Today starts my countdown to Christmas

Very nice, i wish i felt enthusiastic for Christmas but its just one lovely day spent with my wonderful family and the rest is just another day.

I have all my decorations and trees up and so do my family and friends. I think we all feel we have to lighten life up a bit so Christmas cheers us up. My Christmas CDs are played every day while I potter around. I break tradition I make mince pies all year around I am making chocolate bark with boozy fruit in it later today. My favourite tune for the season is Driving home for Christmas by Chris Rhea.

I'm making a start today too. Putting up the tree and start decorating it a bit at a time. Earlier than usual to cheer the place up.
What a lovely voice Sarah has . I like that song very much.
I'll be playing Johnny Mathis singing Mary's Boy child, and Celo Green singing Mary did you know. And the Pogues of course. Etc.

Happy Christmas to you too paddyanne. 😊
My Christmas cards have been posted. I no longer make mince pies but I do have a lovely recipe somewhere from when I did. I’ll dig it out later and share it on here if I may? We have a very small immediate family - nine in total which encompasses 4 generations so not much present buying. We may go over to the Trafford Centre later today to get things running. Our lights are up on the balcony so they look pretty in the evenings and cheery as part of the town centre festive feel. We buy a real tree for the balcony from the very popular florist up the road, once they get the delivery out at the forecourt at the side of the shops. We usually get one on a wooden base about 5’ so our tradition is to carry it home between us. Himself takes the heavy end and I take the tip! It’s too short a walk to bother with delivery. I’ve bought new gold lights or it at the garden centre last week.

As we get older I’m enjoying the ‘less stress’ Christmas. I’ve never been a fan really. My lovely mum used to ring me on Boxing Day morning and always made me laugh by saying “well it’s as far away now as it’ll ever be”.

I miss her very much.

Forgot to say my favourite Christmas song that ‘gets me in the mood’ is “Let it snow, Let it snow, Let it snow” by Dean Martin.
🎵 🎶

As happens every year I was wakened by "It's Beginning to Look Like Christmas" by Michael Buble that DH plays for me every 1st December. We've also opened the first window on our wine advent calendar from Laithwaites.
Merry Christmas everyone 🎅 🍷 🎄

Ps. paddyann54 What a lovely version of the song - so much more so than the John Lennon version 🤶

I dont celebrate christmas so no cards, decorations, lights or trees. I dont buy any special food or drink, I havent celebrated it since 1979!

Im counting down to the time when I can close all my online shops for several weeks and just kick back. For now I am concentrating on getting the orders out of the door in time to reach international customers.

Tree up, turkey in freezer, cards written ready to post later today - about half as many as previous years. Presents all wrapped bought/sent. Sandabch Xmas market and meal ot with friends tomorrow, walking netball meal next week, writing group meal the following week, family meal the weekend after and firms' do'. I shall weigh a ton .

No decorations up here until about a week before Christmas 🎄. We have opened the first window on our Advent Calendar though. It's a wine one bought for us by our daughter. There is a small bottle of wine behind each window, probably enough for one large glass. Today's is a Colombard Sauvignon. Cheers.

Started decorating today. The children come for lunch and their advent presents. Very excited.

Here’s the mince pie recipe I always used to make, year on year, hence the smudges!
🎄

Bit early for me but each to their own.
At least the presents have been bought which is def my worst chore done.

A song I was surprised to love is A Change at Christmas by The Flaming Lips. Thought provoking if not true to my usual gentler preferences
My tree is up and lit, some gifts wrapped and that's it so far.
paddyann54 have a wonderful afternoon with your granddaughters!

I’ve opened the first window on my corny doggy Advent calendar. Nothing else, spent most of the day in the car, driving back from relatives in the Yorkshire Dales.

Small potted tree from last year will go outside the front door tomorrow, nothing else (apart from carols on CD and YouTube) for a few days, since I’ll be starting the annual pre Christmas housework blitz, plus will be away for at least 3 nights helping SiL with 3 Gdcs while dd is away for work.

