Merry Christmas Indeed!
Christmas is probably for most people the most traditional celebration of the year, when they try to recapture some of what Christmas felt like when they were children. It is no different for me, and I am very glad that my parents keep sticking to the traditional way of decorating the Christmas tree (with real candles instead of electric ones) and to the traditional Christmas Eve dinner of spuds salad and Wiener sausages (that was traditional already for them, when they were children).
The sideboard in my living room looked like this on the 24th:
Here are some pictures to give you an incling of the atmosphere of Christmas Eve over here:
The parcels I had prepared to take over to my parents'.
The dinner table all ready for us to enjoy my Dad's home made spuds salad.
The tree, decorated in the afternoon by my Mum and my sister. I was too lazy to help and came over only when it was time for dinner and presents :-)
My sister gave me these silver creoles.
On Christmas Day, I opened my presents from England - look at how much I got!!! (Actually, this shows all my presents combined, not just the ones from the family in England.)
For a look at my Christmas posts from 2011 and 2010, click here and here. I wonder if any of you is going to spot the three presents that appear in this year's picture as well as in one of the previous two Christmases :-)
Today, we were once again at my parents' for a large Christmas brunch and a board game afterwards, and tomorrow, we are expecting relatives who we have not seen in many years. I am very much looking forward to that, and hope that everyone had a Merry Christmas!
It looks very festive. My paternal grandparents had real candles in their tree in my early childhood but I'm not sure if I ever saw them lighted. I suppose they might not have dared to, with me there! ;) I think it was my dad who got them an electric set as Christmas present - still way back in my childhood.
ReplyDeleteIt certainly felt as festive as it looked, Monica!
DeleteWe always had real candles, no matter how little my sister and I were. Of course our parents never left us on our own in the room with the candles lit, and there always was (and still is today) a bucket of water close by, just in case... but there has never been any candle-related accident on Christmas in the family as long as I remember.
What a beautiful Christmas tree!! I have never seen a tree in person with real candles. It looks beautiful but might make me a bit nervous. I am sure it is no problem for those of you who have always been used to having it that way. Your presents are terrific. I love the jewelry set. What actually goes into your Dad's spuds salad? Everything looked festive and welcoming. I hope the rest of your celebrations were delightful.
ReplyDeleteIt was indeed delightful!
DeleteI don't really know my Dad's recipe for spuds salad, maybe he'll give it to me if I ask nicely :-) I know that there is broth in it, and onions, salt & pepper, and of course the spuds have to be the right sort. We had two bowls, one salad was with mayonnaise (my Mum's home-made one) and the other without; can't decide which one I like better!
Oh, I LOVE the Christmas tree with the real candles! And also, I am reading the comment above, and I would also like the recipe for your Dad's Spuds Salad! Do you think you could sweet-talk him into giving it to you? :-)
ReplyDeleteI can't look at your past posts just at the moment, my computer is slow, but I am certain that ONE of the things that you always have would be the Cadbury's Biscuits, am I right?
And I see a light blue Christmas card with angels on it, and I know that one! :-)
Love the big silver earrings, do you call them creoles? Never heard that before!
Yes, Kay, that card should look very familiar to you :-)
DeleteCreoles is what these round earrings are called here; in England as well as in Germany. You are right about the Cadbury's Caramel Nibbles - they were there before. That's one down, two to go for whoever else wants to take a guess!
I'll see my Dad tonight, and I am sure he'll give me the recipe.
"Spuds" salad...I'm sure that is potato salad in the US. I'd like to know what all your Dad puts in his that makes it special for you all each Christmas Eve.
ReplyDeleteNever heard the large loop earrings referred to as "creoles" either; interesting.
Really charmed with the tree and the real candles. Do your parents have a fire extinguisher handy? I've never seen real candles, lit, on a tree either, but know it would lend nostalgia to the evening.
Jill, you would call it potato salad, that's right. The recipe could also be part of a new guest post by my Mum, I think. Maybe I can talk her into it.
DeleteMy parents always have a large bucket of water near the tree. So far, it has never been necessary to use it, but it is good to know it is there. Our old cat used to love drinking from that bucket when my sister and I were kids!
Board games! I love board games! Bit worried about the real candles on the tree though.. How do you stop them burning the tree???
ReplyDeleteThey are safe in their little holders, Macy, and before they burn down too far, we blow them out. And of course my Mum is careful in placing them so that no flame ends up right underneath a twig.
DeleteI like board games, too, but it is very unusual for me to win :-)
Happy Christmas! May your season be filled with joy.
ReplyDeleteThank you, and the same to you!
DeleteSuch a "joy to the world" feeling to all these pictures! I am so delighted to get to see a bit of your wonderful family celebrations. I am not familiar with that Jack Sheffield author and intrigued reading some online reviews of his work. I hope you review the book someday in the future!
ReplyDeleteWhat kind of potato salad does your father make? Would he share the recipe?
Kristi, I am glad you liked this glimpse into how Christmas is celebrated at my family.
DeleteSo far, I have never read anything by Jack Sheffield, but once I have done, of course there will be a review on here.
I am thinking about making my Mum write another guest post about - among other things - my Dad's famous spuds salad.
Guess I'm never going to make "detective"...I can't see the three presents in the first two posts, but I do think you are wearing the dress you got for Christmas one of the previous years.
ReplyDeletePS...forgot to say how lovely the table setting...please tell your Mum I think it looks wonderful.
My Mum is going to read your comment, Jill, and she'll like that you said that - she takes some pride into her table-setting, no matter the occasion :-)
DeleteYou are right about the dress - I got that one for Christmas last year and wore it for New Year's Eve, but I actually didn't mean that one when I was talking about the three presents that were the same. Not all three were the same all three years... some were the same in 2010, and some in 2011.
love the ambience of the table laden with candlelight! but real candles on a tree? I'm too much of a klutz to try that.
ReplyDeleteI love the snowflake earrings and the blue bracelet.
Happy 2nd day of Christmas!
Thank you, Norma! I wore the snowflake earrings on the 2nd day of Christmas and today, I am wearing the creoles. The blue bracelet will have to wait until I'll wear something matching.
DeleteI love German sausage and potato salad! And we always had candles on our tree when I was small. Sgh...
ReplyDeleteChristmas just wouldn't be the same for me without real candles, or without sausages and spuds salad :-)
DeleteI suddenly realised that when I read this I went off sleuthing (not easy because, as I don't easily hold images in my head, I had to translate everything to words) and then something happened and I never came back and commented. Probably like just now when I got up to make another cup of hot water and lemon. (And I got sidetracked by the phone and nearly did it again). I am going for the caramels, a pink tube standing up, and the book with the Christmas Tree on the front. I'd be a bit wary of the candles even though they look beautiful (but I have a fire extinguisher in the house anyway).
ReplyDeleteYou found all three of them, Graham, congratulations!
DeleteFunny how everyone seems to be so nervous about real candles. How often do you hear in the news that someone's house burned down because they had real candles on their Christmas tree? And, in comparison, how often do you hear and read about people having died in a car crash - and still people sit in their cars and drive everywhere every day? :-)