Just sitting up with a peaty one and the end of the log in the wood burner and it’s past midnight so it’s Christmas Day. Have a good one all, however and whether you choose to mark the day. Your daily witterings always give me joy, especially appreciated in these difficult times.
Love
Twang
Thanks @Twang and to you and all the Massive from down here in Melb.
A mild day here low twenties and a roast lamb on the Weber.
How peaty was your peaty? We were on Ledaig – mild on the scale of 1 to Laphraoig, but on that scale nonetheless.
It was a 12 year old Bunnahabain, so not too peaty, I’d say medium but rich. Bloody lovely too. The slight tenderness in my temples this morning tells me the second one might have been ill advised.
Hmmm … Ledaig… that’s the hardest distillery name to pronounce. I always seem to get it wrong. Anyway, sláinte to all Ledaig fans.
I pronounce it Lurdayg, and nobody ever contradicts me. So Lurdayg it is.
However it’s pronounced, it’s the bee’s bollocks. Nice that there’s a little knot of Lurdayg lovers on here.
1. Like you, Mr thep, I pronounced it “Lurdayg” for many years, until I was corrected by a Scotsman who works in the whisky industry. The problem is that Ledaig is a Gaelic word and not an English one. The correct pronunciations tend to be closer to one of the following:
le-chig
le-jig
led-chig
led-jig
So I normally go for one of those and feel pretty confident about my brilliant Gaelic.
Oh, and of course, Ledaig isn’t actually a distillery per se – it’s a name for the peated expressions produced by the Tobermory distillery. The non-peated expressions from that distillery are simply called Tobermory.
2. Don’t get me started on the pronunciation of Glen Garioch!
Now, when I tried to order a Tobermory from my local whisky specialist on my high street (buy local, folks!) he told me that their product is very hard to come by at the moment. Something about breaching environmental standards. I have visions of Mull beaches awash with wild swimmers with hangovers.
I’m going to try announcing it’s time for le-jig and see what happens.
The accomapying text from the distillery itself that came with my recent bottle states it’s pronounced “let-itch.”
I’ d stick to the squidgier sounding tch sound in the middle and a semi-swallowed gh at the end. The gaelic sounds are much gentler than the harsh single consonant sounds of english
That reminds me, after all the talk of whisky here recently, I got a bottle of Penderyn Welsh Gold which was on offer somewhere. Very nice, smooth.
As support bubbles mingle in a couple of hours, my nephew will be receiving an Arran, while my brother will get Tullibardine; I am looking forward to the reciprocation. We always try to outdo each other on sourcing from a distillery previously untried, which is a Christmas tradition I am happy to establish.
I hope your nephew likes his sweater.
The R rate in that sweater has increased exponentially.
At Christmas last year, I had a sweater. I’m hoping for a screamer this year, or least a moaner.
I always get plenty of moaning.
Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas from here in Singapore.
As usual a hot day here, kids are now teenagers and so still sleeping. Just sitting with my first cup of tea of the day whilst I contemplate timings for cooking the turkey and the rest…..
Merry Christmas ( as they say here), raining and warm, a “Green Christmas” *.
Listening to Beach Boys Christmas Album (mono, naturally) and wrapping a few presents. Cheers @Twang
*will probably snow tomorrow
Merry Christmas from Sweden (it’s all over and done with here, next three days is for scoffing leftovers)!
*eyes a cold pig in a blanket, considers an early breakfast, decides against it*
Is that a cold pig in a blanket or am I pleased to see you?
Pig in a blanket, toad in the hole – I’m told you do both, Moosie.
Peek-a-boo!
have a good one…..
@Twang Happy Christmas old fruit!
Merry Whatsits and whatavyer to all who sail here, whether or not you put into port from time to time or just cruise past, either mildy amused or infuriated, under the flag of the good ship Afterword. And a hearty shout of thanks (raises glass later in day) to all the stout* folk who look after the wizardy techie layers upon which we all rely.
May we all live to disagree next year about the Beatles and the Stones, about whether or not Boris is a plan to meet up next week, and whether or not that reissue of the lost prog masterpiece from The Angostura Bootstrap is worth buying.
This place helps keep me sane, long may it last.
Sláinte, my friends.