Then final blitzing, buy bigger real tree and decorate, plus other decs all up and everything pristine and Christmassy before Dsis arrives from US on the 11th.
Also have to finish writing cards, and post.
I will try to fit in making plenty of mince pies. Dsis doesn’t like them but dh and I do! 🐷🐷

Got my window lights on. My small fibre-optic tree was not working. Thought I’d go to the loo for a wee, before I sorted the plug etc. Flushed the toilet - it was blocked 😫. Gloves on , plunger out - no luck. Then I noticed something white - gloved hands in - guess what it was? The toilet freshener (that you hang on the rim) had fallen into the bowl. So be warned if you’re using one of those. So glad I noticed it - a plumber would have cost me an arm and a leg 😫

PaddyAnne, I love Sarah McLachlan! Such a lovely voice.

I just sent out my one parcel to DD and family, so that's always my first chore. I do feel bit ahead of the game now.

I tend not to put Christmas music on at home, since we are bombarded with it everywhere else we go! I put it on the stereo on Christmas day only.

We got all the Christmas decorations down from the loft last week and dumped it all in the spare room!! It's still there now!! Except for the Christmassy Front door mat which went down today.
Tomorrow we will sort out the outside tree lights for the Christmas Tree in the front garden but that will go in the new year as it's getting too big now.
The reason for the delay is that our eldest grand-daughter (who is 18 now) has always decorated our tree and the two other grand-daughters have said they want to help this year too!! So it's just sorting a time to get everyone together - none of the boys are bothered!! lol!!

Opened Day 1 and 2 on my Advent Calendar, kindly provided by a daughter. Posted all my cards and went to an exercise class yesterday to which the Trainer played Christmas music. As we have a big Birthday for a Family member next week and a celebration, the house won't be decorated until after that. Although my DIY Christmas wreath is being collected to-day so I shall have to fit making that into the busy next few days. It's beginning to look a lot like chaos but I love it.

Oh, dear, nearly 11 o’clock - too much GN and word puzzles in the paper - still haven’t started my blitz - but I really am going to get going now.

I have done little packages for advent. I have even sent one off and got a lovely voice message from my 2 eldest DGDs "Senk Yoo Nanna" Even the little one (3) made an effort to speak English.

Will be seeing the others today and will give them theirs. They contain things for the kids, colouring books on a Christmassy theme, games, quiz for the parents, little kits of Christmas decorations to make, recipes for mince pies, shortbread etc.

I have no idea who will be here nor when over the Christmas week so I can only vaguely plan some menues. Have got the 25th sorted, though, at least.

Have just presented DH with the Christmas card list to amend and adjust and note who he will be contacting by e mail. (That will be most of the family and friends here in Germany as they don't have a tradition of sending cards here.)

We don't really bother with presents except for the youngest. They are usually boisterously running around as they don't see each other very often and aren't too interested in stopping to unwrap presents, so we just wrap up a few small things for them. Now they can read, they can decipher the gift tags and distribute the parcels.

I asked at the butcher's yesterday if they have their Christmas order form yet and when is the last day to order. If you want game or poultry it's usually very early in December, for pork and beef it might be about 10;days before. But they haven't had feedback from their suppliers yet, she said, and until they know what they can offer they can't print the information. I might end up just getting two chickens from the supermarket in the end. I did that last year and it went down very well.

Do not decorate for Christmas as cannot see the point being on my own most of the time now! Will see Family for a few hours Christmas day but then the rest is just alone like my life now. Lost two friends this year & 5 neighbours so not very Christmassy feel now! Maybe better next year if I am still alive!

We have made a start on cards, presents (nearly done), menu planning and cooking. But no decorations till next week and that's a week early, as we our having Family Christmas on 18th as they will all be here for our Golden Wedding party on 17th.

My daughter and 2 grand daughter's came down yesterday and put up my tree and decorated the porch windows. That's all the decorating done. I really need to get Christmas card list done and the Christmas knitting finished.