I do love Xmas . - Watching my girls open their presents - they earn pocket money during the year for doing set chores and therefore apart from biannual shopping clothes trips, largely fund their own purchases, social life etc during the year. So I love a chance to spoil them a little.
- Over the top lunch - it only happens once a year ! This year we had roast garlic and rosemary lamb, home made baked ham , cold roast chook, home grown roast veges including potatoes ( boiled , then roasted in duck fat and then fried - I don`t think there was much nutrition left at the end !) ,parsnips ( we sowed parsnips years ago and since then they have been self seeding - it`s great to go on a parsnip hunt in the orchard and vege garden ) and pumpkin. Then there were the desserts - dark and white chocolate tart ( made by my youngest DD ) , boiled traditional xmas pudding ( made by my eldest DD ) with brandy custard and trifle. Then afterwards there was the currant and cherry xmas cake ( peel free for my sister-in-law ) and gingerbread building ( a church this year ) and rum truffles ( not to mention the pre- nibbles , drinks and obligatory healthy salads ) .This year I did not overeat ( finally learning in my middle age ) - just a little of everything and felt just right at the end.
- Kris Kringle surprise present - a relative who will not be named goes around her house and picks out unwanted stuff - last year she gave my middle DD a necklace - it just happened to be the necklace my same daughter had lost at her house ! This year she gave my youngest daughter a candle with a gift tag attached indicating it was obviously an old rejected gift. She also gave a handbag to another relative ( who is only 8 ) that had an old ( unused thank goodness ) tampon in it ! We actually find this amusing and spices up xmas day . By the way it is not through lack of funds that this relative does this as she goes overseas sometimes several times a year - she has been all over the world multiple times. This year it was Canada , the USA and Hong Kong and China.
- a family game of dictionary - someone chooses a word out of dictionary that no-one knows the definition of and then everyone makes up one - all the definitions including the correct one are read out and you score points for guessing the correct definition and tricking people - it`s lots of fun and you only need a dictionary and pencils and paper.
At the end of this day we were treated to a spectacular storm that had a rainbow at the end - quite fitting I think.
It sounds like a lovely Christmas. How special to have home grown food (no nutrition is required for Christmas dinner IMO)
ReplyDeleteWe have an in-law relative (quite young) who has the same gifting strategy, which is a running joke to the rest of us. The second-hand handbag contents one year were an open packet of sweets, including half chewed ones! She comes from a very wealthy family, has an incredible number of possesions, shops all-the-time(as a hobby, I think, as she doesn't work outside the home), and her wrappings are always beautiful and expensive looking. I wonder what goes on in their heads? Maybe it is better not to know ;). (This year it was tagless RTW clothing, in her size,clearly previously worn, to my daughters, who are both bigger than her) Maybe she was being "green"
The Kris Kringle present is a classic!!! What a bit of fun this adds to the day for the others (that is, if you can see past the sad side). Love the rainbow - with the weather poor old Melbourne is having I hope they had a glimpse of it. Our turn (Brisbane) this afternoon for a torrential downpour, before the sun breaks through again.
ReplyDeleteGorgeous pictures, and what fun stories! We did not exchange gifts this year and it was a relief actually. (no kids, so no fuss)
ReplyDeleteYour un-named relative's gift-giving principles made me laugh, yes a bit dodgy, but if it keeps everyone amused then all the better! My (slightly dottery) grandmother used to give away books that had clearly been already read...! another relative used to distribute books of-a-set, and request to borrow them all immediately afterwards... and I had an aunt that one memorable year gave me a Mars bar. And yes, it was wrapped up too!
ReplyDeleteYour Christmas feast sounds absolutely scrumptious, and all the more special because of the homegrown component. One should not even consider nutrition, or lack of, on Christmas Day...
Beautiful photos! Great story about the crazy gifting. Christmas gifting can be such a strange thing and I can get quite stressed about the wastefulness of thoughtless 'just for the sake of it' gifts. So in a sense the 're-gifted' pressies are probably better than senseless new rubbish! Our funny relative thing is an uncle who always brings some really old bottle of wine he's cellared for years and makes a big fuss about it and it's usually way, way past its best and we all just choke down a bit.
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