Chrimbo 2020 thread

[Patrick Thistle]

Written my Christmas cards. First mince pie of the season about to be scoffed. Less than a month to go. Woohoo.

[elguapo4]

Hate doing the Christmas cards but they're a necessary thing. I'll do them on Monday or Tuesday.

[Felicity, I guess so]

Sittin here in Queens
Eatin refried beans
....
No Xmas cards to send
Daddy liked men

[Walt Flanagans Dog]

We were contemplating buying a real tree tomorrow but reckon next weekend is a better bet. There are loads of houses round here which have lit up earlier than usual. I'm normally a sceptic about this whole thing but have to admit it has been pleasant on my evening runs.

[Nocturnal Submission]

Christmas card spreadsheet has been updated. Cards to be written this weekend. No cards as yet received.

First items of Christmas food, a three-bird roast and honey-glazed parsnips, were part of today's grocery delivery.

We have a box of crackers left over from last year.

Christmas tree collection date TBA but initial discussions with the friend that I usually go with have been had.

I think that my kids have finished their gift shopping already. We've barely started.

In short - early days.

[Sporting]

Christmas cards aren't really a thing here. They do exist, but very few people send them. We gave up some years ago.

[Sporting]

And as I think I mentioned last year, our small artificial tree will be erected around the 22nd or 23rd.

[Eggchaser]

Ours is going up tomorrow as the kids are insisting on it due to 29 November being the "first day of Christian advent". I'm not impressed, but I am also not a Grinch so I shall be dragging the usual festive tat out of the cupboard above the stairs.

We'll send Christmas cards, I think this year of all years a physical connection to someone is vital.

[ursus arctos]

Christmas cards are much less of a thing here now than they were when I was a child.

Corporate ones have largely disappeared in the circles I'm familiar with and personal ones have dropped rather precipitously. The much derided "family newsletter" may have had something to do with that, but social media (particularly FB) has done more to change habits. The pandemic poses yet another set of challenges for the olden ways,

[Jah Womble]

It’s still November, so Christmas isn’t a ‘thing’ with me yet. (Not even this year.)

Once we hit December I’ll probably tuck into my first mince pie, but - as much as I enjoy it - I don’t go overboard on the seasonal stuff. (Christmas cards can wait for a week or two. I still have a clutch left over from the past couple of years, so folk can expect to receive those.)

I can remember briefly doing the newsletter thang before my mom passed away - but I found one a year or two back and it made me cringe, so I'll never be doing it again. (As ursus suggests, we have Facebook, etc, for such things now.)

[Rogin the Armchair fan]

I think the only bit of Christmas I've ever really enjoyed is giving people I love presents. For a curmudgeonly misanthrope like me that's quite an astonishing thing to realise. All the rest - the forced bonhomie with people you don't make any effort to see the other 51 weeks of the year, the sheds full of shite, the same old bloody songs on the radio and films on the telly, the teeth-grinding historical nonsense of the nativity story, pubs being full of wankers in jumpers and hats out of crackers* - I utterly despise.

*at least we're spared that to an extent this year.

I do however take great delight in pointing out to every caroller I can that "Christmas" is the pagan midwinter Saturnalia festival, right down to the decoration of trees and communal feast, and all the early Christians did was nick that and stick Jesus on it. Just like they did with Easter.

[Capybara]

I think the only bit of Christmas I've ever really enjoyed is giving people I love presents. For a curmudgeonly misanthrope like me that's quite an astonishing thing to realise. All the rest - the forced bonhomie with people you don't make any effort to see the other 51 weeks of the year, the sheds full of shite, the same old bloody songs on the radio and films on the telly, the teeth-grinding historical nonsense of the nativity story, pubs being full of wankers in jumpers and hats out of crackers* - I utterly despise.

I agree with most of that, particularly the wankers in jumpers bit which is one of the few good things about the state we are in at the moment. I do cards, but only to friends who I don't see very often. Despite everything, I enjoy Christmas Day itself. It's just the build-up I can't stand. I always see close family. I've been with my mother every year since I was born and my brother every year since he was. This year, because of the situation, we've agreed not to meet so I won't be with my family for the first time in sixty years.

