Christmas Countdown 2019!

[Courtenay]

@Courtney, those are cool. Thanks for sharing. I don't know that I'll get to it this year as I have enough on my plate, but maybe I'll remember them for some other holiday. The picture made me think of Independence day due to the colors on those stars.

Funny, that, as it's a British company (same colours on the flag, though)! The stars would certainly work as decorations for any special occasion, not just Christmas.

[waggawerewolf27]

1. Wrapping paper or Christmas bags? Neither, if new. This year has been the Environmental Christmas you never really want to have so far, including an Internet outage for the entire district, & also, thanks to a drought, heaps of bushfire smoke & also a volcano eruption across The Ditch. The rest of the family are having a Wrap Party downstairs, in an attempt to use up previous years' unused Christmas wrapping paper & Gift bags. Maybe there should be a repository for such unused items to be gathered from previous years for recycling by 15th December next year? If this is a good idea please remind me....

2. Real tree or Artificial? Artificial, & this year out of sheer necessity, I fear. Maybe I'll donate the cost of a real Christmas fir tree to the RFS (Rural Fire Service) who are trying to save any trees & whole small villages burned in this most terrible of Christmases so far? Oh and wasn't it so very marvellous to hear of the USA & Canadian fireys who landed yesterday or the day before, to help all of us out? I thank you & your governments for sending such help to us. A very Merry Christmas to you with our most grateful thanks.

3. When do you put up the tree? Last week sometime actually.

4. When do you take the tree down? Before January 4th most likely, due to other commitments after that. Otherwise before January 10th, with any luck.

6. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? A single small plastic chair from a plastic dining room set for a doll's house nobody had, to be shared with at least one other girl. I was only five, going on six, so please forgive me for not being anywhere as grateful as I should have been to get anything at all. Almost anything would have been better than that.

7. Hardest person to buy for? A conservatively styled older man who resents new fashions, who hates everything being displayed in the shopping centres, whose exact physical size is never matched by what the store's current new scales of men's sizes, & who is, nonetheless, in urgent need of new clothes. He doesn't want to go shopping, but I can't take his body along without his whining, groaning, never satisfied rather noisy self. Yep I have one of these in my family.

9. Mail Christmas cards? Yes

14. Favorite ornament theme or color? Theme? This year the colour theme is a pale green. My daughter has been collecting a new bauble for the tree each year with the year's date on it. Eg. blue 2018 for last year & pale green 2019 for this year.

25. What do you want for Christmas this year?

A good spell of rainy weather for a bit. Really, & I expect the same thing could be said of everyone across the entire continent. Even the summer monsoon is late in arriving.

Meanwhile, Merry Christmas to everyone here. And I hope at least some of them are white. I'll just settle for wet.

[Courtenay]

Oh and wasn't it so very marvellous to hear of the USA & Canadian fireys who landed yesterday or the day before, to help all of us out? I thank you & your governments for sending such help to us. A very Merry Christmas to you with our most grateful thanks.

[mm1991]

I'm sick!!! Of course this would happen for Christmas! I was going to bake cookies for everyone but that's now not going to happen. I don't even know if I should go to family celebrations, I don't want everyone to get sick. Should I just stay home by myself? This is sad.

[waggawerewolf27]

I'm sick!!! Of course this would happen for Christmas! I was going to bake cookies for everyone but that's now not going to happen. I don't even know if I should go to family celebrations, I don't want everyone to get sick. Should I just stay home by myself? This is sad.

Courage! It is exactly 11 AM 24th December, 2019, Sydney time, so it is probably still yesterday wherever else you may be in the world, unless you are in New Zealand, where it is about lunch time, today. If necessary, firstly go to a doctor, & get yourself treated as soon as you can. I'd at least ring your parents, if I was in your shoes, and especially whoever is hosting this year's Christmas festivities, & let them know how you aren't feeling well now, & ask what they suggest you do.