*and the thin ones.
Completely agree.
I, for one, am going to be really nice about joe strummer and the no-hits clash in 2021. Life’s too short etc. etc.
Not going to the big house on the hill this year where we’ve spent the most lavish Chrismassy Christmas you could possibly imagine over the last four years … visiting another family, and we all plan to be VERY Covid aware. Should be fun!
Hopefully, the football will still be on tomorrow.
Word in the Bootstrap camp is that this is one seminal, maybe the best since their sophomore effort.
I have to say the side-length symphonic treatment of Knees Up Mother Brown is a thrilling prospect.
Cheers Twang. I’m on cooking duty today as my wife volunteered to work this morning. It’s just the four of us and the kids don’t really like turkey so we’re having chicken and a gammon. It’ll all be fairly low key but we got the boy back from uni before tier 4 came in (he’d been on his own for a week in his digs anyway) and it’s one day of the year when they know not to disappear to their rooms so hopefully a pleasant day after everything that’s happened this year.
Merry Christmas everyone, best wishes to you and yours.
Cheers @Twang. Well into the evening here in Sydney, just had oysters, prawns and lobster (cheap here seeing China doesn’t want to buy stuff from Australia – long story) and moving on to ham and chicken and assorted salads. Accompanied by Pinot Gris and possibly a Shiraz with cheese if I stay awake that long…
Thank you, Twang. Best wishes for the season to you and yours.
Have a good day and may the strings on your Strat hum with joy.
Thanks Carl and you. The bird is on the oven so we’re off!
Happy Christmas one and all. We are lucky to have our daughters with us and I am looking forward to a good day with them. Last night I sipped a glass of Balvenie and we introduced the girls to It’s A Wonderful Life, which they had got to their late twenties without ever seeing. After much harrumphing about films in black and white and non stop dialogue being conveyed at a hundred miles and hour and at the top of the actors’ voices, I can report that they were won over and, as in that Christmas episode of Cheers, we were all in floods of happy tears by the end.
Merry Christmas to all from Lichfield. It is nearly 9am and we are still under the duvet but thinking about getting up for the first cuppa of the day. Last night it was rib eye and toasted potatoes followed by a couple of large blood orange gin and tonics which were rather lovely. We got our daughter and boyfriend out of Dodge City as tier 4 was announced so they are here until 27th and the tidy environment will be restored as soon as they are gone. Last night we all watched Once upon a time in Hollywood. I think it is Tarantino’s masterpiece. Going to put the goose in the oven, open pressies and go for a walk. Hope all of my Afterword friends have a great day and a better 2021.
Merry Christmas you (other) daft old sods.
Guess what I have in my hand, Moosie. Go on.
Oh not this again. Good thing I’ve got me mittens on.
First cup of decent coffee this morning. Last night, a bottle of Jever (a really bitter pilsner,) Aldi champagne and a decent Sauv Blanc. We had food too though…Sea bass, new potatoes, green beans, which the teenagers thought looked “grim.” They mainly ate rubbish.
Happy Christmas everyone, I spend far too much time here, to my wife’s bemusement/annoyance!
Edith. We’re having a turkey crown and some wagyu beef later…yum
Happy Santa’s Birthday to everyone! Not doing anything special today but tomorrow a great friend from Bangkok is skying in for a few days and I’ll be heating up a Matthew Walker Christmas pudding (“best before Apr. 2017” – yeah right) in his honour, in the absence of the CORSAIR TINNED CHICKEN I was promised.
Santa’s birthday is 3rd June.
@Tiggerlion – who do you think you are – Dai? Every Thai knows Santa’s Birthday is Dec 25th.
In a private email, @Gary tells me Santa’s bones are kept at his local church. Bollocks, I say. He’d have to be dead, and everybody knows ectect
(Cheers, Foxy!)
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I can prove it by this logic:
– Is there, or is there not, a Santa Claus? If there is, his bones cannot be anywhere but supporting his body. If there is not, then no bones. Ergo, QED, etc.
Have you never heard of Reginald Bosanquet? Alan Cummings? Dame Esmerelda Cicely Courtneidge?
I remember Reginald Bosanquet. News at Ten.
Exactly.