[Moonlight Shadow]

I think the only bit of Christmas I've ever really enjoyed is giving people I love presents. For a curmudgeonly misanthrope like me that's quite an astonishing thing to realise. All the rest - the forced bonhomie with people you don't make any effort to see the other 51 weeks of the year, the sheds full of shite, the same old bloody songs on the radio and films on the telly, the teeth-grinding historical nonsense of the nativity story, pubs being full of wankers in jumpers and hats out of crackers* - I utterly despise.

*at least we're spared that to an extent this year.

I do however take great delight in pointing out to every caroller I can that "Christmas" is the pagan midwinter Saturnalia festival, right down to the decoration of trees and communal feast, and all the early Christians did was nick that and stick Jesus on it. Just like they did with Easter.

I can pretty much agree with all of that..

[Eggchaser]

Blimey, there are some hearts two sizes too small on display here.

[Simon G]

Tree went up yesterday, as did some outdoor lights. Window lights have gone up this morning and I have some that need putting in a bush outside our front door.

The older kids don't care, the 3 year olds are now beaming apart from when we tell them not to touch the bloody tree.

Coming on here has just reminded me we have no mince pies, so I've messaged the wife to pick some up because she's currently out shopping.

[San Bernardhinault]

As mentioned on the mundane thread, the menagerie is up. I kinda like Christmas these days. I wish there were a bit less of it, and I hate buying presents because I'm rubbish at it. But it's basically nice seeing people happy, giving people things, having a few days off, glitzing up the house with temporary tacky decorations that you know will come down, maybe going to a couple of parties (not this year). The party thing is much more tolerable when you don't have organised office parties and when you can just choose to not show up and choose to leave early when you have shown up.

[Diable Rouge]

Have made a start on the shopping, which is early by my standards, and the annual Christmas FM radio station officially launched at noon today.

[Benjm]

I've invited my brother over, as he was otherwise facing lengthy train journeys, and booked a Cote at Home delivery for the 22nd. The rest can wait for a while.

I passed some people carrying a cut tree yesterday. If you get one this early, won't it dry out and shed by the time Christmas actually arrives?

[DCI Harry Batt]

Not sure when our tree will go up. We want to move the main room around a bit first. Maybe this coming week, maybe next weekend.

We send a few cards, not many. Just family really. I've half thought about sending a couple to friends this year, but it's unlikely.

I have just realised that I won't be getting all the office mince pies this year, so we'd better get shopping.

So what do you have with your mince pies, when you have them hot? Cream (and if so, what kind(s)?)? Custard? Brandy butter? Ice cream (and if so, what kind?)? Something else?

[S. aureus]

I find buying presents incredibly stressful, and am also rubbish at it.
We generally go back to my parents' house in the UK for Christmas, along with my sisters' families and it's really nice to see everyone and basically just relax with people whose company I enjoy (I'm lucky that I get along well with my family). Clearly we're not doing that this year, so it will kind of suck. A couple of years ago we were over here for Christmas and it just wasn't the same.
We'll be putting up the tree this weekend, assuming I can get to the decorations through the pile of junk that has accumulated in my garage since covid.

[S. aureus]

What type of weirdo has something with their mince pie (apart from some sort of beverage)?

[DCI Harry Batt]

In my experience, it's not a particularly unusual thing.

[Diable Rouge]

As Ton Ton says, if you've heated them in the oven for eating after dinner, you need something to cool them down (ice-cream being my personal preference, as have never been a fan of actual cream).

[Rogin the Armchair fan]

Mince pies are possibly the only thing I eat a dollop of clotted cream on in any situation nowadays. Not getting back to Devon too often now, where obviously you have that daily on scones and on pretty much any other meal where there appears to be some room on the plate.

[Benjm]

Mince pies are a proxy for a covert escalation of the Toast War.