12 random things about me that have to do with Christmas...

XXX

1. As children we always put a Christmas stocking at the end of our bed,

Father Christmas (we never called him Santa) would fill it with gifts.

Bigger gifts were left in the living room under the tree.
2. My favourite Christmas Carol is "In the Bleak Midwinter".

3. Christmas preparations "chez nous" used to start at the beginning

of the month and result in lots of homemade decorations, presents

and delicious food... no last minute rushing around

as in more recent years..!

4. We always open our gifts on Christmas morning
5. Christmas would not be Christmas without our girls squeals of delight as

they open their bulging stockings at the crack of dawn...

6. Ever since I moved to France permanently, Christmas has become
an Anglo-French affair - we celebrate the best of both
country's Christmas traditions..!
7. We always have Christmas crackers with our lunch on the 25 th.

If you are British you will understand..!

8. I love wrapping packages. I like making each one different, with matching ribbons, I like perfect corners and hidden tape. Things have changed a lot...

now I wrap them and I'm just glad they have paper on them!!
9. My family do not really like the traditional English Christmas Cake

and Pudding so I've stopped making them,

we have a "bûche" (Christmas log) instead.

10. We always have a candlelit dinner on Christmas eve. "en famille"

11. As a child, relatives often sent me a "two-in-one" present (Christmas and Birthday) and I consequently spent years feeling "cheated"..!

Glad to say I survived to tell the tale..!

12. We always have a real tree which we choose together

(another pre-Christmas ritual outing) and many

of our decorations have been with us for years...

XXX

Music by the Gloucester Cathedral Choir
http://fr.youtube.com/watch?v=xRobryliBLQ&feature=related