Fuck. Who else is with us?
“Who isn’t?” would be a more sagacious question.
Have you ever heard his single though? It’s quite the groove.
That’s quite brilliant. I’m enthralled.
If there’s a Thai Dai I imagine he’s got the psychedelic t-shirt market all sewn up.
Ho ho arf.
Chrissie Pud just gets better with age. Captain Scott’s supplies of that sort, filched from the famous antarctic hut by passing television crews, are trickling onto the market via Christie’s and Bonhams, but us mere mortals can’t afford to even open the bidding. I have to make do with a Waitrose one from the year before last, discovered down the back of the vegetable rack when looking for the source of ‘that smell’ (it was a bag of turnips, even older than Methusalah, greener than Greta and hairier than the hairiest biker). Have a good one HP! Glass raised to our respective dads at sunset tonight.
I went out to the ‘pantry’ (a cupboard at the back of the garage which contains a fridge and a sink) this morning and I was overcome by a nasty niff. I ran the tap for a while as I thought the drains must be backed up. Turns out the vacuum pack of sprouts – still inside the fridge – had a leakly seal. Yum…
A tip from my days as a kitchen worker.
Do not ever let a bag of liver go manky. Smells like someone with a particularly bad case of diarrhoea has had an accident in your fridge.
Happy Christmas from us here in Sunbury On Thames. Thanks to all who keep this place running!
Two days ago I had the best Christmas present…my Dad finally woke up 4 weeks after his quadruple heart by pass which resulted in a stroke and subsequent tracheotomy. Despite still being very confused he recognised my Mum, my Sis and I on a video call yesterday and we were all in floods. Good on you Dad, you silly old git, you had us worried there!
Have a wonderful day, all of you…
Fabulous news.
Wonderful news. You’ve got me going now.
Brilliant news @Nick-L – hope you have got your mum with you.Have a great Christmas
Cheers @SteveT Mum’s with my Sis today and will be with us tomorrow. Have a good one yourself mate!
That is great news. Pleased for you, Nick.
Marvellous!
Fantastic news.
Magnificent response to the most fatuous year in modern history! Congrats all round.
That’s the best news I’ve heard all year!
Great news mate. Really happy for you all.
Fantastic news indeed, so happy for you.
Happy Christmas @twang et all. Hopefully a peaceful one for everyone.
Hey @Lunaman, it’s been a while since I’ve seen a post from you (though you may well have posted in a thread I never read).
Maybe we’ll run into each other at the rearranged Chuck Prophet gig if/whenever it happens in 2021.
All the best to you and yours for the season.
Hi@Carl Happy Xmas! Yes I thought of you when I saw the gig advertised at the new Venue in Kings Cross(Can’t remember the name off hand). I may go to the gig when it’s rescheduled. Hopefully there may be a London mingle when the situation allows next year. I look forward to catching up one way or another. Cheers for now..
Festive merriment to one and all. Here at Shaker Towers the port is already open, the Quality Street are on tap, and a number of M&S chocolate pine cones have already been abused. Gaviscon anyone?
Seasons greetings to one and all from a frost covered but beautifully sunny Peak District. Perfect conditions for a walk later to blow away the festive lethargy!
@Mike-H that sounds like perfect Christmeas fare to me.
Happy Christmas you lot.
Oven is on and the Gantt Chart ready. Let the cooking commence …
A warm glow of goodwill to the Massive, possibly induced by booze with breakfast, albeit only a dayglo ready made Buck’s Fizz. Perhaps it’s the e-numbers and not the alcohol? Have yourselves a good one and better days ahead 🎅🏻
.. and thanks for your comments, Gatz, which are the funniest on the “Forum”. Well, after moose’s. And mine. And Gary’s. Maybe chiz is funnier when he’s on form. But you’re still pretty funny.
Not forgetting Black Celebration. He’s really funny.
I’m here by the phone…hello, hello
That’s right! Black Celebration is funny, too! Still, Gatz can hold his head high amongst the also-rans like Lodey.
Glad tidings to y’all’s. If my gifts mean owt, next year I will be very stout: lots of black beer, cheese ‘n’ salami, with chess and mah jong to finally learn. May the bollox keep rolling (Tommy)
Merry Christmas Twang and Merry Christmas to the massive. I’m two glasses of Buck’s Fizz into the day and about to start manhandling my veg prepping lunch.
