Kitchen Garden Forum

Congratulations, Geoff! A wonderful milestone to have. Shame that you can't see him in person yet, but the time will come and by then he might appreciate YOU more than he would now. Having nine grandchildren, I realise that the first born will always be a sort of favourite, although I wouldn't tell him that, of course.

I'm tired of cloudy weather. The sky is constantly overcast. In the morning you get up to work - it's dark. By lunchtime you just fall asleep, because it’s dark in the evening. This is wildly depressing.

Good news Geoff and I do hope he grows up with his Grandads sense of humour...

I think the limited Break in the rules over Christmas is going to be problematic for those having to travel huge distances. It,s just too stressful and tiring for many people, especially the potential bad weather and congestion.
We,ve resigned ourselves to staying home, stocking up with festive food wine with Skype or FaceTime and making the most of just being able to chill out without feeling guilty.

I suspect for some families with a few difficult relatives, the current regulations will provide an excellent excuse to avoid stressful situations of who goes where or th inevitable argument which get triggered . I,ve already heard. " thank heavens I won't have to cook a bl**dy" nut roast for the vegetarian relative this year !

No one I know is planning on the full family affair, except the neighbours who were going to go ahead regardless of any rules on numbers, but in their defence the whole family are only about a mile apart & in frequent social distance meet ups in the garden, but there are only 6 including 2 tiny ones who don't count.

Many friends have already made plans to be apart but catch up on Zoom or whatever & some of the more creative have already cooked & frozen Xmas meals to box up with the crackers & pressies, to deliver to the older ones so they will all be sitting down to the same meal at the same time. A lot of friends are rostered on over Xmas as well so it is business as normal for them. We are staying home which was always the plan as it never ends in harmony when the whole Westi clan catch up. How can 5 children grow up together but remember events completely differently & now in their 50's & 60's still squabble over the finer details??

We plan to stay at home by ourselves, but the younger generation is going to visit us in the garden in small groups, weather permitting. We might just arrange for some mulled wine for the over 18s and non-drivers! The little ones can have some 'pretence wine' in proper wine glasses - that always goes down well.

We are being asked to plant a tree and save the planet. No room at home ? no problem. Dedicate a tree to a loved one in your nearest wood owned by the WOODLAND TRUST. £20 a tree. The Memsahib and I do it every year in memory of our late parents.

My other Garden Magazine has just turned up, with 8 packets of free seed. can't be bad.

Primrose wrote:I think the limited Break in the rules over Christmas is going to be problematic for those having to travel huge distances. It,s just too stressful and tiring for many people, especially the potential bad weather and congestion.
We,ve resigned ourselves to staying home, stocking up with festive food wine with Skype or FaceTime and making the most of just being able to chill out without feeling guilty.

I suspect for some families with a few difficult relatives, the current regulations will provide an excellent excuse to avoid stressful situations of who goes where or th inevitable argument which get triggered . I,ve already heard. " thank heavens I won't have to cook a bl**dy" nut roast for the vegetarian relative this year !

Everyone has different family relationships. I was very sad after I had to celebrate Thanksgiving in the messenger. It seems to be tedious to host all relatives, cook for everyone and clean up afterwards, and when this is not there - some kind of emptiness in the soul. So, in this situation, there are both pros and cons.

As a friend once jokingly said to us "The worst thing about Christmas is that you often end up sleeping in somebody else's bed !"

She meant it quite innocently of course, but from a middle aged lady it did sound rather amusing !

That made me smile, Primrose...

I must be very unadventurous but having to sleep on somebody's old well used lupy mattress for festive sleepovers and navigate to unfamiliar toilets in the dark of night is not really my idea of fun any more! . You get to the stage where your own familiar surroundings are best. It seems many years ago since I was happy to pop outside a tent in the darkness and risk treading in a cow pat or two to respond to the call of nature !

Incidentally OH, when do we get a new winter thread? Should it have been December 1st or do we have to wait until the shortest day on December 21st? I always raise a mental cheer when we cross that threshhold and know we're then heading (albeit slowly) in a positve trajectory.