Christmas - hmmm, have mixed feelings about Christmas because my own family is so scattered, and my dream is to have everyone under one roof one fine Christmas Day. I don't know if this will ever happen. What I do know is that it would have to be a pretty big roof!
But anyway, today I got myself organised enough to make a Christmas cake, so the whole house smells of Christmas, and that's put me in a very good mood. This year, I've got it done in time to ice the cake with real royal icing, not that fondant stuff which never sets properly. So that's put a smile on my face, and I'm planning to send slices of my cake to absent friends across the oceans this year. Or that's what I'm thinking now. But I do have two nephews I'll be seeing on Christmas Day, and they're the human equivalents of gannets...
Something else that's put me in the mood for Christmas is Trisha Ashley's lovely new novel The Magic of Christmas, out now and destined to be the Christmas number one, I'm sure. I'm not usually in the business of prophecy, but I think I'm going to be right this time. You read it here first!
Hi,
ReplyDeleteAh, the family Christmases of our youth. I so remember the beginning of Christmas starting with visits to great aunts and uncles. As a kid it was fun = lots of presents. As a teenager it was hell = forced to listen to family gossip! Christmas day was a share it day: each year Christmas lunch spent in one place and lots of family gathered together. Kind of like a round-robin-Christmas = four year cycle different venue. But now, the younger generation as we became are scattered throughout the world, and our own family units equally scattered.
My youngest has already paid us her Christmas visit, and she and hubby will be alone on Christmas day, then New Year with in-laws. My eldest will be working = NHS = kids cooking her lunch. My hubby will be working Boxing Day = NHS so it's me and the dog! But the phone will be red hot with long distance calls, and the Internet on overload. ;)
Times have certainly changed! The Magic of Christmas book: is it a modern historical full of nostalgia? I could do with some of the latter.
best
F
Mmmmm I can almost smell the lovley Christmas cake you are baking. And as for Trisha Ashley's The Magic Of Christmas, you just could be right there.
ReplyDeleteFrancine - Trisha's novel is a contemporary romantic comedy, but it has lots about the mediaeval mystery plays in it which should appeal to history buffs! There are some good jokes, too.
ReplyDeleteHi Margaret!
ReplyDeleteIt seems as if it's going to be a bumper Christmas for romantic Yuletide novels! If I read them all, I don't know how I'm going to find time to get ready! At least I, too, have baked my cake! :)
Best Wishes,
Jean
Yes, Jean - the Christmas novel is a genre in its own right nowadays! I'm about to read a novel by David Logan called Lost Christmas which looks intriguing. In the meantime, I'll eat another mince pie :-)
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