The sun is out, it’s bloody freezing – a perfect Christmas Day. Hope everyone has a good day however it is spent.
Happy Xmas, AW peeps.
Glad to hear your dad seems to be on the mend, @Nick-L
Bohren & Der Club Of Gore doing what they do in the background as I sip my first coffee of the day. Fairly hangover-free after yesterday’s cider and Bunnahabhain 12 y-o.
Sometime later I’ll be making myself a traditional Xmas breakfast fryup.
Later still I’ll be making and consuming a batch of my Chilli Con Coction and some bread pudding too. English sparkling wine, beer etc. to follow as the mood takes me.
@Mike_H that sounds like perfect Christmas fare to me.
Merry Christmas one and all. Woken up early by an excited Mini Paws, now trying to get away with a snooze before the first round of the washing up. Have a great day, everyone.
Nearly lunchtime…enjoy your Corsair Tinned Chicken, one and all.
Bread sauce or cranberry, or both?
In the words of the not- often-mentioned-in-these-parts Shakin’ Stevens, Merry Christmas Everyone.
Not sure what it’s like where you are but I was visiting 3 generations of my family on top of Breedon hill this morning and it was literally freezing. You could see for miles though, it’s crystal clear.
Have a good one, all who frequent this most splendid corner of that there interweb.
Merry Christmas to all from Covid self-isolation Chez Pajp – contact traced.
No symptoms from anyone and hope to be out before year end!
Be nice when it’s all over, eh?
It certainly will be. I was thinking how it would be nice to have a mingle when it’s all done with, if there’s anywhere left to mingle in.
Those mingle places will re-emerge. At some point I’m sure that we will all feel confident enough to go out again and consort with our fellow human beings. Although it is serious now and we seem to be able to think of little else, normal life will resume. After all, who just a year ago regularly talked about the 1918 Spanish flu epidemic?
Merry Christmas everyone from sunny Accrington.
Just back from an 18 mile bike ride to drop off a christmas card to my local pub. Currently listening to a Mojo chistmas album I found in drawer and its pretty good. Later I`m off to my twin sisters, to be fed and watered. I`ve already been up to the cemetary early doors to decorate the parents grave, while there on a memorial bench I spied two little angel figurines, so i went to take a snap and noticed a third lying on the floor. He/she has been reinstated with his/her compatriots and I`m hoping they will remain together over the festive period. Everybody I`ve met today has been delightful and full of good cheer……long may this continue.
I`m off to try a few champions league popmasters from Ken Bruces page.
Best Wishes All
Lovely post Mick – hope you’re having a good one. I mean, you could have posted that card you know, but kudos for the Christmas morning bike ride…
These Christmas Greetings come to you from a brilliantly sunny but bloody chilly West Sussex.
Somehow being promoted to Tier 4 seems less of an issue on this of all days. I have spent the morning catching up on radio I missed yesterday – The Reunion on Strictly and then the Carols from Kings. The latter seemed especially impressive this year, but perhaps it’s just me feeling the mood.
It’s a solo Christmas for me this year but, courtesy of the good people at Cook, I have the complete package to look forward to later. All the traditional elements are present and the total cooking time will be an hour – they claim. I shall be washing it down with a long postponed bottle of Pol Roger 1996 – bit of a gamble there, but I am optimistic. If it’s any good, later on I’ll be pissed!
Best wishes to one and all and let’s hope for a much better 2021!
I’m also in West Sussex and you’re right, it’s very cold. Still hoping for a walk by the sea after lunch though.
My timetable means I won’t be eating until 4.00pm, so no more very fresh air for me!
In the meantime, i’m sipping my Pol Roger and listening to assorted Christmas tracks. It’s definitely beginning to feel a lot like Christmas! (Hic!)
Merry Christmas to you all and especially @twang who’s kind invitation to me to partake in my first podcast drew me back to the fold. The break did me good and it’s been a real joy to dip into the forum again. I know my music tastes are a bit civilian and I dont have much new to say but in this weirdest of years this place brings some solace amongst the madness. And knob jokes…
It was my pleasure to get you on board for the 80scast Dave which just wouldn’t have been right without you!
