It's all over bar the shouting

My mum used to use the expression in my title and I'm not sure if it's just a British thing so if I've confused anyone, I apologise now!  Basically, I guess Christmas isn't officially over until 12th Night but it feels like it is well and truly over.
Thanks to JYC I have had a bit of an experiment with Paul's new camera (which I stupidly believed to be a joint ownership when we bought it!) and have come up with these:

A black and white picture that was shot in black and white setting on the camera rather than editing in software once uploaded to computer.  It's not the best picture but it's one that looks better in black and white than colour.  
The dice are kind of appropriate to Christmas as it's the time of year when games HAVE to be played.  We always keep 'Shut the Box' on the coffee table but have to keep the dice out of the way as a small furry creature would find them very tasty.  It's funny how people pick up this game and just get addicted to it.  I'll just try one more time, I'll win next time.  I'll just keep playing until I manage to close all the numbers.  You know the scene.  Another old favourite of ours is Lingo.  It's a word tile game where you make words but people can steal your letters to make new words.  It brings out the competitive streak in us all and is so much fun.  I never win, I build up lots of little words then suddenly hands are shooting out from all around the table grabbing my words, I look down and I only have one three letter word left!

Another picture I took was one capturing bokeh.

I've never managed to do this before and I love it!  Whether or not I could do it again remains to be seen ... I used the new tripod and set it up looking at the Christmas tree lights.  Set the ISO really high so I didn't need a flash, used a small flower punch to cut a shape in a piece of cardstock, positioned it in front of the lens and voilà!  Bokeh!  I was stupidly excited to get this effect.

I would love to share some photos of our Christmas Day as we spent it with several cute children but I don't like to put pictures of other people's children on the blog for obvious reasons.  We spent the day at my nephew's house, there were 14 of us including  his son aged 9, daughter aged 6, my niece's daughter aged 2 and son aged 6 months.  They kept us all entertained and really made it a special day.  The highlight for me was when we dressed my brother in law up in a Santa costume and had him knock on the front door with a few extra presents he'd found at the bottom of his sack.  How to silence four excited children in one fell swoop!  But the cutest thing ever was when little Sophie looked up at Santa (her grandad in disguise) and said 'Thank you for my present Farmer Christmas'!  So sweet.  He will always be known as 'Farmer' from now on.
I need to go to the shops today, there are not enough leftovers from Boxing Day left to make a decent meal.  Yes, it really is all over bar the shouting!

JYC Day 13 - Dreaming of the white stuff

I'm sure there have been white Christmases during my lifetime but not many where we have actually woken to snow on the ground on Christmas Day.  I do remember one year where we were at my sister's house on Boxing Day.  It must have been in about 1995 or so as my son had taken all his new toys over there and the boot of our car was crammed full of stuff that both children couldn't bear to leave at home.  The snow started falling once we had got to her house and continued all day.  We left for home early evening as we knew that the journey which normally took 25 minutes was going to take much longer.  Our route was mainly country roads and there was bound to be little traffic around to help melt the snow on the roads. 

We started our crawl home, driving into the large snowflakes.  Caught in the headlights they were mesmerising and the drive was hazardous to say the least.  About 5 miles into our journey, both children were fast asleep in the back seat and we heard the sirens of a police car.  But no sign of blue flashing lights to suggest that we were being followed by any of the emergency services.  Around a corner and all went quiet.  A little while further on, the siren started again and it seemed closer now.  Visibility was poor but there seemed to be no sign of any other vehicles.  We stopped in a layby to let whatever was following us go past.  The siren stopped.  We cautiously edged out onto the road again, but when we reached a set of traffic lights where we had to stop at the red signal, the siren started up again.  At this point, my husband had a brainwave.  At the next safe place, he pulled to the side of the road and got out to look in the boot.  There was the cause of the trouble.  The culprit was a model police squad car from our son's favourite TV series 'Space Precinct' which of course this had been the most important thing to take with him.  It was at the top of the pile of toys in the boot, and every time we went over a bump, the lamp on its roof hit against the underside of the boot lid and set off the siren.  After a minute it would stop until we went over another bump and it started again!  Mystery solved.

I can't imagine having a hot Christmas, and especially can't imagine cooking a full Christmas dinner in the heat.  Friends of ours who emigrated to Australia a few years back say it still seems weird putting up a tree in the height of summer.  Do those in hot climates still send cards with snow scenes on them?  or barbecues on the beach?

