Nearly Christmas.....
We had a lovely weekend - Mr Cee went to collect Eldest Cee from the South coast and got there and back in record time as there was nothing on the roads! We've had a sociable Saturday with him, then Sunday morning a friend came round and we exchanged presents and had a catch up. The rest of the day was spent tidying up the last few things and setting up the study so Youngest Cee can sleep in there on the pull-out bed when he comes over later today.
Today I feel like I've been running around all over the place - at 7.45am I popped into a supermarket and got some more flour and butter to make pastry (annoyingly I hadn't realised I had so little flour left!). The supermarket was surprisingly empty! Then I went over the road from there to have my hair done. The salon staff were all dressed in Santa T shirts with flashing necklaces which was fun and I got treated to a mince pie, mulled wine and a cup of coffee which was rather delicious! My hair looks fabulous (of course) and my hairdresser loved the little stained glass Christmas tree ornament I made her this year. While I was at the hairdressers Mr Cee collected the turkey crown and the assorted delicious side dishes as I had pre-ordered from our main supermarket which apparently went very smoothly (and quickly) too.
I'm back now and today will be spent baking a few things and preparing vegetables etc for tomorrow. Youngest Cee is driving over this afternoon and then we will all be able to relax and enjoy each others company which I'm looking forward to.
In the meantime teragramm and manoah have done this meme which has some good questions so I thought I'm leap onto that bandwagon....
1. Egg nog or hot chocolate?
Egg nog is not easy to get hold of over here, and last year I did get some from Amazon in the end just to try it. We weren't that impressed, and to be honest I'd rather have a cup of coffee than anything else. I have got some fancy hot chocolate for Christmas which has Bailey's liqueur in it, so that might be interesting.
2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? Father Christmas doesn't do anything (I wish he was real and did - it was save me a lot of time and energy!!). So I wrap everything and stick it under the tree (but not until Christmas Eve). This year I have been eco-friendly and bought plain brown parcel paper and dressed it up with pretty coloured sticky tape from Ikea. I've also used gold sealing wax and made 'seals' with Merry Christmas to make things look special. It's been so much cheaper than buying fancy wrapping paper, and looks really classy if I do say so myself!
3. Coloured or white lights? I prefer warm white lights. I have a set on the tree that gives the option to set them flashing in different sequences, but I prefer them just 'on'. We have twinkly white lights around the roof of the house outside which look cute.
4. Do you hang a mistletoe? No - I've never seen it growing around here, and I'm not going to buy it.
5. When do you put your decorations up? We put the decorations up around the second week of December. I tend to do it slowly, with the cards being pegged onto a string along a wall as they arrive and then the other decorations take about a week to finish as I clean as I go.
6. What is your favourite holiday dish (excluding dessert)? Roast potatoes. I love roast potatoes! With gravy and salt. I supposed that's not really a Christmas-specific dish :)
7. Favourite holiday memory as a child? Getting up early and sneaking downstairs to prod the presents under the tree. We weren't allowed to open anything until the adults were up and we were washed and dressed :)
8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? My parents never tried to fool us that there was a Father Christmas as far as I can remember. I don't thing many parents did for my generation.
9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? No! We save everything for Christmas day.
10. How do you decorate your tree? My tree is dressed with glass ornaments, embroidered ornaments, cinnamon sticks, pine cones, dried orange slices and pretty gold or brass ornaments. I like to have the natural things on the tree as they smell nice.
11. Snow - love it or hate it? We can't rely on having snow every year here in the South of England. I don't dislike it, but it can cause disruption to transport as we never seem to very very well prepared for it *g*
12. Can you ice skate? I used to be reasonably good, but I haven't skated for years....
13. Do you remember your favourite gift? Mr Cee buys lovely gifts. For our very first Christmas as a couple he bought me a gold bracelet which I still have.
14. What is your favourite holiday dessert? I do like Christmas pudding in moderation. None of us like nuts much, so for the past few years I've managed to find a pudding that's crammed full of fruit and doesn't have any nuts. I love it with brandy cream or brandy sauce.
15. What's the most important things about the holidays? Family.
16. What is your favourite holiday tradition? Going for a walk after lunch on Christmas Day. It's a nice way to burn off some of the excess calories and Mr Cee and I have a chance to have some time together (we can never drag the boys out with us *g*).
17. What tops your Christmas tree? I have a star made out of twigs and pinecones.
18. Which do you prefer, giving or receiving? I like buying surprises for people as I like to watch them opening their gifts. I like receiving too of course!
19. Favourite Christmas song? To be honest I get a bit tired of Christmas music as it has been played for the past 5 or 6 weekds EVERYWHERE!
20. Favourite Christmas movie? 'It's a Wonderful Life' is still fun.
21. What do you leave for Santa? Nothing these days as my children as too old for that *g*
Right - I must have some lunch and carry on getting stuff cooked.