Merry Christmas one and all from a most infrequent poster on here but one who enjoys the wit and wisdom of all you lot on a daily basis, this thread included.
A lovely day in south Notts which started with a crisp walk around the country park with mother followed by lunch. Might go for another wander later given how nice it looks out there.
Stay safe folks and enjoy whatever time you have with those closest to you. @Nick-L – hope your dad continues on the road to recovery and is home soon.
Merry Christmas to one and all. Most importantly, I wish everyone a healthy and prosperous New Year. 2021 can’t be any worse than 2020, can it?
You poor sod.
Too right. 2021 has been far, far worse.
I’m an optimistic mind of guy but I’m struggling to muster up enthusiasm for 2022.
Happy things to you @twang and everyone. I think this is my 12th Word/Afterword Christmas, and even if I don’t engage that much these days, it’s lovely to know there’s this funny little corner of the internet where my old invisible friends still have the same conversations over and over. All the old reassuring conventions, rather like Christmas itself.
Shut it, chiz.
(In honor of your finest comment this year, in immediate response to some bellowsian blather about freedom of expression – a stroke of chiz genius)
The English sparkling wine (Beora 2018 from Simpsons of Barham Court) is jolly nice. Going down a treat.
Xmas presents to myself: I’ve just treated myself to a couple of digital albums from Bandcamp. Yumiko Morioka’s “Resonance” and The Primevals’ “New Trip”.
In other news, bread pudding making will commence soon. Chilli making will start around 6pm, for eating at 8pm approx. Plenty of bread pudding and chilli (served separately) for tomorrow, I expect.
I have beer enough for a few days and a bottle of Highland Park if the Bunnahabhain should run out.
A further Xmas present to myself: From the Kindle store – Martin Cruz Smith’s “The Siberian Dilemma”, which completes my Arkady Renko crime book series, for now.
Only 99p currently.
Ah, The Simpsons. Neighbours of ours when they are not in Kent.
Santa bought me a bottle of Bunnahabhain which I am looking forward to sampling shortly. Should go well with the vinyl Rough and Rowdy Ways he brought me as well.
Merry Christmas Everyone. Just my wife, daughter and I in the house today. Which, to be honest, is what I prefer anyway. We’ve had a quiet and enjoyable day for which we’re very grateful.
Keep well all of you. As Twang has said this collection of erudites and wits keeps me going in many ways. And like Chiz I’ve been logging on regularly for well over a decade to listen in.
Anyway, ‘The Italian Job’ is on yet again so I must away and pointlessly watch that. ‘Cheer up. We won, didn’t we?’
It was my pleasure to get you on board for the 80scast which just wouldn’t have been right without you!
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This comment removed because it has no point.
This is not here.
This is not a pipe.
This is that.
Oh no it isn’t!
Everything is everything.
Om
There there my dear
Happy Christmas, and Happy Birthday if – like my partner – its your birthday today. What an odd year, and thankfully this site has been here.
Smoked salmon and scrambled egg earlier, very slow-roast lamb later.
Oh, what’s this? The Seeds of Love superdeluxe box? Oh, how splendid!
Happy Christmas to all.
May 2021 be better and more progtastic.
https://youtu.be/aJU1ZFaqyPo
Bah and humbug. I’ve been working on my Poll Spreadsheet all day..
Ok , I’m lying. Just me, the Mrs and the most splendid of gooses If may say so myself, that was the best Christmas Dinner anyone has ever cooked. Now on the second bottle of Joseph Amarone 2010 which may just be the best wine ever made.
Stay safe, you bunch of hopeless, if rather endearing, Losers.
Evening all and happy Christmas to one and all. Strange but enjoyable meal – turkey smelt a bit weird when I opened it this morning so was abandoned and a lovely alternative was concocted including cauliflower cheese, buttered swede, roasties and pig in blankets.
Great pressies including Focus box set and a pizza oven.
Did you put Focus in the pizza oven?
Cauliflower cheese is food of the gods, and my birthday meal of choice.
We had cauliflower cheese. The secret is to put a shit load* of cheese in the sauce.
