General Chat

Back home now , William ,what a lovely story :-) i don't ever remember my dad dressing up as santa ,when i woke in the morning santa had already been , i think its lovely with the little ones ,they keep looking up my chimney and asking how santa gets down !! they don't have a fire place and chimney so they have to leave a key for santa to get in .

I have two fridges and they are packed !! just got the fresh stuff to get now from the market tomorrow ,then thats it .
Got one more present to wrap and thats my lot done.

We used to have Petit Fours too ,i haven't seen any for a few years now .
They were saying on the radio this morning about opening presents if you are common you open presents in the morning ....if you are posh you open your presents later in the afternoon ............so are you common or posh :-) :-) :-)

Got the family coming for the day tomorrow , son wanted roast beef dinner so that's what i'am doing .

Hope you enjoy your meal tonight Frank, sounds as if you've been working really hard in the kitchen .

OMG--WHERE DOES THAT LEAVE ME--WE OPEN SOME XMAS EVE :-S :-S--

HOWS YOU DAY GOING FRANK STILL STANDING ? ;-) ;-) :-)

I'm common then Mandy :-D :-D :-D :-D.Yet people think I'm posh lol ;-) ;-) ;-)
One of my friends on GR calls me Posh Bird!!! LOL

Well Shirl , i think your very naughty , opening presents early !! LOL

I'am common too , we open ours first thing ........i carn't wait all day !!!! :-D :-D

Hubby has gone to have his nails cut and have his foot massage !! i carn't bear to have my feet touched ,i'am so ticklish ,so i have to cut my own nails !!

I heard the Queen opens her pressies on Christmas Eve!!!!.So Shirl you are in good company ;-)

Well, I started off common Mandy but have turned posh over the years. As a child my brother and I would always go into mum and dad's bedroom to open our presents first thing in the morning. The old teasmade would be whistling away and we always had chocolate digestive biscuits, my dad would be sitting up in bed in his vest ...... always kept his pyjamas under the pillow in case of fire ........ We would have a stocking, a sock really, which had a tangerine, some nuts and some coppers in it and probably one or two presents, usually a doll for me. My mum would start her Christmas food shop weeks before, gradually building it up and everytime I went into the cupboard she would shout ...... you can't have that, that's for christmas. Chicken was special, we only had it at Christmas, the same with tangerines and brazil nuts. In between Christmas dinner and Christmas tea we would all be watching TV and it was dad's job to crack open the nuts and pass them round. Took me a few seconds to eat the nut then I had to wait for ages for the next one. Now we have brunch, a tradition from son-i-laws childhood, cold meats, pickles, crusty bread and champagne for those who fancy it, then we open presents. We take it in turns to open one, that way we can see what everyone has and it takes most of the afternoon, the children are very good and wait their turn, holding the next present to open and shaking it and squashing it to see what's inside.

Loved your story William, great fun, it is a shame when the little ones realise Santa is really dad dressed up

Lots of royals at Sandringham this year , the queen is there already , some of the royals have to slum it in the servants quarters as there are so many of them this year .
Would love to be a fly on the wall to see what they buy each other . :-D :-D

That was a lovely memory William. I remember doing paper chains too and painting the edges of Holly white and sprinkling glitter on. I used to make newspaper fir trees too by rolling up a newspaper, cutting slits around one edge, then pulling it to make the fringed tree.

Well, we are common then!! When I was little I had a bed with a post at each corner with knobs on. On christmas morning when I woke up the bottom of the bed would be covered in presents and hanging on a knob at the bottom would be my christmas stocking, one of mum's american tan ones!! I always started with the stocking as it seemed more exciting than the other presents as you could only reach one little gift at once. Some of the things I remember getting in my stocking are a bird whistle you put water in, rolled up magic painting books you just needed a brush and water for, join the dots books, a paintbox, crayons, chalks, those little box games where you rolled silver balls into holes, solitaire, plastic animals where you pushed the base to maked the legs bend, card games, sweet cigarettes, sugar mice and at the bottom there were always nuts and a tangerine with a few pennies. Once my sister and brother came along, all the presents went under the tree. We would go and get our presents as soon as we were awake and I can remember waking my 3 year old brother one year and he was making faces until I said those magic words 'HE's BEEN!!' Then he couldn't get out of bed quick enough. I remember us tiptoeing downstairs together and holding his little hand that was shaking with excitement. Bless him, he must have thought the presents were for anyone and he ripped the paper off one of my sisters and they ended up with a tug of war even though it was a 'girlie' present. After that he was diving to and fro with them to me to ask 'is this one mine?' before he ripped the paper off.

