Happy Xmas 2020
- Christina Wilson
- Jan 2, 2021
- 5 min read
Updated: Apr 18, 2022
My Christmas celebrations started on Friday, 18 December with my British girls group in the park. We even had our very own bagpiper!
My friend's husband (a nuclear physicist) adds a wonderful touch of home with jolly holiday tunes on his bagpipes.
Here we are on a cold winter's afternoon making the most of a very different holiday season.
Our angel bagpiper is seen here in his Pride of LGBT tartan kilt all the way from Bonny Scotland.
It's not a proper British Christmas lunch without Christmas crackers! And, of course, some of us had to wear the silly paper hats to keep up with British tradition. Cheers everyone!
We did a Christmas secret gift swap. Most of the presents were British sweets, of course! I'm showing off my dark mint chocolate and shortbread biscuits.
My lunch consisted of a delicious cupcake washed down with a little mimosa. Cheers!
Happy Christmas from the best bunch of (slightly bonkers) Brits in Evans, Georgia! (Sadly, we were missing a few who couldn't be with us.)
Our Christmas decorations were minimal this year, but the living room was festive.
The Poinsettia is the most popular plant at this time of year in the US.
It is native to Mexico and Central America where (in some parts) it is known as "La Flor de la Nochebuena" (Flower of the Holy Night).
Its English name comes from US minister to Mexico, Joel Poinsett, who popularised the plant in the US in the 1820s.
There are some legends surrounding the Poinsettia.
"The legend of the poinsettia comes from Mexico. It tells of a girl named Maria and her little brother Pablo. They were very poor but always looked forward to the Christmas festival. Each year a large manger scene was set up in the village church, and the days before Christmas were filled with parades and parties. The two children loved Christmas, but were always saddened because they had no money to buy presents. They especially wished that they could give something to the church for the Baby Jesus. But they had nothing.
One Christmas Eve, Maria and Pablo set out for church to attend the service. On their way they picked some weeds growing along the roadside and decided to take them as their gift to the Baby Jesus in the manger scene. Of course they were teased by other children when they arrived with their gift, but they said nothing for they knew they had given what they could. Maria and Pablo began placing the green plants around the manger and miraculously, the green top leaves turned into bright red petals, and soon the manger was surrounded by beautiful star-like flowers and so we see them today."
"Pepita and the Poinsettia
As legend has it, a young girl named Pepita was traveling to her village to visit the Nativity scene at the chapel. Pepita did not have enough money to buy a present to give the baby Jesus at the services, so she gathered a bundle of roadside weeds and formed a bouquet.
She was upset that she didn’t have more to offer, but she was reminded by her cousin that “even the most humble gift, given in love, will be acceptable in His eyes.” Upon entering the chapel and presenting her bouquet to the Nativity Jesus, the bouquet of roadside weeds miraculously turned into a bouquet of beautiful red flowers that the locals knew as Cuetlaxochitl."
"On Poinsettias: Roots of the noche buena flower
Others believe the story began with a poor young girl from Olinalá, Guerrero who had nothing to offer to baby Jesus for Christmas but a handful of weeds. In her desperation, the girl is visited by an angel who tells her to present the weeds before the nativity scene set up inside a church where the entire town was gathered for mass on Christmas Eve.
Embarrassed and scared, the girl cried and when her tears touched the weeds they turned into beautiful red flowers, according to the legend illustrated in Joanne Oppenheim’s book “El milagro de la primera flor de noche buena.”
Noche Buena means Christmas Eve in English. Because this plant’s yellow flowers, located in the center of the star-shaped red leaves, bloom in late December this plant has grown to signify the birth of Jesus Christ."
Due to COVID, we decided not to have our meals in the dining room which is quite small with a lower ceiling. So, our Christmas table was set up in the living room for more social distancing.
Our first Christmas meal on the 23rd was prepared by Cadwallader's Cafe. (Here is a review I wrote in 2017: Cadwallader's review)
pan roasted housemade American lump crab cake, small garden salad, lemon oil, fresh lemon, ginger cucumber raita, asparagus
chargrilled singularly sourced certified black angus filet mignon, whipped potatoes, seasonal vegetables, roasted sweet onion bourbon cream sauce, julienned fresh green onion
chargrilled Berkshire pork chop, whipped potatoes, seasonal veg, lusty monk mustard bourbon cream sauce
chocolate roulade with homemade ice cream
chocolate cake with mocha buttercream and chocolate ganache
A nice walk to look at the decorations on a cold Christmas night is perfect.
Our neighbours, Bob and Kathy, love to decorate their garden for every holiday and special occasion.
Under normal circumstances (pre-COVID), we would have enjoyed our local symphony's Holiday Pops concert in person. However, needs must, so we watched the concert with the computer hooked up to the TV. Modern technology is a lifesaver during these times.
We also watched a holiday jazz concert from Columbia South Carolina.
For a festive picture on the telly when we weren't watching concerts, I found a funny channel that featured a roaring fire in a festive fireplace and various animals that changed every few minutes from kittens to puppies, rabbits and other little creatures. I amused myself by trying to guess which animals would come out next.
Who would have guessed a pig?
And, Christmas wouldn't be complete without some Christmas films. Guess which one I watched.
Christmas Day dinner was roast chicken, beef bourguignon (left over from the night before), roast potatoes, Brussels sprouts, carrots and gravy.
Desserts were lemon pie, and fruit tart.
Champagne cocktails and mimosas were enjoyed very much!
When I was young, growing up in England, we used to have big parties with friends and family at this time of year. Games were a huge part of the festivities, but back then we always had lots of team games and prizes to boot. Here is my family along with good friends in the lounge of the house I spent my first 16 years. I'm the one in the red dress at the front.
This year, it was just the three of us celebrating together. So, there were no team games, but we did enjoy some poker and Yahtzee.
The garage (AKA Ray's mancave) is home to a pool table which provides some fun.
Skittles is an old British game that I grew up playing at my auntie Margaret's house at Christmastime. I was happy to find it on Ebay some years ago, so we can carry on the tradition here in the US. The object of the game is to knock down as many wooden pins as possible in two throws by swinging a wooden ball on the end of a chain around to the left.
Everyone has his or her own style.
My dad won the skittles competition. If you're wondering who "N" is, that is me. I'm known by some of my family as Nina.
We opened presents on Christmas Day just before champagne cocktails and smoked salmon.
Every year since I was a baby, Father Christmas has left me a present under the tree. This year was no exception. It is always a selection box - a package of Cadbury chocolate bars.
Cheers again!
Here's to a happy and healthy 2021! Wishing you and yours all the best!
I would love to hear about your festivities!
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