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'Far too early to be thinking about Christmas' most will shout. Including me.
In the good old US of A you've got something called Halloween and then Thanksgiving, or vice versa and you have to get those darn elections over and done with.
Here it's a few name days and a National holiday and church fiestas. You know the drill. I don't have to fill you in on all of those.
And then December. And a few more family birthdays. Though October seems to be the most popular month for those in our family.
Anyway.....
It's not till December that I usually start thinking of Christmas. And presents. Though K is already pressing me on what we will eat on Christmas day. The usual! He cooks Greek and I cook kiwi.
The grandchildren have all grown up and it's not easy finding presents that they might enjoy so last year we started a Secret Santa Christmas draw. Each of us drew one name and we all bought a present just for that person.
Oh, except for the Christmas stockings. That's a tradition they all still enjoy even though the oldest is 24.
This year the next wave of grandchildren are going off to the big city to study and by next week there will be only one left on Poros for the winter. So we had the Secret Santa draw early while most of them are still on the island.
And, as usual, you can't come to Papou Ks house without partaking of food and drink so it was another 'party'.
'Guess who' hiding in her hoody, keeping warm after a few hours of rowing practice. She wrote the names on slips of paper.
So whose name did you draw Poppi Mou?
An excellent bottle of Marlborough ( NZ) sauvignon blanc for Elli and I and our granddaughters sharing it with us too now. Darn.
Thank you Peter and Fernanda who brought two bottles of NZ wine when they visited last month.
K and son in law Yiannis drinking the local plonk
All set up and almost ready to go
The meat is on the grill, the 'good wine' bottle open
I love a Secret Santa. So much better than the whole "what to buy for everyone" saga.
ReplyDeleteOur charity shop had their Christmas cards out on sale in September!!! Nooo... way too early!!!
Great idea. Presents are a source of stress for me. I'm hopeless.
DeleteI stopped sending Xmas cards last year. Well, maybe I sent 2 or 3. I suppose I should buy a packet....online from a Chinese giant. September. Give us a break!!
I read somewhere that Jesus was born in September and Christians moved it to the date of a pagan Celtic day of celebration in December. The supermarkets are full of Christmas goodies.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure he wasn't born in mid winter. No signs of Xmas yet here. Thank goodness. It's coming though, ready or not
DeleteIt’s all go (in most of the shops) down here - no street decorations yet thank goodness. Tinsel doesn’t do so well in 30° heat
ReplyDeleteI was only thinking the other day about maybe doing puddings again, missed a couple of years. Then I saw the price of good dried fruit….still thinking about it
I'm thinking of making pickled onions and chutney. But not for another month. I made puddings for a couple of years. Most of the family weren't enthusiastic. I make a boozy boiled fruit cake and call it Xmas cake.
DeleteI know prices are just sky high. I'm looking for a few bargains now while it's early. If there are bargains!!
Our shops are already full of Christmas stuff. I swear they get earlier every year.
ReplyDeleteIt's a big money maker!. It gets earlier here too but still not until December. It used to be the week before xmas
DeleteI am not ready to start thinking of Christmas yet but agree the Secret Santa is the way to go.
ReplyDeleteWe still have 2 months to go thank goodness, before all the hype
DeleteI'm ashamed to say that I bought my first Christmas present last Saturday. A small, but very expensive, jar of Saffron for my oldest son, Kimbo. I thought if I didn't buy it, I probably wouldn't see it again. It was the last one!
ReplyDeleteActually I would do the same. If something pops out then buy it. Thats what my daughter does all the year and she already has half her presents and good ones too
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