It’s always lovely to have fresh flowers in the house at Christmas and over New Year. If you want to grow Hyacinths, Daffodils or Amaryllis you need to prepare to get them planted in mid September to early October depending upon the variety. Timing is everything so it’s worth putting a note in your diary or on your calendar so you plant the bulbs at the right time. I’ve found an excellent guide to planting for Christmas over at the RHS website.
What is going on? The phrase “Merry Christmas” is trending World wide on Twitter this evening.
As far as I can see it’s happening because people are now asking why “Merry Christmas” is trending on Twitter on August 31st. If you know why this started I’d love to know, with 115 days until Christmas 2010 it seems strange.
I have a confession, I always enjoy watching Love Actually in the run up to Christmas. The Portuguese Love Theme from Love Actually is a lovely piece of music and it really gets me in the mood for Christmas.
It’s been a horrible cold, wet and windy Bank Holiday weekend in Norfolk but my kitchen has been lovely and warm and the heart of the house. I know I’m going to be really busy this year in the run up to Christmas so I decided to get ahead and make my Christmas Puddings this weekend. Christmas Puddings really do taste better for being made early, just be sure to store them in a cool, dry place in an airtight container. If you’re wondering what to do tomorrow why not get ahead and see my Christmas Pudding recipe.
Yes, it’s that time of year again when the newspapers with little else to write about resort to reporting that the Selfridges Christmas store is about to open. If anything I think they are reporting this a few weeks earlier than last year even though according to the stories I’ve read the store isn’t actually due to open until August 2nd. Of course no locals are likely to be buying Christmas goods in August, it’s really there to give foreign tourists an opportunity to take something home to remember their trip to London at Christmas.
As far as I’m concerned we should be celebrating the festivals and seasons according to the calendar. Am I alone in being annoyed at seeing hot cross buns for sale in Waitrose in July? Doesn’t this make them less special at Easter? Thankfully the Italians are wiser about this and there’s no sign of Panettone on the shelves of Waitrose yet. I maintain that no reasonable person should ever consider starting their Christmas shopping until after Bonfire Night.
Help me track the early signs of Christmas. If you spot a ridiculously early Christmas marketing campaign please leave a comment or drop me an e-mail and I’ll look into it.
