That's all my christmas shopping sorted....

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

Summer isn't over yet....ages before I start thinking about Christmas.

getting it sorted before I make the Christmas cake (next week's task) means I can hide my head under a blanket and ignore all the shops for November and December... so there is a really good side to getting it done and dusted... just got to sort my OH out - he has veto'ed the bike as a Christmas present... (should I cancel the order?) and won't now tell me what he wants for Christmas... I have made loads of suggestions on this morning's ride but didn't get much of a response from him. He could be on socks and underwear again at this rate!

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

I always buy my own presents and Trish buys hers.....it may not be as romantic as a surprise present but it usually means that we get what we want

hummmm - I might suggest this. problem I have is that neither of us really wants for anything 'frivolous' since our tour, and things like new bike, new oven (we only have a combi-microwave oven which is crap and hinders my cooking considerably) come out of a 'different budget'... makes life rather difficult. sadly he doesn't really have any obvious hobbies and has all the cycling stuff he needs...

 

[Vapin' Joe]

And this is a bad thing?

It is if he's in Oz.

 

[Brandane]

I may be alone for Christmas dinner too....hubby may be going back to Oz (work) for a month over Christmas!

well the current plan is that we will be camping wild somewhere in Scotland - around Rannoch Moor, if the weather is permitting, so if you want a (long) bike ride to meet up somewhere .

Wild camping? In Scotland? At Christmas?
At least you won't be bothered by midges!
A kind offer, but I fear that me being a strict carnivore + seafood (and everything else), might bring our eating habits into conflict .

TBH, I will probably get an invitation to big bro's place which is always a good do. No more kiddies toys to play with though; they are now stroppy teenagers and it's not "cool" to be up early on Christmas morning. When I arrive at lunch time they will probably still be in bed .

 

[welsh dragon]

We have an excellent tradition in our family. Once you reach the age of 21, you no longer get presents. Christmas or birthday. I now only have 2 nephews who still qualify, and they are of an age where they will be getting cash. Easy!

I only have to worry about presents for whoever I manage to scrounge Christmas dinner from this year. Any volunteers?

We do that as well only for us it's when they reach the age of 18.

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

Wild camping? In Scotland? At Christmas?
At least you won't be bothered by midges!
A kind offer, but I fear that me being a strict carnivore + seafood (and everything else), might bring our eating habits into conflict .

TBH, I will probably get an invitation to big bro's place which is always a good do. No more kiddies toys to play with though; they are now stroppy teenagers and it's not "cool" to be up early on Christmas morning. When I arrive at lunch time they will probably still be in bed .

yep - have camped over Christmas and new year for the last 23 (ish) years.... had some fantastic holidays that way (several going down to -18C ice over the sleeping bag in the morning and all over the inside of the tent... sparkling in the torch light ) In years gone by we would have been out mountaineering but since the pack of dogs redesigned by left leg, I haven't been able to walk far, so this year the bikes will go with us - not sure which ones, but we were thinking of the tourers (with the spiked tyres as a precaution - at least in the boot of the car..) we will see what the weather brings - a couple of times it has been that bad that we when we have arrived we have left again immediately. One year we drove up from the south coast to our planned wild camp, found it under water literally (and given it was my childhood playground, I know that meant the weather was seriously bad) realised that it was not going to happen and we couldn't even camp at the campsite (it too was underwater) abandoned the holiday and drove home again the same night - covered the best part of 1,000 miles that day still with what happened on later that week and the number of deaths from people who tried to get out in the same area, it was the correct move and not one we regret... you just have to be ready to change plans at the last minute and know when the weather is too bad to be safely out in the mountains (Rannoch Moor, Glencoe, Loch Rannoch and surrounding areas...)

 

[Vapin' Joe]

We do that as well only for us it's when they reach the age of 18.

Same with us.

 

[Turdus philomelos]

Just like Rocky_mountain we just buy our own Christmas presents, we have done for a few years now, this way we get what we want/need .