* an imprecise measure, dependent on the strength of the cheese but generally accepted to be about three times what Delia Smith recommends.
The second secret is a teaspoon of mustard. Mrs. T prefers Colman’s, I have been pushing the boundaries with a cheeky Dijon brought back from France in the summer.
Must try that next time.
For maximum cheesiness, don’t add the cheese and mustard until the cauli is just how you like it and the sauce is at the correct consistency.
Cheese loses it’s flavour pretty quickly if overcooked.
I always steam the cauliflower and put it all together at the last minute. I once made the mistake of doing the cauliflower too early and it wasn’t really hot when served.
Agreed, and the assembled dish goes under the grill to brown the top just before serving.
I put mine in the oven for half an hour or so where it browns and becomes hotter than the sun.
There have to be some black spots on the surface, as with the cheese on toast, where you make a thick cheese sauce and grill it.
Third secret: roast the cauliflower, don’t boil or steam. Gets rid of a load of unnecessary liquid, and tastes great. There is no such thing as too much cheese.
A very recent addition to our diet is roast cabbage. Take one of those pointy sweetheart- type beasties, cut down the long axis into 1/8ths. Oil, roast till done. They darken alarmingly at first, but gosh they are nice.
Someone was trying to sell me on roasting sprouts which seems rather cruel but I fancy giving it a go.
They’re good. A little sesame oil over them when cooked, ditto the cabbage above.
What do you buy a man who has been teetotal since 2013? A vac-u-vin wine bottle seal thingy, apparently. Thanks, Santa.
I feel your pain. I have finally managed to educate Santa regarding my allergy to perfume. No smelly stuff thanks!
My sister gave me a £15 Amazon voucher. No other presents received.
I only bought presents for non-adult relatives this year so I’m not bothered.
That is the saddest post I’ve ever seen.
No, yours is.
No, your is (bigger than mine)
I actually told everyone not to buy me anything this year and suggested Shelter or their local foodbank might benefit instead – I have a credit card, the internet and a weakness for SuperDeluxeEdition.com, and so want for nothing.
Mrs F chose to ignore me, so PJs, slippers, novelty socks and a pair of “stretch comfort” jeans – readers, I am 5′ 10″ and pushing 11 stone – were under the tree. And my mum bought me the Dylan Jones New Romantics book – well, I bought it and told her she had.
I also don’t do presents – it was my main stress maker at christmas and couldn’t/wouldn’t take it anymore – but that means we get loads of chocolates and biscuits, I don’t think they’re seen as ‘real’ presents. We reckon we’ve got enough chocolate for the year so it’s already been ‘filed’ by best before dates!
I’m unusually difficult to buy for as I am allergic/intolerant to what most would regard as treats (e.g. biscuits, chocs, booze).
And I’m generally an awkward git, anyway. And very dull.
The laddie doth protest too much.
I know what you mean. I know what I want and have long had the luxury of being able to buy it myself. It used to cause a problem when I bought myself something in November that “someone could have given me for christmas”!
Nope. You do very well here.
(I’ll have your biscuits)
Mm, biscuits. Along with crisps, the best food in the world. Prove it yourself with this simple test: on a table, place a bowl of your favourite crisps, a plate of your favourite biscuits, and a nourishing, well-balanced meal, and see what order you eat them in.
Merry Christmas everyone. What a remarkably weird year. Here’s to 2021 being much less so.
Happy Christmas from Co. Kildare
I always forget that Christmas Day is exhausting.! All worth it of course. All done now with the washing up and settling in with a nice red and ‘Fantastic Beasts’.
All the best everyone, it’s nice here and it makes me happy.
Very best wishes to you all, you loveable rockers on the best place on ver net.
It has been the most challenging year of my life and this is probably true for many of us, our families and loved ones.
Here’s hoping for a better 2021. Among other positives and reasons to be grateful, I am unaware of any Mahavishnu reissues planned for next year.
Alas, so am I!
I decided as a treat to stay in pyjamas and dressing gown for today (not unlike most days this year).
Eaten and now relaxing, had a family zoom this morning most of them in tier four, one in Poland so at least we saw them.
Son calling tomorrow with presents, outside and distanced.
Merry Festering to all, and good to hear Nick’s news..
