and the boss.
We'll load up the dining table with finger food and spend the day grazing and watching videos with a particular theme. A few years ago the theme was Peter Sellers and we watched just about every movie he appeared in.
No idea what it should be this year.
Any suggestions?
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>> We'll load up the dining table with finger food and spend the day grazing and
>> watching videos with a particular theme. A few years ago the theme was Peter Sellers
>> and we watched just about every movie he appeared in.
>>
>> No idea what it should be this year.
>>
>> Any suggestions?
>>
Monty Python?
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The theme this year should be "cads" Any Terry Thomas or Leslie Philips film.
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We'll be spending Christmas at the in-law's this year. Don't know yet how many of us will be there but, at a guess maybe 16. My father-in-law loves cooking, so he'll probably do most of the food, but we're all going to bring something. I've been given a bit of a hint that I'm supposed to bake some bicuits and some meringues. I'll probably have to bring my mother along too, or she'll just be at home by herself....
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I'm just hoping that it isn't too hot on the day. It's not going to be much fun if the temperature goes much past the low thirties...
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>The theme this year should be "cads" Any Terry Thomas or Leslie Philips film.
Spiffing idea Zero old chap. I will envisage you and Humph while watching them :-)
Two of my old favorites, Alastair Sim and Margaret Rutherford sometimes appeared with Terry Thomas. Might even be able to sneak in an old St. Trinians.
Now off to Amazon to see what's available. Need to get a mix of comedy and drama though.
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Brilliant. School for Scoundrels was based on a book "The Theory and Practice of Gamesmanship, or the Art of Winning Games without Actually Cheating" by Stephen Potter.
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We, in the Hovel, being Pagan in beliefs, do not celebrate Christmas. We celebrate Yule, 21st December, (occassionally 22nd) and will not be having in-laws for dinner, we will be having Turkey!
The 25th is a "work"day, I shall be lurkin,loiterin, an potterin in my greenhouse sowing Onion seed!
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I shall be taking the scenic train journey from Shrewsbury to Harlech to stay with my sister and her family in a 400+ year old farmhouse 2/3 rds of the way up a small mountain, via a single track 3 gate road from the coast. Train way cheaper than driving plus less stressful. Very remote, very peaceful and please God, not too much snow!
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Yuletide originally lasted for a week or so at an indeterminate date around the end of the year and was traditionally started with a day of fasting. You may gave to cut out the turkey. ;-0
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So, what are we all doing for Chrimbo? - Runfer D'Hills
