Unsecure chicken perches

[Chortle Chook]

What are your favourite things at this time of year? I love fairy lights especially non coloured ones on bare trees

I also love closing the curtains in the afternoon and being all snuggy inside

I hate grey damp days

[Grandmashazzie]

The feeling of relief when you have bought all your presents The memories putting up the decorations bring,I have all the ones the children made in preschool and school,some are very battered and falling apart but cannot be thrown,they check for them every year Dislike how Christmas is so commercial and the shops are open on Boxing Day and people who work in retail are working right up to Christmas Eve and are back on 26th

[JellyBean2605]

This is gonna sound terrible but I love Christmas music! Crazy I know. I hate snow, doing home visits in the snow sucks!

[Gertie]

Least favourite - I hate slipperyness caused by ice/snow/soggy leaves etc, & the garden looking so bleak. Best thing, curling up in an armchair by the fire with cheesy Xmas movie & Christmas carol services and spending Christmas Day laughing with my family! I can't wait!!

 

Ps I love Christmas music as well!

[chickencam]

I too love fairy lights, both white and coloured, they brighten up a dull time of year. Love lighting the wood burner and snuggling down.

 

Christmas cake is a big treat for me, I love it and it is a proper seasonal treat, when it is gone there is no more until the next year.

 

I hate the commercialism too, I worked in retail before my children were born and before widespread Sunday trading, but the maximum time off was either Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day or Christmas Day, Boxing Day and the day after. I preferred the latter because the atmosphere on Christmas Eve was much better than the day after Boxing Day.

[Lavenders_Blue]

I love crisp, cold days when I can wrap up warm, take the dog for a lovely walk, then come home to hot chocolate

 

I love seeing Christmas lights , but not until Christmas is a bit nearer, and also Christmas music.

 

Mulled wine on a cold evening, Christmas carol services and cosy evenings with the curtains drawn and a blanket over my knees (and a dog too) are favourites.

 

I too dislike damp, grey days, driving in the dark, and fighting through the crowds to get my Christmas shopping done.

[The Dogmother]

Love bright, sunny 'blessed' days for walking the hounds.

 

Like having the stove roaring away.

 

Love it every year when the local Round Table to their annual Father Christmas parade, driving round the streets in a massive Massey Ferguson, pulling Santa in a sleigh and collecting money for the needy this season.

 

Not a fan of the cold, dark days and drizzle.

 

Hate shopping, and Christmas is too much of a rush for my liking.

[Olly]

I love singing carols and Christmas songs, but loathe Christmas 'muzak' in shops.

 

I like planning, choosing, buying and making Christmas presents, but I hate 'gift sets' - just because the store has wrapped something in plastic and put a picture of some holly on it doesn't make it a great present, in my view.

 

I like cold frosty mornings and the woodburner glowing - dislike icy pavements and frozen points on the tube line.

 

I like seeing family at Christmas. Enforced stays with the family also drive me mad at Christmas! There are two sides to everything, aren't there.

[Cinnamon]

Favourite things:

Fairy Lights

Twinkly, sparkly stuff, Candles & cinnamony smelling stuff.

Crisp, cold, sparkly mornings.

Festive food - I love to see what is in the shops each year,especially the party food. Best find this year so far - Chocolate Sprouts from M&S!

Planning 'The Big Day' & buying for people,really spoiling the ones you love,which I love to do (I am a proper shopper,me!).

 

Most hated things:

People!

People out shopping in town who elbow you in the ribs, people shopping where I work who are stressed,grumpy & mean.

People who I work with who try to pressure you into doing overtime, when I need my spare time to get the house looking festive.

People I am related to who I don't especially want to see but who insist that we do so.

People who just turn up at your house to see you, when you are chilled out in your dressing gown with a glass of red (WHY can they not just ring first?????)

People in my family who want to monopolise Christmas by inviting everyone to theirs,apart from us

People on the roads, car parks, supermarkets & malls in their great numbers.

 

Bit of an old Scrooge me, when it comes to people!

[merlina]

Like:

Three weeks' break from teaching - time to catch up with the marking mountains and paperwork that threaten to overwhelm

Work actually closes properly for several days, the only time of the year when bosses actually don't expect you to be working.