As a hopefully useful suggestion which avoids cooking perhaps you could pick up a few things whilst the shops are still open, such as bought cookies. Especially if you want to avoid any sort of cooking (& thereby save electricity) a cheese & cracker biscuits platter is a good standby & quick to assemble. You can just use cubed plain cheese which is sold that way, here, arranged on a big plate with nibblies such as dry wafer style biscuits, the sort that can also be used with dips, like French onion dips, salsa, hommous, etc., also available at the supermarket. Or else there are corn chips & salsa-style nibblies, potato crisps or pretzel or bread sticks & mini slices, like lavash bread. For fancier cheeses, if you prefer, there may be Entertainment packets of 3 or four different style cheeses, such as small camembert or brie cheeses, with gouda, or edam cheeses, or cream cheeses with chives, black pepper or almonds & apricots in them. If not, there are also possibilities of including slices of any chilled fresh fruit such as bunches of grapes, cherries, strawberries or other berries, slices of oranges or apples, or, better still, slices of honey dew melons, cantaloupes (rock melons down here) or watermelon as well.

Good luck, & I hope you recover in time, & do go to the family festivities if you can. Merry Christmas, anyway.

[Nellie of Narnia]

Hey everyone! I haven't been on NarniaWeb for quite a while now, for several different reasons, one being that I recently moved, but probably the biggest reason is that I've been working on a very special Christmas present for my mom's (johobbit's) dad, whom I call 'Gramps', which I'd like to tell you about.

My Gramps and his wife (my 'Nan', who passed away a few years ago) had a trailer for several decades at a Bible conference grounds-with season's site trailers-a bit north of where they lived at the time, and they would spend every summer there. Usually at least once every season our family would go and spend a few days with them there, and I have very fond memories of those times with the family at 'Nan and Gramps' trailer'. Well, after selling their trailer there when Nan began to develop Alzheimer's disease in early 2000's, they hadn't gone back to visit the Bible Conference for over ten years. My Nan had been gone for a few years now, and Gramps had an idea to go back and spend a week there in the summer of 2018. (Since they didn't have their trailer there anymore, he'd just pay for a room in one of the lodging buildings there.)

When I heard that he was doing this, I had a bright idea of asking him if it might be okay if I went too, spending the week with him there. He thought that was a great idea, so that's what we did! In mid-August of last summer, we had a week there together, and it was such a special time! This Bible Conference runs for all the weeks of each summer, with really good speakers, and lots of different activities to be involved in. One activity is arts and crafts, and the craft for that week just happened to be assembling a memory scrapbook, which one could later fill with pictures, captions, decorations, etc, to commemorate a special event.

So I chose to do this craft, and to give the book to Gramps as a memory of our week there together! In my life, I don't have an awful lot of spare time, and before I began putting this book together, I would go on NarniaWeb when I had extra time. But in much of my spare time since our week together last summer, I've been working on this special book for my Gramps. It's taken me over a year to finish, but it looks really good, and when I was getting fairly close to being done a few months before Christmas this year, I thought I'd make it a goal to have it completed by then, and give it to him as a special Christmas gift! So that's what I've done. It's all finished, and I am so very excited to give it to him tomorrow! He knows it's coming, and I'm really looking forward to sitting down with him as he looks through it!!

[Kalta79]

Merry Christmas Eve everyone! Hope you feel better, mm1991!

[Cleander]

Merry Christmas to all! Praying also, mm1991!

[Courtenay]

[coracle]

Merry Christmas, everyone!

[Movie Aristotle]

Merry 1st Day of Christmas!

[waggawerewolf27]

I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas. It is now the second day of Christmas. Or is it the third?

On the second Day of Christmas we learned that the positive Indian Ocean Dipole is weakening so that rain may possibly be on its way.

[Nellie of Narnia]

Well, as planned, yesterday I gave the special memory scrapbook of our week together at the Bible Conference to my Gramps, and he loved it!! Later in the day, the two of us sat down while he looked through it, and that was a very special time, reminiscing about our week together.

He is turning 93 years old in about three weeks, and he was quite ill for a while back in October. It crossed my mind then that he might even pass away before I had the chance to give him the book! So I'm very thankful that he didn't, and was well enough to receive and appreciate this special Christmas gift!!

[SnowAngel]

A belated Merry Christmas, all!

I got so busy on Christmas Eve, I didn't have time to pop on here before.

Nellie, that's such a sweet gift. Scarlet and I made a photobook of my dad's parents and grandparents for him and we got a copy for each of his siblings for Christmas, it was a huge success. I think I was almost more excited that they all loved it than I was to get any gifts myself. It's been several years since dad's mom died and she was the last of the grandparents on that side, so it was neat to give the all kids this book this Christmas.