My poor friend wasn't allowed to open hers until after breakfast and church which I couldn't understand so thought was quite cruel at the time. No wonder she never seemed to be very excited about Christmas morning. We always dressed up a bit for the day years ago too. Now we are often in our dressing gowns all Xmas morning!!

Maureen, that brought a memory back..........dad in bed in his vest!! lol Mum would have her curlers in too and a hairnet!! :-D

THANK JANE I GUESS IT COMES FORM MY ANCESTOR --MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS ;-)

I THINK I LIKED MY XMAS STOCKING BEST AS IT HELD SO MANY LITTLE SURPRISES --FROM THE FRUIT & CANDY PUZZLES YOU HAD TO GET THE WEE BALLS IN HOLES, PEN AND PENCIL ,NEW ERASER ,NEW SHEETS OF ANGELS SCRAPS -WAS LIKE A TREASURE CHEST
OF GOODIES. I THINK THATS WHY I DO THE MONSTERS GOODIE BAGS -MY DAD HAD HIS VEST UNDER HIS PJ'S??

Ooh ! What lovely memories are coming up now.......Who was it just now saying about waiting for the nut s to be cracked and then handed out? I remember that and always waiting for a Brazil or a Hazelnut.The Almonds were always a problem (trying to crack them) :-S.
I think Frank will be now sat down to his Birthday Dinner.I hope it is a lovely evening for him and all.............Enjoy Frank!!!!!.Let others do the washing up ;-)

A new pencil sharpener sometimes as well Shirl!

The nuts always seem to have more flavour newly cracked from their shells don't they! OH always has Turkish Delight........no chance of me wanting any! He has just said he needs more Ginger Wine too!! Something else to get tomorrow. Up early again to go to the farm for the turkey tomorrow. Then hair cut and colour at 1.00pm.

An early night for me........just hope this scratchy feeling in my throat isn't what I think it is!!!

Hope the Birthday Boy is enjoying himself!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO FRANK.
I went to see the Snowman today it was FAB I had a lovely day and they even had snow it fell on our heads. I had a lovely lunch can. Anyone whoes got granchildren should take them no words but its magical and the flying made us shed tears to walking on air the song. all in all a great day.

Yesterday went out with Beryl and Donnie for a meal and Beryl fancied the young Chinese waiter .Donnie said hey stop oggling him women .Beryl said he is lovely would not mind a taste of him. Donnie said over my dead body and Beryl said oh well when are you going to kill yourself then. I changed the subject quickly.

The christmas tree fell over knocked over by the dogs and everything busted .I had to go and buy a new one and some lights curtesy of Ryan
have a lovely evening and hope Frankl enjoyed his birthday.

NOT A CAN SILLY ME. SORRY ERROR. SORRY ABOUT THE MISTAKES HAD TO TYPE IT QUICKLY MICHELLES WAITING TO USE THE COMPUTOR

Creeping into Mum and Dad's bed with my pillow case full of goodies.Saying"Look what Father Christmas has brought me".
I now understand why they weren't as excited as me lolol....They had only just gone to bed :-) :-).Been there and done that with my two.
I must make sure my fire place is all clean and ready for Santa on Saturday night
;-)

Yes ,been there done that , having to sit up that bit longer just to make sure they are really sound asleep, and then when you go in they move ,so down you come again and wait a bit longer !!!

You eventually get the presents in the stocking and the little devils wake up LOL and its still dark :-D :-D

LOL Mandy .Yes ,the times I got to their bedroom doors ,then had to creep away :-S :-S.Sat on the stairs holding my breath waiting to have another attempt :-|.Eventually delivering Santa's gifts and then legging it off to bed ,hoping and praying I could get a little bit of sleep before the onslaught of kids and pillow cases on our bed.I think Chris always managed to 'stay' asleep ) :-S

I think I will say Night Night now (not that I am off to bed) but need to keep wrapping blooming pressies ;-)

Think i will soon be off to bed ,will be a busy day here tomorrow with the little ones ,although hubby will finish work about lunch time .

