tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6722137562852954269.post6565183049161979947..comments2024-03-28T12:16:58.318+00:00Comments on Paul's Beer & Travel Blog: Christmas 2016Paul Baileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09678639237696546268noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6722137562852954269.post-18592640709489732922016-12-30T22:29:45.533+00:002016-12-30T22:29:45.533+00:00This comment has been removed by the author.Paul Baileyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09678639237696546268noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6722137562852954269.post-1303311039171082052016-12-30T22:25:24.687+00:002016-12-30T22:25:24.687+00:00My wife and I have often expressed the desire to j...My wife and I have often expressed the desire to jet off somewhere and escape Christmas. The trouble is our twenty-something son, who still lives with us, works in retail and is unable to take any annual leave over the Christmas period. It would be mighty mean of us to leave him on his own at Christmas, of all times, so we endure the whole ghastly ritual.<br /><br />I don’t actually mind Christmas Day itself, and enjoy the feasting along with spending time with my immediate family. It’s the build-up to it all which, as you rightly point out, begins at the end of September. If I never hear Slade and/or Wizard belting out their 40 year old Christmas “hits”, it will be too soon. <br /><br />Paul Baileyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09678639237696546268noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6722137562852954269.post-884162575215283512016-12-30T11:35:03.639+00:002016-12-30T11:35:03.639+00:00As each year goes by my attitude towards Christmas...As each year goes by my attitude towards Christmas has gone from disinterest after the kids became adults to outright loathing of the whole false mince piety and forced jolliness of the so-called " festive " season.<br />I hate every moment of it,from the first sighting of Christmas retail themes in late summer to the predictable " what to do with the turkey leftovers " in every post-Christmas Day newspaper,magazine and TV cookery show.Yeah,I know.Curry the bloody stuff.<br />I begged my wife to let us hop on a plane and go somewhere hot and non-Christian but as usual she won out.<br />On the plus side I beat my own record for the cheapest Christmas meal for a family of four - bringing it in at a miserly £12.50.<br />A nice piece of pork on the bone with thick crackling being I negotiated down to £6 by a butcher keen to close up shop at my local market on Christmas Eve.Vegetables from Lidl cost a couple of quid,cream another couple more to go with the Christmas pudding I won in a raffle last year and never used and the wine was donated by grateful customers of our business.<br />And £2.50 on a nice block of Brie from Aldi.<br />This was the only thing that really cheered me up this Christmas.<br />Fortunately I always have January to look forward to when the pubs are quiet with everyone on the dry and no sign of once-a-year idiots in Christmas jumpers.<br />Still,mustn't grumble ... Professor Pie-Tinnoreply@blogger.com