“Holly and mistletoe Candles and bells, I know the message That each of you tells.”
A rainstorm before Christmas is just wrong. Today is dark and miserable. I wanted sun on the shortest day of the year. On the plus side, though, my tree is shining in the darkness.
The morning is unseasonably warm, in the high 50’s. I did all my errands yesterday so today I’ll start my cookies. I’ll do at least one batch and maybe a second. First will be my world famous orange cookies. The butter is already on the counter.
When I was a kid, the countdown to Christmas began a week away from the big day, but first, we had to get through Christmas Eve, the longest day of the year to any kid. On that big day, bedtime never seemed to come unlike all the other days of the year when bedtime always seemed to be early. I remember being so excited we’d talk from one bedroom to the other across the hall. My mother would yell up the stairs for us to quiet down and get to sleep. That took forever.
My parents went to midnight mass. I was too young so my brother and I went to church Christmas morning. My sisters were too young for even the morning so they stayed home. I envied them.
When I was really little, we had a turkey at Christmas dinner. When I was older, we had a roast beef of some sort. We always had mashed potatoes. I have a fondness for mashed potatoes. The other vegetables varied though creamed onions were often on the menu. As we got older, the vegetables got fresher except for my dad’s can of asparagus.
We always got dressed up on Christmas Day. Sometimes I’d wear the new clothes I had opened that morning. One year it was a new skirt, a fluffy white sweater and a necklace with a gold pendant.
A heavy wind is blowing now. The rain has stopped for the meantime. I find nothing about this weather inviting.
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keepthecoffeecoming.blog 
December 21, 2018 at 1:23 pm
We both survived yesterdays trip to Gothenburg but I did wonder how bad it would be since it snowed heavily here hen we started just before 4 am. It turned to rain further south and nothing when we reached Gothenburg. I had forgotten how raw and nasty cold weather is by the ocean π π
It snowed during the night here so unless it suddenly gets warm we’ll have a white Christmas here. They say that the Swedish tradition of having a Yule bord is dying out here but I doubt it. Journalists has a tendency to believe that anything Hipster’s do is done by us all π π π I’ve read that Yule bord actually is something we’ve had here since before the vikings but only a few things of what they ate still is on the table like stock-fish and Yule sausage. They could have forgotten the stock-fish long ago because that’s just nasty π π
One can never forget those very itching knitted sweaters one always got from some relative every Yule π π Naturally that relative would come for Yule so we had to wear it π π
Have a great day!
Christer.
December 21, 2018 at 10:12 pm
Christer,
I know that raw weather. It cuts to the bone. Of all winter weather, that is my least favorite.
For Italians, Christmas Eve is the Feast of the Seven Fishes. You have the Yule bord. We have no particular Christmas Eve meal but for any get together there can e a cheese board, sliders, casserole and dips.
I never got a sweater knit by a relative. I don’t even know any who could knit. We didn’t get a whole lot of clothes from realties, mostly games.
Have a great day!
December 21, 2018 at 8:45 pm
Today is the longest night of the year in the northern hemisphere. Itβs not only the winter solstice but itβs also a full moon. The good part is that the days will begin to get longer making going to and from work more pleasant. Isnβt tonight a pagan holiday?
For awhile the right wing evangelical conservatives claimed there was a war on Christmas because they thought saying happy holidays was too PC. I think all the seasonβs holidays should be happy including Christmas. Last year the moron living at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue made a big deal about wishing the country a merry Christmas. Hopefully, those nut cases have gotten over the happy holidays flap. π
Today was again sunny but very windy with a high in the low 60s.
December 21, 2018 at 10:18 pm
Bob,
Too many clouds to see any sky tonight. Sorry about that as it would have been the perfect night to stand outside as it is still quite warm. It will take a while for that longer day to show itself.
Trump probably couldn’t care less about Christmas or any other holiday. His Merry Christmas rant might have been his usual diversion trying to drown out something bigger.
Rainy all day but warm-a new record in Boston at 65Λ