Pyjamas, dressing gown and fez?
Yez!
Thank you all for being one of the chinks of light in the unrelenting shitshow that was 2020. Been a good day here. Dare I say it, all the better for not travelling and seeing relatives and in laws….just the three of us (plus dog) with plenty of food and booze, and a crafty nap in the afternoon. Bliss.
Can I just say how genuinely touched I’ve been today by the many kind comments about my Dad’s recovery. Yes, at this point in the evening I am a tad refreshed and have consumed far too much food and a tad too much wine and cider, and crikey I don’t post anywhere near as many insightful stuff as many on here but this really is the nicest bit of the internet I have ever encountered. Thanks again one and all.
We started early (8am) with presents by the tree. My daughter said “that took us 13 minutes!” when the last present (for the cat) was unwrapped (on behalf of the cat).
The day trundled on pretty quietly until about 4pm when family arrived – about 20 people in all and it whistled by until about midnight. In that time I had some refreshing cans of cold lager and then a bottle of Yealands Reserve Pinot Noir. Others might have had some but I think it was all me.
They say beer then wine is fine – and I do feel pretty OK considering. Merry Christmas to you, to you, and all of youse.
20 people, how quaint!
Just the 10 for Christmas lunch chez Duvet. Lashings of Central Otago pinot noir have left me with a mildly sore head. We actually went to a party in the evening, where there was a massive spread of food. I was still reeling from the lunch, so we beat a retreat once they began serving, or Mr Creosote might have made an appearance.
I’d already bought myself a Les Paul copy for my birthday the previous week, so no further musical presents were necessary from Santa. All in all, thankful for a relatively normal Christmas here in kiwiland, and the wonders of Zoom and video messenger to see our loved ones overseas. Cheers all!
Merry Christmas and a (I think the word we all are looking for is) normal New Year. Yes, normal, that’ll do. Raising a glass of good red wine in the general direction of the Massive and all good people running this site. Stay safe. Be well.
Merry Christmas all! Tried to upload a photo of Mrs. bellows and myself in our Santa onsies but imgur seems to be having issues.
Bottoms up!
Imgur probably has some sort of viewer protection software to stop people posting photos showing their bottoms up (or at all).
Merry Xmas!
I know where I’m not wanted and you all have made that quite clear.
Nothing could be further from the truth. I am sure we’d all love to see a picture of the two of you in your onesies, Imgur permitting.
You’ll mostly be waking up to Boxing Day soon, so I’m here to wish you a Happy One, with lots of leftovers, playing with and playing your presents, and all the rest. Back in Brisbane after a surreally perfect Northern NSW family Christmas Day, with prawns, snags, pavlova and beer. During which I scored Rick Stein’s latest Secret France tome, some balsamic with caramelised blueberries (?), some Worcester sauce with black garlic (?), a ton of macadamias and a bottle of Bushmills. Oh, and a tea towel that says ‘Cecily thought she’d be just as brilliant without the coffee, but decided it wasn’t worth the risk’ (?).
We drove back over the mountains at sparrow’s fart, pausing only to exchange banter at the border with a couple of cops checking passes and ID because COVID. They’d been there since midnight and hadn’t been rushed off their feet…
I’m aware that, hellish though all this sounds, it’s as nothing compared to your Christmas Hell. I can only hope that things improve over there soon. The cheery making-the-best-of-it vibe I’ve got from my son and daughter is echoed throughout this thread.
*puts serious trousers on* In my strange upside-down life I have come to value my membership of this harum-scarum blorum er, massively, and have come to regard you all as my friends, albeit ones I haven’t met yet, mostly. The fact that Mrs thep occasionally says, ‘What do the Afterword think about this?’ when we’re discussing issues of the day, though not King Crimson boxed sets on the whole, tells you all you need to know. So thank you for being you (got that off a Christmas card) and keep on keeping on.
As you were.
That’s very nice of you to say, @Mikethep – and I agree. Nice bunch of people here.
“Harum-scarum blorum” has to replace “musings on the byways of popular culture” immediately.
https://youtu.be/OtBHfxU2wmcThe
@Gary. It seems that the word sagacious is a word too strong for the powers that be to let me reply to.
