Happy Christmas

Despite having had 364 days notice, the year really does seem to have accelerated to Christmas with unseemly haste. It seems impossible to think that it’s over five months since we were on St Kilda and that the incomparable Monty has been with us for almost a third of a year! As usual, our little family is having a quiet celebration with just the tree to decorate when I arrive home from work and mince pies to bake later this evening to the accompaniment of Christmas Carols. I do feel very fortunate and blessed at this special time of year

Christmas Traditions

Although I’m not overly sentimental, maintaining traditions seems to matter at Christmas. We resolutely decorate our tree on Christmas Eve with an eclectic mix of baubles and take it down on 6 January, long after most people have tidied their decorations away. Our Christmas cake reposes on my mum’s cut glass stand (which only ever saw the light of day in my childhood home at Christmas) and just like Mum, I make mince pies on Christmas Eve.  However I suspect that particular tradition was born originally out of her dis-organisation so clearly the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree!!

                                              

On the 5th day of Christmas....

On this 5th day of Christmas, I was reflecting that although the public hype begins  earlier each year, Christmas now seems to be over once the last cracker has been pulled on Christmas Day itself. Even my limited forays into social media have informed me that in the homes of several friends, Christmas trees and decorations have been taken down already and that the stressful run up to the festivities may not have delivered The Perfect Day. Perhaps, surprisingly, our determination to avoid the hysteria and have a quiet and peaceful Christmas means we can actually enjoy it for longer

Looking forward to a wedding

Large gatherings are no longer a regular occurrence in the Bradbury family. With brothers and cousins living hundreds of miles apart, grown up children leading independent lives and, simply meeting normal everyday and work commitments, it’s no longer easy to assemble “en-masse” in a single location. So it was with great delight that over Christmas, we received the news of a summer wedding. Andy’s niece Hannah, is to marry Marcus with a joyful family celebration in Devon!  It will certainly outshine the festive but somewhat depleted gathering we had at Grandma’s yesterday when just 8 of us met for supper.

Christmas across the miles

We were able to have a quick Christmas morning Skype chat with Nerea before she made the most of Christmas in the snowy regions of Canada. She spent the rest of the day on the slopes with Alex and a crowd of Steph’s friends before returning home for a festive turkey meal.  Boxing Day involved a hair cut and colour so when we Skyped at the weekend, she looked great.  She’s been getting quite a bit of work so is pleased about that as it all helps her to stay solvent! It’s just a pity our “pressi” parcel hasn’t arrived!

Happy Christmas from Bannerdale Crags

With Nerea away in Canada and Grandma over in Newcastle, we decided to do something completely different for Christmas Day and go for a walk in the hills before feasting on steak and chips for our evening dinner!!  We headed off to Bannerdale Crags with Molly and a hearty, packed lunch to enjoy the snowy solitude before returning home for present openings by our log stove. We then Skyped with Nerea before dinner and a quiet evening with Dr Who and Downton, eased along with a little glass of something.  It was unlike other recent Christmases, but still quite lovely!

It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas!!

It’s beginning to feel a lot like Christmas!  This weekend saw the start of our Christmas festivities as we purchased our tree on Friday.  Ordinarily, we have a cut one from a local farm but this year, we’ve bought a growing Fraser fir complete with tub.  Then it was off to a festive ceilidh in Cockermouth on Saturday followed by a delicious pre-Christmas, Christmas dinner at Robin and Cathryn’s last night.  Then finally, tomorrow will see us following our tradition of decorating the tree and making mince pies to the lessons and carols service from Kings College.  Happy Christmas, everyone

 

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve is one of my favourite days of the year. The food cupboards are full, the house wrapped in a blanket of fragrant, spicy warmth.  We re-enact our family traditions: mince pies baked as the choir rejoices in the beauty of King’s College, the well rehearsed reminiscences and exclamations over each bauble as we decorate our tree, the hanging of our empty stockings by the fireplace with a shared, excited anticipation of what’s to come. And finally, we make the last additions to our Nativity scene, remembering the first Christmas Eve in a humble stable long ago.