JYC Day 12 - This the season to be jolly

Ah, the happy smiley faces, everyone together and everyone getting along perfectly.  No stress, no squabbles, peace and goodwill to all.  Only it's not always like that is it?  There are times when we all feel a little bit 'Christmased out'.  Christmas is not always the happiest time of the year for everyone, believe me I know that for a fact. 

I lost my mum to cancer just 7 days before Christmas one year and it took every last bit of energy to put my happy smiley face on for that Christmas Day. 

But I did it and you know what helped me through?  The fact that my mum loved Christmas.  She cooked and planned and shopped weeks in advance to make sure that everything was just right and nothing made her happier than having her family all around her.  She definitely gained more pleasure from giving someone a gift that she had put so much thought into rather than receiving something herself.   I knew that she would not have wanted her passing to result in a horrible time for us all.  So whenever I feel that feeling of stress creeping up on me, I think of her and know that she would be rallying me round to think of what I had done and not concentrate on what was still left to do!  Shimelle asked us to think of a role model for Christmas today and my mum fits that description perfectly.  We still carry on her family traditions and that helps to make us feel like she is still sharing the day with us.  

On another note, it's 12.12.12 today!  Not only that but it is my husband's birthday.  Plus my son had the results of his Masters degree and he has passed with a high 2:1.  He worked so hard for it, he deserves to have done well.  

Today we woke to what I believe they call a hoar frost.  The countryside looks absolutely beautiful.  We've just taken Coco out for a lunchtime walk in the fields around us and I shall share some pictures to help anyone out there who needs to be put in a Christmas frame of mind ...

JYC Day 10 - Where to begin?

There's such a lot to do at this time of year that sometimes it's hard to know where to start.  I wake in the morning with so many thoughts going on about things that need doing and I never really feel organised until I start my lists.  And not just one list, in fact maybe I need to start a list of lists that I need to make!

• Christmas cards to be written and sent
• A menu for whichever day I am having visitors
• Food that needs to be bought in advance
• Perishable food that can't be bought until nearer the day
• People I need to buy presents for
• Ideas for what to buy those people
• Cards and parcels that need to be sent overseas

It's funny though, that the simple process of writing something down and organising your thoughts on paper makes you feel a little more in control.  Provided of course that you can start ticking things off!  In fact a wise work colleague of mine once gave me good advice when we were sorting out our performance management paperwork ready for appraisals at work.  Always put at least one thing on your 'to do' list that you have either already started or have almost finished.  That way you quickly get to tick one thing off which starts the ball rolling!

So with my lists I have cards written, I know what I'm cooking on boxing day, I've already got some non-perishables in my spare bedroom out of sight, I know who I'm buying for, I've got most of the presents bought or at least know what I am looking for, and today I've sent off all my overseas mail.  Anyone would think it's only 14 days and 6 hours away! 

JYC Day 9 - treats

If Santa is ever looking for a new little helper, my daughter is the perfect candidate.  She loves Christmas, and every year it surprises me how much our family traditions mean to her.  You don't always realise when you are starting a new tradition.  One minute it's something off the cuff that you decide to do, then it's a success so you do it again the following year and then it's all part of the Christmas routine.

Four years ago I decided to buy my little Christmas elf a special Christmas glass.  Something to use over the Christmas period.  I bought it as a little bit of fun, it was cheap and cheerful and I think it was from somewhere like Woolworths.

The following year, whilst shopping in Tesco, I saw another Christmassy themed glass and, on a whim, bought it

Last year, I was shopping in Next and saw this pretty mug in the homeware department, I liked the way the Christmas graphics were shaped into a heart

You'll notice that each year we are going a little bit more up market, so this year whilst shopping in Cath Kidston I saw this ...

The strange thing is, that these glasses and mugs are in the same place in the same cupboard all year round, but she only brings them out to use at Christmas time!  I kind of like this little traditional treat, but having gone up to bone china, Cath Kidston, I'm not sure where I'm going to end up shopping next year!

JYC Day 6 - Keep Calm - it's only one day of the year!