What evil bastards. Still, never mind though, eh?
No.
I was in the midst of a relay with @gary and suddenly I was forfeited the means to argue or explain my point.
Which is frustrating for all of us, because it was probably a very good point.
From what I can remember, you’d be pissing your pants.😂
Mock me not for my afflictions, but celebrate me for my diversity.
Merry Xmas Everybody.
On Xmas Day here in Stockholm, we got the best Xmas gift I could hope for: a serious fall of snow.
The local forest, Nacka Nature Reserve, begins five minutes away from our flat. So off we trotted for a walk.
We had a magnificent hike through the heart of the deep, dark, snowy forest all the way to Brotorp. Tolkien would have loved our forest in winter. So mysterious, threatening, unpredictable.
The only human beings one is likely to meet are the joggers. Quite spooky when they appear out of the darkness, lamps on their brows.
God rest ye merry Afterword! Hope you are managing to have fun despiteeverthing.
Looks bloody lovely KFD. I hope you had a hip flask!
You need to watch out for The Joggäs, they’re a sneaky bunch.
Leave any lycra out on the line and they’ll have it away before you can say ‘Exercise? In this weather? You must be bönkers!’.
May your pipes never freeze, old son!
Looks great, Fatz – did you meet Locust hiding in the bushes pretending to be a troll? I understand that’s a Christmas tradition in Sweden…
Oddly enough, it wasn’t so very cold. The wind wasn’t blowing which makes a difference.
Despite considerable effort, we did not catch a glimpse of Locust. Shame!!
It is very quiet in the forest and we did hear the occasional rustling in the bushes or gentle galumphing in the distance.
In the middle of nowhere, we suddenly found a small Xmas tree which was decked with lights. Unexpected and rather magical!
Could this have been her work??
I spent the day taking the one hour bus ride to Rimbo outside of Stockholm, to see my dad for the first time in almost a year…and deliver the special Christmas cake I bake that he loves more than anything else.
The bus ride through the countryside completely covered in deep snow, with old red farm houses strewn about, was like a ride through a 3D Christmas card – this was magical as well!
I also have a small Christmas tree, with lights…that’s all I’m saying on this subject. 😉
Rimbo! That really is out in the wilds. I can imagine how wonderful that bus ride must have been. The snow transforms everything and creates so many interesting new shapes.
It must have been great to meet your dad too.
I’ve noticed that this Xmas a lot of people are meeting up with their relatives and friends out of doors. The outdoor BBQ grills in Nacka Nature Reserve have never been so busy in December.
My fiendish bread pudding plan* had to be abandoned temporarily, because I lost my concentration and used the last egg in the house in my Xmas morning fryup.
*A fiendish plan, not a fiendish bread pudding.
The Fiendish Bread Pudding Plan.
Is that a Goon Show, @Moose the Mooche
Moosey’s busy right now.
Scribbling a far-fetched plot involving Russian Interference, political incompetence, missing raisins somewhere among a thousand trucks just outside Dover.
And a lemon.
I’ve been round the back for the old brandy there.
I return holding a photograph of a bread pudding taken from the waist down. The recipe was stolen from the General Gordon’s private military underpants, and the entire cast is now standing around the smoking wreckage of Mike’s gas stove. That’s me in the wig!
Well done, Bottle.
Thank you for the sausages.
Wait! Those aren’t raisins!
Aargh!
That made me think of Chandler in Friends and his terrifying flatmate
(Raisins reference about 3’50”)
https://youtu.be/D3A87IkUyTM
The Dreaded Batter-Pudding Hurler of Bexhill-on-Sea is the nearest.
It’s been a peaceful break here so far, with nothing much to do except read, listen and watch. A time of reflection, there are some changes I need to make in my life after my recent(ish) illness, and now seems like as good a time as any to start that process.
Good luck to you, Diles. I hope 2021 works out well for you.
The turning of the year is always a good point at which to set off and steer a new course. Fair sailing @Smiles-Diles, and may the wind be always at your back.
Good for you Smiles. Keep us posted.
Forgive my usual tardiness, but a happy and healthy Christmas and New Year to everyone here. Post every day or once a year – makes no odds, still the nicest place on the internet.