Happy Christmas

Walla Crag

After spending a delightful evening with Miss Glis, Alex and his parents, it was time to brace ourselves and face the shops today. Instead, we headed up Walla Crag with Judith as a welcome alternative! (There's always Christmas Eve for those essential items like presents and food.) We set off into the wind which had howled all night from Great Wood. Up on the top, we caught our breath and had a successful hunt for a geocache. Then it was a back down and a drive into Keswick, ignoring the consumerist temples and settling instead for a cuppa and scones

A cheerless office

The office atmosphere had a jaded feel about it today rather than the excited “end of term” exuberance one normally anticipates at Christmas.  I’m not sure if it was because austerity measures are really starting to bite, with colleagues feeling there is little to celebrate or that the winter seems to have been particularly long and damp after a fantastic summer of regal jubilation and Olympic euphoria.  Either way, the plastic tray of Greggs’ mince pies taking centre stage as the only festive embellishment in the room seemed an appropriate measure of the joylessness that’s been apparent over recent months

Christmas Cavern

Miss Glis is home!! It’s only for a couple of weeks but wouldn’t have felt like a normal homecoming without us meeting her demands for crisps, curry and melted camembert (not all at once) so we were happy to oblige.  But as a little surprise, we created a grotto of fairy lights and baubles in the hall, reminiscent of earlier Christmas caverns in Coanwood, to celebrate her arrival.  Alex managed to stall her exit from the car to give Andy enough time to switch the lights on before she reached the door.  Her delighted reaction was all we hoped for!

Christmas Excesses

Unsurprisingly, I’m busy deciding how to get rid of the excesses of the Christmas period. Sadly, we still have chocolates and other goodies in the house and I’m really very weak willed.  Yesterday, we went for a robust hill walk and just had to have a treat when we returned home……..regrettably, chocolates were consumed!!   Luckily, I don’t drink alcohol to any great excess so giving up the odd glass of wine isn’t really a hardship. No, for now, it’s going to be portion control and more exercise as I just can’t deny myself the odd sweet treat now and again.

Happy Christmas and welcome to 2012

Planning, saving, Advent, excitement, baking, shopping, queuing, wrapping, sewing, cleaning, spare beds, air beds, tree, decorations, tissue-paper, cards, baubles, letters, ribbon, stockings, tinsel, ,sausages, guests, pork, turkey, stuffing, trifle, cheese, pudding, John Rutter, candles, crackers, carols, nativity, holly, presents, chocolate, nuts, Slade, films, photos, Morecambe and Wise, mince-pies, Christmas cake, Downton Abbey, Dr Who, red wine, white wine, mulled wine, port, brandy, Single Malt, cold cuts, more cheese, pickles, friends, family, laughter, Boxing Day, party, phone calls, soup, emails, dog walks, geocaches, bloated, irritable, tiredness, feeling full, late-nights, lie-ins, New Year, washing, pine-needles, back-to-work blues, diet, detox, thank-you letters, relief!!!!!

Christmas Cheer...or not

I finished making the Christmas cards and “year book” this weekend (it’s really a 1 page news letter but year book sounds soooo pretentious and I do enjoy a touch of irony) so I’m feeling very chipper.  I know others will have shopped, written and wrapped weeks ago but that isn’t how I operate. In all honesty, I’m not a Christmassy person when that means shopping for expensive presents and general over-indulgence.  I love having a tree, which we decorate on Christmas Eve and relaxing with my family but Christmas as a commercial excuse for excess is a complete turn-off.

Christmas 2010

 

So, the Christmas holiday is over and it’s back to normality.  Apart from the usual round of coughs and colds that seem to plague everyone during the holiday season, we had a lovely quiet time with good food and company.  We didn’t venture out doors for any major adventures apart from the New Year Tar Bar’ls at Allendale as sadly, the pre – Christmas sharp, cold weather has been replaced with the damp, grey, dreariness that epitomises the traditional English winter.  But, dogs must be walked and a breath of fresh air is always beneficial, even when the recipient is snuffly

Secularism at Christmas

As everyone around me talks smugly of Christmas shopping done, presents wrapped and freezers filled, I’ve been analysing my personal response to Christmas festivities.  My traditional Roman Catholic background ensures the religious significance is a given, but in a secular context, my assurance about the extent of celebration is less clear.  It’s my belief that Christmas has been corrupted. Too many of us worship at the “alter of excess”, pressurised to make this Christmas “the best ever”.  The reckless consumption of food and drink and the seemingly obligatory purchasing of expensive gifts, affordable or not, doesn’t sit comfortably with me