Can You Feel It?

Can you feel it? Christmas is suddenly here, or nearly but I wasn’t really feeling it too much till I visited my first Christmas market and drank my first warm eggnog then everything started to feel warm and Christmassy. 

This is the continuation of my ''Blueprint of a Christmas Trip Down Memory Lane'' which started with my aunt's pearly queen doll a couple of weeks ago! 

Christmas in our house in Scotland was completely bonkers and a total contrast to the German ''Besinnlichkeit'' which means ''contemplation'' or ''reflection''. I'm afraid I don’t really do ''Besinnlichkeit'', it's like my Christmases are all ''Hark the herald angels sing'' or a rousing ''O come all ye faithful'' and German Christmas is ''Silent Night''. Too quiet and staid for me, I want crackers, silly hats, gin & tonic and laughter, what I'm used to from home. Let’s face it even Tiny Tim was given gin and orange punch to celebrate instead of simpering in the corner. (OK, let's just say I'm not Tiny Tim's biggest fan!) 

Here you can see some of our crazy Christmas events, yes indeed toilet rolls do not spring to mind when thinking about the festive season but this roll of Andrex was one of the most expensive ever. As a parent you know that when kiddies go quiet you should get worried perhaps the gin made everything too relaxed but the first person who went to the loo after Christmas lunch was in for a surprise. My two year old daughter decided that instead of playing with all her Christmas gifts shoving a loo refresher (with plastic holder) followed by a roll toilet paper and a long flush was a great way to spend Christmas afternoon. The resulting blocked toilet meant a plumber had to be called out, he arrived looking like Scrooge on a bad day, 5 minutes work and a £100 bill did nothing to improve his mood (nor that of my parents)! 

The rubber dinghy was the result of my mum trying to keep Dad's present a secret. Dad always fancied himself as a musician and so mum had bought him a snare drum and some cymbals, hiding the box from prying eyes was impossible so she wrapped it and popped it under the tree. When Dad asked what it was she said it was an inflatable dinghy and that to please her we'd be heading down to the beach on Christmas Day for a row. Every time he looked at the gift she would start to sing ''Row, row, row your boat!''. The relief on his face come Christmas day was palpable although he did spend the following Christmas morning in the sea at Troon, trying to rescue a kite which he'd bought for mum! 

Finally on this page the magnificent gothic cathedral: Dad built a decorative scene every Christmas and one memorable year it was a model of a gothic cathedral with stained glass windows and loads of flying buttresses. Unfortunately, as a highlight he decided the window had to light up, so he used a 60 Watt lightbulb. We sat around with bated breath as he switched on the bulb, we gasped in amazement, for a fleeting moment the window flashed in glorious jewel colours then the model which was made out of polystyrene started to melt and burnt down to a little black, stinking heap. Sweet memories! 

So, if you’re not feeling it yet, here’s some inspiration ......!