My Mother, Jackie really gets into the spirit of Christmas, she goes to a lot of trouble decorating for Christmas.
Of course there is the Christmas tree. Some years she brings out the battery operated Christmas lights to decorate the traditional plastic tree with, other years she will opt for the fiber optic Christmas tree.
As well as a multitude of Christmas ornaments scattered throughout the house and tinsel galore,
the other objects around the house get the ‘Christmas touch’. Including Christmas Snow on the windows, which is ironic as they live in Brisbane, Australia. However, it is a nice festive touch.
One of her special touches, is that she has made a decoration for each of our family members that have passed. It is a really nice way to commemorate our loved ones.
She has done this by putting photo into a clear plastic ball type ornament that have the eyelet at the top, so that she can then put glittery thread through this, so it can then be hang on the tree. So while these are cheap Christmas decorations, they are priceless to us.
Blending the Indoor Christmas Decorations with the Outdoors
She doesn’t just stop indoors, she also goes all out for outside. Up go the Christmas wreaths for
the front and the side glass sliding doors. One of these is motion activated with Christmas carol
tunes, as is the Santa that sits on the front porch.
With plenty of outdoor christmas lights; the tall hedging at the front of the house gets fully decked out along with fairy lights across the fences. She is a big fan of fairy lights so these have been permanently installed so they can be used as an all year round feature. My young daughter loves them; they’re a great “we’ll put the fairy lights on before you go to bed” motivator.
Christmas Fare to Boot!
The food, well; baking, roasting, galore. Jackie is a superb cook. She just has the knack where everything is presented and tastes great. She generally has 3 fridges and 2 freezer full of food.
There was one year, where we went to a hotel from Christmas lunch and as nice as it was, it just wasn’t the same and of course there were no leftovers! But we appreciate the work that goes into creating a feast. Jackie and my Father always extend the meals to their friends and I enjoy sharing time with their friends also at this time of year.
These are just baubles and bits of Christmas with my step-Mother Jackie, my Mother also is a great cook and puts on Christmas feasts to die for. As Jackie and my Father live in Australia, and my Mother lives in New Zealand, as their daughter, I have been spoilt for choice over the years. And despite having many a Christmas in Australia, and many more in New Zealand, you would think BBQ’s would be a frequent Christmas Day occurrence, but not in my extended family.
It is the traditional fare, cheeseboards and dips, followed by the main fare of Baked Ham, Turkey or Chicken, Roast Lamb, Roast Vegetables, Salads. Dessert is generally Trifle (I like sherry in mine), Pavlova and Christmas pudding with custard and cream.
So you have to have some sympathy for me (I jest), when they all lived in the same area. Because once Christmas Breakfast, followed by a Christmas Lunch and then Christmas dinner at a partner’s, well the dinner would just be too much.
Often we lament that Christmas feasting should be spread out over a week at least. All in one day, is a bit too much. Especially for those of us not so disciplined with the Christmas goodies!