Looking at frosty/snowing villages from a comfy distance - really beautiful

The nice (if often horribly overpriced!) food that appears in supermarkets and markets

 

Don't like:

People's assumptions (from tv presenters to 'real' people) who say things like 'we all spend this time of year with family'. No. Some of us don't have family.

The 6am starts in cold/ice/mud trying to de-ice the car and negotiate country roads in horrible weather

The dark mornings. I've been on the planet long enough to know they happen, but each year they're an unpleasant surprise

[The Dogmother]

The 6am starts in cold/ice/mud trying to de-ice the car and negotiate country roads in horrible weather

The dark mornings. I've been on the planet long enough to know they happen, but each year they're an unpleasant surprise

 

Ditto.

[Grandmashazzie]

Chocolate sprouts . . .now these I have to buy.

[Cinnamon]

Chocolate sprouts . . .now these I have to buy.

 

Don't get too excited - they are just choccies covered in sprout like foil, rather like chocolate coins.

But they come in a sprout type net bag & I think they are super cute

[bluekarin]

M&S here I come! Well, I am going in there to get some of their espresso martini

 

I love......sparkly twinkly lights, glittery decorations, warming spiced mulled wine, frosty walks (when the pavement is clear) time with my family, salmon and fizz for Christmas breakfast, walking around the market on Christmas Eve, Advent service in the cathedral, some christmas music (best has to be Fairytale of New York), candles for their light and smell, kids happy with their pressies, cosy times by the fire, christmas cake dipped in red wine.....I am sure there are more things I love, but that covers most things

 

I hate.....slippery icy pavements, grumpy people in shops (buyers or shop staff), shops opening on Boxing Day.

[Grandmashazzie]

Fairy tale of New York is my fav too,also that mad Bob Dylan one about Santa once I hear it on the radio I can't get it out of my head.

[Olly]

Perhaps we should start a separate thread on 'Favourite Christmas Songs' - my list is quite long!

 

Cinnamon, thank you so much for the M&S Chocolate Sprouts recommendation, I've just nipped out and purchased a bag. The perfect stocking-filler for my chocolate-eatin', sprout-lovin' sister! Obviously my dislike of stuff specially packaged for Christmas doesn't extend to things like this. I may also have purchased a bag of chocolate coins.

[Chortle Chook]

I love the traditional carols like 'Silent Night' and 'Away in a Manger' and I confess I also love Bing Crosby because I remember on Christmas Eve when I was in the kitchen and my parents were playing him in the sitting room. It is one of my earliest memories. I think I was only about 4 and I was trying very hard to write a letter to santa to please give the daxy dog some special biscuits.

 

I also love mulled wine

[Leeloo]

I hate the stress. I stay busy most of the year and the extra requirements of this time of the year mean more demands on my time and energy. The gift-giving stress is huge. I never know what to get my husband and it's his birthday, too. This year, we've agreed not to get each other much in order to pay off the mortgage, but I've been watching the Amazon Black Friday/Cyber Monday deals and picked up a couple of small items that I thought he might like. We weren't able to have children and this time of the year is so child-oriented and it can be uncomfortable. My in-laws decided that everyone would only shop for "the kids" last year. At least that means less to buy and wrap, but, yay, the childless couple gets to buy for everyone's else's offspring and no one has to shop for theirs. We did decide to drop the two oldest ones who are gainfully employed.

 

I love the lights and decorations!I'm trying to get mine up earlier this year. For the last couple of years, I've not gotten them up until the middle of the month and then it seems it's time to take them down again before I turn around!! I like opening presents with my husband on Christmas morning with a cup of coffee before we have to rush off to family gatherings.

[craftyhunnypie]

Love the magic behind Christmas...Santa, elves, fairy lights etc.

Love the frost on the pine trees around here - it looks like Narnia.

The excitement & innocence from my Nephew about Father Xmas & the fact that his answer to what he wants is..." I just like what he brings"! Ahhh...he is only 4, bless him!

I love decorating the tree. I love Xmas music. I love baking mince pies & drinking Winter Spice cordial (hot). I love cosy pj's & slippers on earlier than usual & a roaring fire.

