Christmas Merry-Go-Round

Jump on and join a group of artists/crafts-women as they link around the world and tell you a little about their lives in art and craft.

This month's question: How do you celebrate Christmas? What traditions do you have?

Well... I wouldn't go as far as describing the way I celebrate Christmas as full of of traditions... in fact, the only tradition I really have kept over the years is to eat and drink until I cannot physically stand the sight of either... When I lived in France, Christmas Eve used to be the big night: huge meal, several bottles of wine with the family tribe, open the presents at midnight, then boggie the night away in a local nightclub or in church for the Christmas Mass - and yes, I have been known to do the latter in the middle of the dance floor...:)
Next morning is spent looking at the gorgeous presents from the night before - and bracing yourself for lunch...Aperitif first, of course, which takes an hour. My mum likes to go for the catered Christmas style, and it always starts with a huge plate of shellfish - I say shellfish, well, one year we were unlucky enough to have another type of shelled buddies on the plate, YUCK!!:( white wine flows freely and after an hour of scraping crab legs, we're all already pretty squiffy and having a good time, then arrive 2 kinds of meat (complete with tons of veg and salad), some poor kangoroo or other supposed to bring exotism in the middle of rural Brittany - exotism is why my mum goes for the caterer's funky menu... I said to her to go for shark or snake next time, but she told me off French style, shrugged-of-shoulders and mouth a perfect O: "Oh dis pas de conneries!" - then cheeses with red wines, then dessert with "digestif", by then 5 hours have disappeared. Dad then flops on the sofa and snores loudly over the Christmas programmes.
The rest of the day is spent dropping on family (or being dropped on), sitting, eating, drinking, catching up..

In Turkey this year, Christmas is a quiet affair, just my husband and I, and our little dog, Jack. We ate like pigs last night, did it again all day today, opened our presents this morning, gave Jack his treats from his own stocking, went for walks by the sea, enjoying the crisp sharp sea air and sunshine. Lovely...

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Thanks for reading!
Merry Christmas to you all!!!