21st December

Christmas is coming!

All the children and the "big little kids" are  buzzing with excitement.  Counting the days, until Christmas day.

Every year around this time, life speeds up and it seems as if we just don't have enough hours in a day.  With so much to do.

                                                               We create many things.
                                                             
We all like to get into the kitchen and bake, cook and play with new combinations, for cookies and new dishes. Everyone gets a chance to taste,  to vote,  for what they enjoyed, which bits should be improved, sometimes with very unexpected surprises.  We gift a lot of the baked goods, sharing and caring for those near and dear. All part of getting ready.

 Writing letters to Santa Claus, going to Grandma's house for Christmas Eve, putting two wooden bowls out.  One with freshly gathered green grass, all the kids had to collect, the other with water.  These were left at the top of the garden for the reindeer.  All of us kids would rush up to the top of the stairs, close to the garden gate, to check the next day if the reindeer had had, any of the gifts we left for them.  We always found the two bowls empty, on Christmas morning!

 This is all part of the traditions, we grew up with.  As we lived in the southern hemisphere, snow was not happening, it was full blown summer.  Christmas lunch was a meal with the whole family, twenty one in total.
 
Everyone helped with the meal, it was like a big Christmas Potluck, everyone was drafted and included, children and adults alike.  Grandma made trifle, it was a decadent  affair and after this treat we all just wanted to relax.  Years later we found out why, grandma, put a lot of sherry in this dish!

On Boxing Day, the day after Christmas, we would go to the beach.  We would swim, catch fish, cook a barbeque,  later we would relax around the campfire on the beach, catch up on all the news.

 We would even dance and have a lot of fun.   We would spend time with all the family that live near and far away, keeping the bonds of family connected, in a very precious way.

This was the start to our summer holidays for years, then we would spend the next two weeks together, before we all left,  until we meet again, either at Easter or another time of the year.

Time spent together, is a gift of priceless wealth.