I had a lovely white Christmas with my parents and siblings. My parents surprised my sisters and I with a 50mm lens, didn't expect to get that item off my list and I was actually planning to put Christmas money from my grandparents towards purchasing it. Now I can put the money from my grandparents towards a study Bible and get busy practicing with the new lens. One of my sisters gave me a camera lens mug, another sister gave me a notepad/clipboard, and other items received from the parents included a raspberry dark chocolate bar, a purple scarf, red/black/gray hat, green sweater, and a striped green blouse (the no iron kind, my favorite ). So, I am going to wear the green sweater, drink coffee from the new mug, and use the notepad to write a thank you note to my grandparents.

For Christmas Day lunch, we had brisket, mashed potatoes, gravy, layered lettuce salad, and cranberry jello salad. Dessert, which we had late in the afternoon, was a blackberry chocolate trifle; keto chocolate cake, freshly whipped cream, blackberries, and ganache.

I didn't bake my annual Christmas sugar cookies before Christmas Day, so that today's fun project.

SnowAngel

[Movie Aristotle]

Merry Third Day of Christmas!

I can't say what I got for Christmas this year, because we haven't finished opening presents yet! What did you all get this year?

I'm finally getting around to posting my answers to the questionnaire.


1. Wrapping paper or gift bags?
Gift Bags. My wrapping doesn't usually turn out right.

2. Real tree or Artificial?
I prefer a real tree, but own an artificial tree. It is just easier to deal with than a live tree.

3. When do you put up the tree?
Whenever I get to it...

4. When do you take the tree down?
Whenever I get to it...
Certainly after Ephiphany.

5. Favorite gift received as a child?
Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest. It was more fun than a barrel of monkies!

6. Worst Christmas gift you ever received?
Hmm... I'm not sure. Maybe I blocked it out of my memory?

7. Hardest person to buy for?
My mom. Any ideas what to get her?

8. Easiest person to buy for?
My sister. Gifts for her seem to hop right into the cart.

9. Mail or email Christmas cards?
E-mail. PM me your e-mail address and I'll send you one.

10. When do you start shopping for Christmas?
About mid-December. I usually finish shopping on Dec. 23rd.

11. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present?
As in "re-gifted"? I can't recall. It sounds like a good idea though.

12. Favorite thing to eat during the Christmas season?
Cherry cordials.

13. Lights on the tree?
Oh yes. Do people not put lights on the tree?

14. Favorite ornament theme or color? Theme?
Narnian. For instance: I have a box of pinecone ornaments. I also hang sleigh bells on my tree. Any other ideas of what a Narnian might put on their tree?

15. Angel on the tree top or a star?
I grew up with an angel, but I prefer a star. However, this year we have a Father Christmas tree-topper.

16. Do you have a nativity?
I do.

17. Travel at Christmas or stay home?
I prefer to stay at home.

18. Gifts in the stockings?
Sure.

19. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning?
Why not both?

20. Favorite part of Christmas dinner?
Hmm... the rolls?

21. Do you like eggnog?
Umm........................... no.

22. Favorite Christmas song?
Offering by Paul Baloche

23. Favorite Christmas movie?
Disney's A Christmas Carol.
(Or does The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe count?)

24. Favorite Christmas book?
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens.

25. What do you want for Christmas this year?
Something nice.

[Courtenay]

14. Favorite ornament theme or color? Theme?
Narnian. For instance: I have a box of pinecone ornaments. I also hang sleigh bells on my tree. Any other ideas of what a Narnian might put on their tree?

Hmmm, interesting question to think about! A lion would be an obvious choice for a Narnian, but it might be hard to find one that's a tree ornament. Maybe one could make one somehow...

Snowflakes would be a good choice — and Father Christmas, of course! And stars, too, because we meet some star-people in the Chronicles.

Maybe some exotic-looking birds like the one in the apple tree in The Magician's Nephew? Or there are other animals that could be Narnian — a horse for Bree or Hwin, a mouse for Reepicheep... Again, it might be hard to find ones that are designed to be hung on the tree, but probably not impossible. One could find a small toy horse, mouse, lion etc. and add a hanging loop.

I don't have a tree of my own this year (because I live on site at the care home where I work and don't have a lot of space in my own room, but we have a big tree downstairs), but when I have one in future, I think I might have to find or make some Narnian decorations myself! Thanks for the inspiration.