I hope everyone has a lovely time over the next few days whatever you celebrate. If you don't celebrate anything at this time of year, I hope you have a good time whatever you do.
Today I feel like I've been running around all over the place - at 7.45am I popped into a supermarket and got some more flour and butter to make pastry (annoyingly I hadn't realised I had so little flour left!). The supermarket was surprisingly empty! Then I went over the road from there to have my hair done. The salon staff were all dressed in Santa T shirts with flashing necklaces which was fun and I got treated to a mince pie, mulled wine and a cup of coffee which was rather delicious! My hair looks fabulous (of course) and my hairdresser loved the little stained glass Christmas tree ornament I made her this year. While I was at the hairdressers Mr Cee collected the turkey crown and the assorted delicious side dishes as I had pre-ordered from our main supermarket which apparently went very smoothly (and quickly) too.
I'm back now and today will be spent baking a few things and preparing vegetables etc for tomorrow. Youngest Cee is driving over this afternoon and then we will all be able to relax and enjoy each others company which I'm looking forward to.
In the meantime teragramm and manoah have done this meme which has some good questions so I thought I'm leap onto that bandwagon....
1. Egg nog or hot chocolate?
Egg nog is not easy to get hold of over here, and last year I did get some from Amazon in the end just to try it. We weren't that impressed, and to be honest I'd rather have a cup of coffee than anything else. I have got some fancy hot chocolate for Christmas which has Bailey's liqueur in it, so that might be interesting.
2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? Father Christmas doesn't do anything (I wish he was real and did - it was save me a lot of time and energy!!). So I wrap everything and stick it under the tree (but not until Christmas Eve). This year I have been eco-friendly and bought plain brown parcel paper and dressed it up with pretty coloured sticky tape from Ikea. I've also used gold sealing wax and made 'seals' with Merry Christmas to make things look special. It's been so much cheaper than buying fancy wrapping paper, and looks really classy if I do say so myself!
3. Coloured or white lights? I prefer warm white lights. I have a set on the tree that gives the option to set them flashing in different sequences, but I prefer them just 'on'. We have twinkly white lights around the roof of the house outside which look cute.
4. Do you hang a mistletoe? No - I've never seen it growing around here, and I'm not going to buy it.
5. When do you put your decorations up? We put the decorations up around the second week of December. I tend to do it slowly, with the cards being pegged onto a string along a wall as they arrive and then the other decorations take about a week to finish as I clean as I go.
6. What is your favourite holiday dish (excluding dessert)? Roast potatoes. I love roast potatoes! With gravy and salt. I supposed that's not really a Christmas-specific dish :)
7. Favourite holiday memory as a child? Getting up early and sneaking downstairs to prod the presents under the tree. We weren't allowed to open anything until the adults were up and we were washed and dressed :)
8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? My parents never tried to fool us that there was a Father Christmas as far as I can remember. I don't thing many parents did for my generation.
9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? No! We save everything for Christmas day.
10. How do you decorate your tree? My tree is dressed with glass ornaments, embroidered ornaments, cinnamon sticks, pine cones, dried orange slices and pretty gold or brass ornaments. I like to have the natural things on the tree as they smell nice.
11. Snow - love it or hate it? We can't rely on having snow every year here in the South of England. I don't dislike it, but it can cause disruption to transport as we never seem to very very well prepared for it *g*
12. Can you ice skate? I used to be reasonably good, but I haven't skated for years....
13. Do you remember your favourite gift? Mr Cee buys lovely gifts. For our very first Christmas as a couple he bought me a gold bracelet which I still have.
14. What is your favourite holiday dessert? I do like Christmas pudding in moderation. None of us like nuts much, so for the past few years I've managed to find a pudding that's crammed full of fruit and doesn't have any nuts. I love it with brandy cream or brandy sauce.
15. What's the most important things about the holidays? Family.
16. What is your favourite holiday tradition? Going for a walk after lunch on Christmas Day. It's a nice way to burn off some of the excess calories and Mr Cee and I have a chance to have some time together (we can never drag the boys out with us *g*).
17. What tops your Christmas tree? I have a star made out of twigs and pinecones.
18. Which do you prefer, giving or receiving? I like buying surprises for people as I like to watch them opening their gifts. I like receiving too of course!
19. Favourite Christmas song? To be honest I get a bit tired of Christmas music as it has been played for the past 5 or 6 weekds EVERYWHERE!
20. Favourite Christmas movie? 'It's a Wonderful Life' is still fun.
21. What do you leave for Santa? Nothing these days as my children as too old for that *g*
Right - I must have some lunch and carry on getting stuff cooked.
I hope everyone has a lovely time over the next few days whatever you celebrate. If you don't celebrate anything at this time of year, I hope you have a good time whatever you do.