We do do a wee token thing for the surprise element but nothing much. This year though I'm struggling for ideas for myself, well at least what I can afford.

 

[Lullabelle]

We don't buy each other anything, instead we invest in food and have a fancy Christmas lunch and dinner (we don't have turkey). My brother gets a gift and his 2 kids get money. Mum usually gives a list for dad but that isn't going to happen anymore not sure what to get him this year.

 

[biggs682]

Just done all* of the Christmas presents this morning... and its now time for a bike ride





Just thought I would say




*OK I may not have done my OH's yet, but I did buy him a new bike earlier this week...

so what did you get me @SatNavSaysStraightOn

 

[ScotiaLass]

It's good hearing other peoples' traditions.
As the kids left at home have got older (now 20,19 and 14) I'm now usually the first one up.
Every year for the past 3 years, I've said I'm not cooking a dinner, but getting a Chinese take-away.....every year have relented and cooked!
My daughter is moving out in a week or so...just up the road, to a flat with her boyfriend. She has assured me they will be coming by for dinner!

They will all be getting a few small gifts (a Christmas stocking) and will get money. They enjoy going to the sales and I get a day of peace while they go shopping!

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

so what did you get me @SatNavSaysStraightOn

exactly the same as my OH...

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

as a rule, we get each household something joint... but a tradition has been occurring over the last 5 or 6 years (except when we were on tour) that each household gets one of my landscape calendars which various useful dates in it and then the get something small for each person within that household. we pay more attention to getting them a nice card suitable for the household, something that has always been appreciated much more than the generic cards. The calendars tend to be specific photos from the last few years usually taken in the month they apply to (but I may not be able to stick to that this year)... I think I have rounded up 10 of the 13 photos needed so this year so far. Just have to finalise them and send them off...

Family meal wise - being allergic to dairy, it is simply better if we avoid eating with either family. Neither set of parents have yet managed to get their heads around the fact that I can't eat dairy and this means I can't have the veg lasagne they made for me because although they used soya milk or almond milk, they used butter to make the cheese sauce... even veg can be problematic at Christmas because people put butter over them prior to serving... and as for deserts (or is it desserts ?) don't even go there... plus I don't drink so we just gave up on the family Christmas day issues - it was all too complicated and people got offended when I couldn't eat what they had prepared specifically for me, and would have been even more upset if I ended up in A&E in anaphylactic shock.... so peanut butter (or homemade pate with vegan pesto sauce or possibly a cashew nut cheese) sandwich on a pass somewhere with a mug of black coffee and a wedge of (dairy free) homemade Christmas cake is fine and a lot safer!

 

[Brandane]

Every year for the past 3 years, I've said I'm not cooking a dinner, but getting a Chinese take-away

I have actually had a Chinese take-away on Christmas day! I think it was the late 80's, and I was working back-shift in my previous life. Four of us round the table at dinner time in Gourock Police Office. Then the following week, night shift through the bells, which was always one of the busiest nights of the year (and I caught it for 6 years in a row). Now I remember why I am not a fan of the whole "festive" thing. For 20 years it didn't exist.

 

[ScotiaLass]

I have actually had a Chinese take-away on Christmas day! I think it was the late 80's, and I was working back-shift in my previous life. Four of us round the table at dinner time in Gourock Police Office. Then the following week, night shift through the bells, which was always one of the busiest nights of the year (and I caught it for 6 years in a row). Now I remember why I am not a fan of the whole "festive" thing. For 20 years it didn't exist.

Snap, although I was on an acute medical ward, pulling the night shift.
We always got a take-away delivered just before the shop shut but depending how busy it was, we could be eating it at 4am!
Then I'd go home at 7.30am and the kids would be up (then aged 10, 8, 2 and 1) so I'd stay up for the day and bail to bed when they went at 6-7pm!
That's if I wasn't working that night...
I think I lost about 16 years of my life that way!