Hope Frank has enjoyed his birthday meal <3 and is not too intoxicated :-D :-D :-D :-D LOL

Mel, lovely looking cake and posy's , is all the greenery from your garden ?

Night Night xx

That sounded a great show Sheila .Love to hear Beryl and Donnie still 'entertaining' lol.What a pair they are .My mind boggles with those two :-S

Off to bed now ,leaving my lounge like a bomb has hit it.Presents,wrapping paper still waiting to be done. :-S :-S :-S
Night Night everyone xx

Just a quick hallo/goodbye.

Had a great meal, and the family couldn't stop [praising me for the fantastic food. I must say it was Bl###y good.

Had a few beers and a bottle of red, so won't be long before I hit the hay. !!!

It's marvelous how a little story from William gets the brain cells going, I think I will tell you a few stories when I am seeing the keyboard a little better.

Good night all, sleep tight.

Morning All,

Glad you liked my cake. It took me ages to find out how to send the pic and they take so long to load. Dull here today but quite warm which is a shame. |I like the cold crisp mornings at this time of year with the glittery frost across the lawns.

We had a tradition in our family that we all went for a walk Christmas morning. Whether if be over the river and along the bank or just around a couple pof blocks of houses. I would usually take one of my presents with me. A pram, my scooter which was red and yellow and I think had to the name Mo-Jo on it, or my rollar skates. Dad always said it was to make room for Christmas dinner. I did'nt moind anyway as I loved to be outside and see the new toys other children had had for Christmas. People would be out on new bykes or with dolls prams and even walkie talkie dolls which I had one year. Blonde hair with plaits, eyes that opened and closed when you laid her down and she was nearly as big as me. I remember her sticking out of my pillow case at the bottom of my bed unwrapped. I looked down the bed to see if he had "Been" and she was looking at me. She had a green dress on but no knickers to my disgust!!! That was the first thing mum had to make for her. Do you know I still have those knickers on my teddy bear now but they are falling apart. They are lilac silky stuff. Yes Peggy went on the Christmas walk too.Some times I ended up on dads shoulders when small.

I always had a stocking too. I like that as I had it later on in the day or perhaps Boxing Day. Our presents always lasted the two days as we always saved some and that tradition went on forever to this day. Mum would always have to have a pressy or two before Christmas Day. She was the biggest kid going when it came to Christmas.

One year I so wanted a rocking horse like those big victorian ones. I did get one but it was not the one I wanted he was made by dad. Painted white and his back was padded with maroon felt. He was rather square though with only small rockers. His mane and tail were blond and made out of plummers hemp and he had a handles poking out the sides for me to hold on to. I still loved him very much as I was into Hopalong Cassidy at the time amnd he had a white horse. I even had a lead Hopalong that came off his horse.

Farm animals was another thing I liked and we would go to a toy shop in South Woodford and it was like a treasure trove. Toys hanging from the ceiling and you could just about get through the shop which seemed to go on forever. The farm animals were layed out in a glass cabinet. I remember having a cat in a basket and she had tiny tiny kittens. Another thing I had from that shop was a little brown chicken house with a drop down door at the front and a small brown pony, cows and sheep and dad made me a board painted with green fields and brown roadways that I could set out the farm on.

I always seemed to get a toothbrush in a holder with some kind of fancy handle be it Donald Duck or some such thing and jigsaws, a sweet shop or Post Office set. I like those with their rubber stamp and stamp bad. Perhaps a big box of shiny coloured balls that you made patterns with. I think the balls were clay and painted in bright colours. I think too there were other games of fortune telling with a little man that went in the middle of the board who had a pointer but I can't remember for the life of me any more than that. Ludo and snakes and ladders which I never tired of. Mum and dad would always buy the latest board game and one year I had Mouse Trap which I see is still going today. Dollies in cutout form that you could dress in all manner of outfits and I got so cross when the tabs fell off and the clothes would'nt stay on.

One year I had a set called Pom Pom Pets. It had three sets of plastic rings that you popped together and woulnd wool round and cut the wool and tie the middle then pop of the interlocking rings or ovals. Same sort of thing as the cardboard rings wound with wool but on a smaller scale as we would make great big ones on cardboard. You then sewed these fluffy balls together to make cats or owls and stick eye on them and ears in felt. I still have the plastic rings somewhere.

Must go and feed the chickens as I could go on forever and bore you all at this rate.............. :-)