Special Christmas Broadcast

Christmas preparations

L came round to help R&B decorate the Christmas tree. They displayed impressive teamwork and group creative decision-making. They turned the spiral staircase into a 'stairway to heaven' with draped bead garlands and strings of stars, and ran two light garlands up the central post, with baubles reflecting the lights, ooh it were lovely. The cats took one look at it and said ‘I'm going to ‘av that, I am, it's mine…’ They gnawed at the multicoloured lights, they batted the baubles to the floor, they knocked the angel off his perch by climbing to the upper floor and reaching down to the top of the tree with their claws. No-one really minded. R cooed delightedly over decorations from Christmases past and found 'the one that I made when I was 3’, 3 being any age in his own pre-history. He arranged little wooden personages in family groups. They found the little elf with a candle and put him in a prominent position leading the way onto the stairs. B organised the stable scene, with the infant Jesus firmly wedged between a standing Jesus and Mary, and refused J-C's offer to have him more to the fore as in traditional stable scenes. L spread 30 baubles over the table in a decorative and highly impractical manner. Add to this a disco lightball, a multicoloured smoking water fountain, a dozen tea lights in places which would worry Health and Safety people and a CD of carols and you have the picture.

My day in parallel: Made 2 rounds of mince pies, golden chicken and vegetable broth with real stock from bones, made chicken sandwiches, Lebanese nut tarts, a birthday cake for B with butter cream, made pancakes for breakfast, did shopping, drove to a friend’s house in a neighbouring town, collected large Xmas tree and installed ready for decoration, roasted 2 half price organic chickens, cleaned lower floor of house, emptied all bins, made gingerbread dough to make into biscuits for B to take into school the following day.

We made the wreath from a base of old man's beard - we wove the strands (relieved of their leaves and beards) into a circle, and threaded in suburban shrub trimmings and various forgotten thrown away broken Christmas decorations, pine cones decorated with acrylic gold paint, and plent of eco-friendly glitter glue.

Christmas Eve
I had to go away unexpectedly just before Christmas. I arrived home just after my in-laws, late on the 23rd, leaving one day (Christmas Eve) to prepare for Christmas. Did not panic. R sought an interview with me first thing Christmas Eve morning, sobbing mildly.

‘I haven’t got a present for Daddy…’ sob sniff.

‘Don’t worry, I have bought one for Daddy which is from you ’ I said.

‘No, I want to choose one. I have 2 euros and 55 cents’.

'Well, what do you think he would like?' I said, fighting off the inevitable feelings of panic.

'Something from God or Jesus Christ'

'Mmm, well, I'm only going to the market, I'm not sure they have a stand...'

In the end we compromised by visiting ‘A Fleur de Bio’ which is next to the market, and buying a pure olive oil savon de Marseille soap-on-a-rope in the shape of a bee. R wrote 'Dear Papa, I hope you like your bee' on the gift tag.

While I was at the market I met someone I know (this usually happens, and I know hardly anyone). I was recounting R's present from God/Jesus Christ tale, and the man on the organic veg stall, with whom I have a good rapping relationship, he comes from Morocco, made a particular point of asking if we were a religious family...and we had a jolly good rap about religion. He is a muslim, gentle, quiet, devoted and non-extremist. He made me promise I would not force religion on my children and tell them what to believe and I agreed. A good spirit of Christmas was had by one and all and many heartfelt bisous (French social kisses) and embraces exchanged. I didn't of course leap over the veg stall and embrace the salesman as that would have been undignified and inappropriate, but I did embrace the person I know and her sister-in-law, whom I have never met.

I spent the day in unmemorable but utterly absorbing preparations, finished wrapping presents at 1am.

Christmas Day

B told me that he woke at 2am, 4am and finally 5am. His first words to me were

‘We missed it!'.

‘Missed what?’ I said, dazed, confused and a little tired, it was 7am.

'Jesus Christ's birthday, it was at midnight!'

R&B pogoed up and down and R shot me several times with his wooden pop gun and B said he was very pleased with his modelling kit.

B gave Papa a set of remote control plugs. This is to stop him having to listen to me moaning and groaning every time I have to bend in two and crawl under the furniture to turn off the plugs. B gave me a beautiful ring fashioned out of stone.

B made everyone postcard holders out of a small block of wood, with one slot for upright cards and one for lean-back angle display.

R gave me 3 of his wooden animals which I like very much, I will give them back in the New Year.

The inlaws bought us a computerised picture frame and we bought them one. Obviously a good idea.

B spent the entire day in a state of heightened ecstasy as he had an i-pod for his birthday and a set of speakers for Christmas, excellent sound, I am quite jealous and will be using while he is at school.

R had a dynamo radio-torch, 2 more knights for his scenario, and a bottle of hair gel which he was very thrilled with, and used to slick down his hair in a sort of Harold Lloyd style.

JC gave me a shawl, so beautiful it is beyond description.

I gave JC some Weleda shaving gel and after shave balm, and a cherry wood bowl for his collection of home grown nuts.

My mother-in-law and I competed in the kitchen. I roasted the chicken which was served with prune and apricot stuffing, roast butternut squash and quince jelly. My mother-in-law pot roasted the guinea fowl with the prunes d’Agen served with her special recipe of sauteed green beans which takes 2 hours to prepare. Everyone ate both dishes with relish and declared both excellent beyond compare.

My mother-in-law made an excellent cake, which rose above all expectations.

R pointed out that Christmas Day is also our cats birthday, as they appeared in our lives on this very day, Christmas Day one year ago, on our doorstep, starving, wild, homeless, destitute, searching room at our inn, what could we do?

Lime, Lemon in her usual startle position, Photos by B, and the cake.