Christmas Countdown

Growing flowers for Christmas

admin — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 10:22:16 +0000

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.

Merry Christmas Trending on Twitter on August 31st 2010

admin — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 20:25:51 +0000

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.

Do you have any unusual Christmas traditions?

admin — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 19:58:06 +0000

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.

So what unusual Christmas traditions do you have?

Christmas Jobs for the August Bank Holiday Weekend

admin — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 17:44:31 +0000

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.

It’s that time of year again…

linda — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 18:16:51 +0000

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.

Let’s keep Christmas special this year.

First Christmas 2010 Advert Spotted

admin — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 20:43:42 +0000

With 175 days until Christmas 2010 I’ve just finished watching the last in the current run of Doctor Who on BBC Three. There it was, right at the end a great big plug for Doctor Who this Christmas. How ironic that the first advert for this Christmas was spotted on the BBC of all places.

I’ll be keeping an eye on this over the coming weeks. I firmly believe that there should be a law against advertising Christmas events and products before Halloween has been and gone and Firework night is just around the corner. That said I can’t wait to see the next episode of Doctor Who at Christmas.

Happy Christmas Everyone

admin — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 23:19:20 +0000

I would just like to wish everyone a happy Christmas and my best wishes for the New Year. I hope my Christmas Blog with news, ideas and planning guides has been of interest and help. I love Christmas and think it’s the most special time of year. I’ve really enjoyed writing this blog over the last few months and I’ve decided to keep this going throughout next year. So keep an eye out or subscribe to my RSS feed for new ideas, plans, recipes etc.

Have a very happy Christmas.

Linda

What ever happened to Tunis cake?

admin — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 23:11:13 +0000

When I was a child we always had a Tunis Cake at Christmas. I remember they always came in sturdy bright coloured boxes. They were a perfect alternative to rich fruit Christmas cake for those who like something a little lighter. A Tunis Cake is basically a Madeira sponge cake topped with a thick covering of chocolate. Everyone used to have one at Christmas and you always used to see them in the shops but looking around Waitrose and other stores this year I couldn’t see one. I suspect that the shelf space occupied by the humble Tunis Cake is now taken by the ever more popular beautiful boxes containing the Italian Panettone. If you remember Tunis Cake or you’ve seen it in the store this year please let me know.

I’m dreaming of a white Christmas…

admin — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 23:14:07 +0000

Driving home last night it was just starting to snow by this morning the car was covered in a couple of inches of snow. For all the trouble and disruption the snow brings it also makes it feel increasingly festive. Make the most of the snow and enjoy playing snowballs with the family and walking to a carol concert in the snow. It could all melt but with less than 6 days until Christmas it’s looking like we really might have a white Christmas this year in England.

Of course the snow does make it hard to get out to the shops and this is when ideally online shopping would really come into it’s own. If you decide to buy online look out for next day delivery options as we’re now past the cutoff for both 1st and 2nd class post in the UK if you want to receive items in time for Christmas. Also if you do order something online make sure you’re going to be at home to receive it or sign for it – you don’t want to spend hours in a queue at the post office on Christmas Eve.

Have a lovely weekend and enjoy the run up to Christmas.

December Christmas To Do List

admin — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 21:11:59 +0000

Just 19 days until Christmas 2009… Hopefully you feel you’ve got it all under control. To help I have just published my December Christmas Planning Guide. If you haven’t already it might be worth a quick scan through the October and November planning guides which you’ll find on the menu on the right hand side of the screen, just to see if there’s anything important you’ve forgotten.

If you have any last minutes Christmas planning tip’s I would love to hear from you. Either e-mail me directly or leave a comment below.