Don't we all drive ourselves mad for what is, in reality only a couple of days of the year?  Every magazine you see gives you the perfect menu for Christmas, the perfect way to decorate, the perfect mince pie recipe ... and so on.  The thing is, I don't lead a perfect life for 363 days of the year so why should I feel like I have to live 2 perfect days?  Come to think of it, my idea of perfect is my own idea.  Just because Nigella Lawson is dipping her fingers into sublime, perfect brandy sauce with her Christmas pud, and Jamie Oliver is dishing up a 'pukka' roast turkey with meat piled high on a platter for everyone to help themselves doesn't mean that this will work at our house.  In fact, any dipping of fingers is bound to lead to me dripping sauce right down the front of my best Christmas dress.  We have 14 round the table at Christmas, ages ranging from 85 to 9 months, can you imagine all those arms diving in to help themselves?  (I make one exception here, Queen Delia Smith really does know how to make perfect crunchy roast potatoes, so if I can borrow one person's idea of perfection, that's the one I will be taking on board!)
So I reckon that with the hindsight of Christmases past, the thing to do is make two lists.  One reality check, things that I need to do and one called 'it probably won't happen but if it is does it would be a bonus'. The days go past in a blur and I always end up going to the supermarket far too often in the days leading up to Christmas buying impulse things that seemed essential at the time but were so non-essential, they are still in the fridge two days after Christmas.
The real essentials for a Happy Christmas for me are having those closest and dearest to me around me, everyone keeping healthy, and enough food in the cupboards to keep us going until the shops reopen.  
Keep Calm - It's only Christmas!!!

JYC Day 2 Clearing out Santa's grotto

We believe in a magical Christmas in our family.  The reality of Father Christmas has to be believed in for as long as possible.  Because he only visits those who truly believe right?
Since my children were born I have been asked by Father Christmas to be one of his official helpers.  Not actually an elf because although I'm the right height I'm not actually very good at making toys.  Father Christmas would get all the gifts for our children and ask me to hide them away for him in our house so that his sack wasn't too heavy on Christmas Eve.  This was a bit of a tricky one for me because I happened to have two very inquisitive children and there was nowhere in the house that would have been a safe refuge for Santa's gifts to be hidden away.
Well, nowhere IN the house, but the loft was definitely out of bounds.  In those days we didn't have a loft ladder attached to the loft hatch so to get up there would have involved them in dragging a step ladder up the stairs from the garage and I think I would have noticed if they had been trying that!  Now this was all fine and dandy for Father Christmas, his sack was nice and light for his big night out with Rudolf, but I then had to somehow get his presents down out of the loft and into sacks after the children had gone to sleep.  And we all know how long it takes to get to sleep on Christmas Eve don't we?
About this time, it started to become popular for people to decorate the outside of their houses.  It hadn't been that big a thing in the UK until then, we did the inside beautifully but the outside was left more or less untouched.  So when people started adding coloured lights outside, and sparkly icicles from guttering, and illuminated statues in the garden it was very exciting.
So we came up with a cunning plan.  On Christmas Eve we would go to the Nativity service at the church to sing carols and come home, have tea, bath and get into pyjamas and then I (being Chief Elf) would put the children in the car and drive around the local streets, checking out the external decorations and voting for which street had the prettiest houses.  Meanwhile, back at home Deputy Chief Elf would be up in the loft, sorting out gifts and bringing them down to the spare bedroom to be hidden away until Father Christmas visited during the night to arrange them by bedsides.  These were the days before mobile phones and Chief Elf had to stay out as long as possible to give Deputy Elf time to get everything organised because she had no way of knowing how things were going back at home!
When I drive past decorated houses I still remember those long drives in the dark, with two excited, tired children in the back and how we managed to help Santa prolong the magic as long as possible.

JYC Day 1 'You better watch out ...'

... you better not cry, you better not pout I'm telling you why.  Santa Claus is coming to town ...'

Oh yes he is boys and girls, and he's already in Hertfordshire checking to see who is on the 'good' list !  Shimelle asked us to think about what signs we have seen to show that Christmas is on its way.  Well I can't think of a bigger hint than a sight of Santa himself.  I thought I was being quite clever and unobtrusive from photographing him behind my car in Waitrose car park, right up until the point at which he pointed to me and gave me a wave!

Hmm so what else is proof that we are on the countdown to Christmas ... 

The first window on my daughter's advent calendar being opened.  And yes she is 26 and still likes an advent calendar - Christmas brings out the inner child in all of us!

So what about a manifesto?  What do I hope this Christmas brings?  I've put a few ideas into this picture I created with Tagxedo

Happy December 1st everybody!