I love hats, scarves & gloves!

I love Xmas chocs - coins, Santas etc.

I love wrapping prezzies - it's an art that I just love!

I love Xmas crafting & visiting a Xmas fair for the atmosphere & to buy some homemade goodies.

I do like a bit of Xmas shopping in a town, but not at weekend! Mainly for the atmosphere & to get me in the spirit.

I love to hear a brass band playing carols in the open air.

I love seeing lit & decorated trees in peoples windows & gardens.

I like some shop window Xmas displays.

I hate dark mornings & dank days. I'm also not keen on fog that doesn't lift all day. I hate it if I'm cold or got a chill.

I hate it that the animals aren't out for long...( short days ) & go bed so early.

I hate having to rush back from being out to shut the chooks in before it gets dark.

I really miss going the beach. I can go & walk on it, but I won't paddle this time of year - plus the waves are a bit whoosh this time of year.

I hate Xmas tack - foil decs, tacky Santas that move & naff Xmas cracker gifts.

I hate poinsettia plants.

I don't like nativity sets / displays.

I don't like begging charity Xmas junk mail. I'll give to who I want to

I absolutely hate Xmas cards that are so thin that they won't stand up. Oh they really get me going! I'd sooner have an e card or a folded piece of decent card with a hand drawn picture / scribble on it.

I hate running out of wrapping paper when wrapping a big prezzie & it ends up being a paper patchwork!

I don't like the queens speech.

I hate to think of all the children without any presents on Xmas day & also hate to think of any abandoned animals.

I could go on!

 

Emma.x

[Lavenders_Blue]

I forgot chocolate coins! How could I have forgotten chocolate coins? I love them!

[sadietoo]

I love.....the chance to spend a whole day or if I'm lucky two with all my family. ...A glass of something chilled on Christmas morning on the beach before lunch.... The smell of a wood fire ... Christmas lights in shopping centres.... Carol services.... Mince pies!( veggie naturally).....

 

I hate. Having to share my oh with commerce. For every supermarket open on Boxing Day selling fresh produce there is a truck driver setting off at 11pm or earlier on Xmas day...... It seems so pointless to me.

am I the only one to remember how we managed perfectly well without starving when shops were closed all day on Sundays and half days on Wednesdays (or in some places Thursdays)

 

Christmas food shopping in the run up to Christmas. Do people really need to be so aggressive about a parking space at the supermarket ?

 

The slaughter of so many animals There is nothing sadder than the sight of an unsold turkey on a supermarket shelf on Christmas Eve, Such a shameful waste in my opinion

[Alis girls]

Forgot to get boys 18 and 12! an advent calendar. Found 2 in Waitrose - "woodland friends" - ES was not impressed - I should have got the Peppa pig one Told him not to be so ungrateful.

[Chortle Chook]

For every supermarket open on Boxing Day selling fresh produce there is a truck driver setting off at 11pm or earlier on Xmas day...... It seems so pointless to me.

am I the only one to remember how we managed perfectly well without starving when shops were closed all day on Sundays and half days on Wednesdays (or in some places Thursdays)

 

Christmas food shopping in the run up to Christmas. Do people really need to be so aggressive about a parking space at the supermarket ?

 

The slaughter of so many animals There is nothing sadder than the sight of an unsold turkey on a supermarket shelf on Christmas Eve, Such a shameful waste in my opinion

Agree, Agree and Agree I just don't get the whole need to shop wildly for food or bargains on Boxing Day .

[chickencam]

I would be ex communicated if I forgot to get advent calenders for mine (15, 17 & 20)

 

My strapping 17 year old DS had a Thorntons The Snowman one this year, and was disappointed that we didn't get his name iced onto it. His favourite cuddly from childhood is his Snowman Boy as he calls him.....bless. He cried when they showed Snowman and the Snow Dog last year.

[Cinnamon]

M&S here I come! Well, I am going in there to get some of their espresso martini

 

Well obviously I have had to buy a bottle of this too ..................and a bottle of their Cranberry Gin, & Gingerbread Rum as well

 

Managed to find myself some new boots on my 'Christmas shopping' trip also.