My friend and I had a super Christmas meet up at Cliveden on Saturday, it was our third annual Christmas walk there and probably the most wintery. Can you see how we walked into the fog in the Long Garden?
Each year there’s a trail to follow and this year it was pantomime theme. Last year it was based around The Twelve Days of Christmas, but these have not beaten the first year when we had to find bunches of carrots, left for Rudolph, hanging from trees and bushes. I can’t even say why as that year it was pretty basic, but it made us laugh a lot (apart from when I grew petulant that an enthusiastic 3 year old, running ahead of us, kept finding the carrots before we could!)
We walked a good 5 miles in all, so it seems my physio’s brutal vigorous sports massages on my sore knee and my conscientious daily stretches are having a positive effect, after weeks of pain and boring inactivity. Walking through fog is weird; by the end we were decidedly damp haired and rosy cheeked for lunch in the Orangery.
On Sunday we went with Mum to find Christmas trees, she found one she wanted immediately and hared off to buy it, before anyone else took a liking to it. We didn’t have the same love at first sight with any, so will try again another day. I’ve stuck to family tradition of only decorating a week at most, before Christmas Eve. To be fair this was the same for pretty much everyone here when I was growing up, until people started copying the American thing of decorating early, as many seem to after Thanksgiving. Are you American? Is that a relatively new tradition? If Christmas lasted the whole of December I’d be truly sick of it by 25th, and the size of the shepherds hut above. This way we enjoy the anticipation and it’s not overkill. I have to say that as I write this I am so looking forward to making mulled wine, brandy butter and mince pies! Did someone mention Twiglets? Cadbury Roses?!
How are your plans coming along? Are you a month long celebrator, or less?
The Little Room of Rachell 
Happy Christmas. Tree goes up on 16 December! You had a lovely walk. All I have left to do is ice the Christmas cake. Chocolate orange? Nut and raisin mix?
Happy Christmas!
Honey roasted and dry roasted peanuts here. And whole nuts to crack to shower the room with shell. Chocolate orange is very retro! I remember Mum opening one to show me when I was very small, pre-school age.
In America, it seems Christmas shopping is meant to start right after Halloween and it can be pretty dreadful. Everyone complains but someone must be buying I suppose. At our house we try to keep all the festivities to the 2 weeks before Christmas at least. It’s easy to get sick of it!
I suppose that’s the same here – the shops are all ready for shopping from then on, people like to get ahead especially if they’re working over Christmas. I start until Mid- November, at the earliest.
I agree – two weeks is plenty of time to celebrate.
Have a Very Merry Christmas!
Here in the USA we put our xmas trees and decorations up the first week of December. Especially after the elections this year, we were all desperate for some Christmas cheer. The lights all around are especially beautiful.
Here the towns and cities lights go up and on in November – that I really do like and think it brightens the darker autumn days.
I like to begin decorating after Thanksgiving as it actually takes me quite a while to do it and I like to do a little each day rather than exhaust myself in one day. I also don’t go nuts on the shopping thing and am disgusted by how many make such a career of it. I do not go to the Black Friday things and really don’t go to malls. I just love the lights during this dark time when the sun goes down so early. Teresa :-)
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*M*E*R*R*Y* *C*H*R*I*S*T*M*A*S*!*
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I have always admired your lovely cosy and lit up rooms – your home looks very appealing.
I know this will make me sound like the grinch, but it’s too bad! – I detest christmas and everything that it’s been turned into. It’s like an aerobics class – the best bit for me is when it’s over ;)
Have a humbug lovely!