Christmas in Our House

This Meme is an adaptation of one on my friend Daisy's Board. Please feel free to tag yourself!

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Wrapping paper unless it's one of those really hard-to-wrap presents.


2. Real tree or Artificial? Real. In Australia we tried getting real trees but most were so spindly that we ended up buying an artificial tree. However on moving to New Zealand our artificial tree looked so pitiful with the high ceilings in our old house so we decided to get a real tree (easier here than in Oz). We still have our artificial tree but it hasn't seen the light of day for many years!


3. When do you put up and take down the tree? We used to get the tree just before Christmas so that it wouldn't be too dead looking on the day, but now we tend to get a tree on the first weekend in December as we've discovered they last. And I like to have it out of the house by New Year's Day. Then it usually lies in our backyard for a few months until someone gets around to chopping it up for firewood.


4. Favourite Christmas ornament? I've kept a lot of the ornaments my kids have made but I've noticed they rarely find their way onto the tree anymore. I probably don't have a favourite but what would a tree be without lights and tinsel and glittering balls and a star?


5. How did you spend Christmas as a child? Christmas Day would begin with opening our presents early, then getting ready for church. After church all the relatives would come to our home. This usually meant my maternal grandparents, and my mother's two sisters and their families (from out of town) for the midday meal. After that there'd be more presents then the women would do the dishes (and my sister and I once we could hold a tea towel) while the men watched cricket on television. We'd usually go to my father's sister's for tea and my paternal grandparents would be there and my older cousins of whom we were in awe (probably because they seemed so grown-up). My aunt had an in-ground swimming pool which my sister and I would spend time in before eating our second Christmas dinner.


6. What has changed now? We still get together with family - but it's now my husband's family and our own children. I haven't spent Christmas with my own family for thirteen years! (I usually ring them though). Our church doesn't have a Christmas Day service so after breakfast we gather in the living room and read the Christmas Story before opening presents. Our main meal is in the middle of the day, then after the dishes are done, it's more presents. Tea-time is left-overs - if anyone is still hungry.


7. Typical Christmas dinner? A combination of traditional Aussie-Kiwi Christmas dinners, influenced heavily by our British heritage. I'm still fine-tuning the menu but we'll likely have turkey and stuffing, gravy, ham, roast kumara and pumpkin, German potato salad, garden salad, beetroot, and peas and corn. Dessert will be Christmas pudding with cream and custard and perhaps pavlova or lemon meringue pie (for those that don't like Christmas pudding). This year I'm not doing lots of snacks as most people don't arrive until it's almost time to sit down to eat. However I will have Christmas Mazurka out and probably some nuts (pistachio, cashews, peanuts) and dried fruits (figs, pineapple, mango, apricots, cranberries, etc). And to wash it all down we'll have sparkling grape juice or apple cider.


8. Favourite Christmas tradition? Doing things together, whether it's decorating the tree, making the Christmas pudding, or cleaning the house!


9. What do you want for Christmas this year? My husband and I have agreed not to give presents this year (we have a significant anniversary next month followed by my birthday). Having family together is all I really want, however, if I had to make a wish list it would include: my favourite natural perfume; a basket of fat quarters (fabric squares for the uninitiated); or jewellery (I love sapphires!).


10. What do you absolutely have to get done before Christmas? Finish cleaning the house; grocery shopping (otherwise there will be no Christmas dinner); food preparation; and learn my lines for a drama I'm doing Christmas Eve. So what am I doing here?????

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