Xmas 2020

Christmas preparations are under way.  Presents and decorations are gathering dust, having been put up 3 weeks ago

This is the flower of Christmas.  A poinsettia with its gorgeous red leaves.  Known as an Alexandrino in greek.  This year I was given one for my birthday, a couple of weeks ago.

I kept it inside but it definitely didn't like the warm nights near the wood fire.  A lot of its leaves dried up and fell off.  Now I've put it outside but we are having a particulary cold wet spell and I'm a bit worried about it .  I may have to put it next to me on my desk where the warmth of the fire hardly reaches, shiver,  and it's near the window.

Every year my daughter and I try to keep them growing after the Christmas holdidays.  My daughter is more successful than I am.

They can grow well in this climate because there is one down the road from our old house which is the size of a tree and a friends mother has one for five years now and it's leaves turn red at Christmas just as they should.  That was another problem.  The leaves slowly turn green.  How do you get the red back again?

Home knitted gnomes meet coca-cola elves under the xmas tree.  The elves were part of a coca-cola campaign many, many years ago.  We got bundles of them because a nephew worked for the company.  

I always hang my birthday cards up with the Xmas cards.  This year there is 1 xmas card and two birthday cards.  Maybe the rest will arrive in February as has happened before, without a pandemic to slow the mail.

However, I did only send out 10 cards so I can't expect many can I!

The cards get fewer and fewer every year.  In fact I'm not sure what I'll do next year.  I haven't seen cards on sale here so I may have to remember to order some online in October.  Fat chance of me remembering that!

I have ready-strung cards from years gone-by so I'll just hang those, next year.

Mince pies cake pudding wine sauce
Mulled wine
Yule log
Brussel sprouts
Pate
Pointsettia
pohutakawa