A Christmas catch-up

Well, that's Christmas nearly over for another year, and as in previous years I can't say I'm sorry to see the back of it was not I don't particularly dislike the festival, but what I do detest is the commercialism, the precious to buy things, and the false bonhomie associated with Christmas and in particular the cheesy Christmas songs. Andy Williams may have thought it “The most wonderful time of the year,” Dean Martin might have wanted it to keep snowing, Nat King Cole was roasting his chestnuts by an open fire, and as Perry Como observed, it was "beginning to look a lot like Christmas."

These artists of course, were all American, and therefore tended to have different expectations from what, for some inexplicable reason, they call the "holidays." Mind you it could be worse, as here in the UK, we have Noddy Holder hanging up his stocking or, bottom of the pile, Roy Wood, "Wishing it could be Christmas every day." No thanks, in fact I can't think of anything worse!

Nowadays, extended family Christmas celebrations tend to be a thing of the past, thankfully, and I tend to view them as some sort of intermediary between the family Christmases I knew as a child, when it was just me, my two sisters, plus my mother and father. Growing up in the 1960’s, they were probably the simplest of Christmas celebrations, and are also the ones I recall most fondly - especially now that I'm heading towards the end of my sixth decade. There's obviously no going back, and I'm pleased to say that with each passing year, Christmas has become less rushed and less frenetic.

These days there's just the three of us, Mrs PBT’s, son Matthew and me. There was a time when Eileen’s mother would come to us for Christmas, as would her brother and his late wife. We also invited a friend along, as he lived on his own. Times have changed, and as head cook, Eileen certainly doesn't miss catering for those extra people. Being a grumpy old git, I also prefer keeping my own company at Christmas, and not having to entertain members from our extended family.

Matthew also doesn't like Christmas, primarily because he works in retail, and the festive season is always the busiest time of the year. He claims, and not without some justification, that customers are often quite rude, especially as the countdown to the big day gets nearer. Many seem to be in a tearing hurry, probably because they’ve left everything until the last minute, or that the item they are after has sold out. They need to remember that their lack of forward planning it's not the fault of the stressed and harassed shop assistant.

Now that Mrs PBT’s and I are semi-retired, we find things are far less rushed, and we have plenty of time to do the shopping, present buying (mostly carried out online), boring tasks, such as writing out Christmas cards, although the posties ill-timed strikes might be the final nail in the coffin of this archaic, and largely pointless exercise. (Look, we’ve received a card from the Glums. We’d better send them one, even though we never hear from them during the rest of the year!)

Then there is the final food shopping, along with all the other activities that go into making Christmas Day as hassle free, and as smooth running as possible. So after cooking a rather large, and rather sumptuous Turkey, and devouring an equally large Christmas dinner, I'm full to the brim and sitting here, enjoying one of several beers that I chose specially to mark this celebration.

As far as beer is concerned, I've tried various approaches over the years, ranging from polypins of cask ale - with only me drinking the beer, they tend to go flat before all 36 pints are consumed, through to 5 litre mini kegs, or a selection of bottles and cans. I had intended to get in one or two mini kegs, for the festive season, but contracting COVID, just a week before the big day, rather put a spanner in the works. Instead, I’ve stuck to the tried and tested method of accumulating a large selection of bottles, and sometimes even a few craft cans.

I’ve certainly built up quite a stock this year, including some from our recent trip to Amsterdam, but I’ve also fished out the odd few bottles that have been lurking at the back of the cupboard.  I'm pleased to say that none so far have disappointed, despite several being past their best before date. At the moment I'm just finishing off a dark strong ale called Tynt Meadow, a  Dubbel-style beer, brewed by the Trappist monks of Mount Saint Bernard Abbey, in Charnwood Forest, near Coalville, Leicestershire. I've no idea where I bought this beer from but have to say it is very good.

I’ve also enjoyed a few old favourites, such as Pilsner Urquell, a hoppy and refreshing beer, which is ideal for home-drinking, plus London Porter and 1845 – both from Fuller’s. The latter is my “go to” Christmas dinner beer, and this particular bottle, with a BBE of August 2023, was well conditioned, nicely matured, and the perfect accompaniment to a roast turkey Christmas dinner. 

Today, being Boxing Day, we took a drive down into darkest Sussex, and to Uckfield to be precise, in order to visit Mrs PBT’s niece and her extended family. She’d laid on a nice spread for us all, and it was nice to catch up, but if I’m honest, I’ve already done far too much sitting around this festive season. Perhaps I’m envious that she and her partner are flying off to Cyprus tomorrow, but possibly not, as travelling over Christmas often brings problems of its own.

Part of me is itching to get my hiking boots on, and head out, back into the great outdoors. One of the Christmas gifts I had, is a nicely illustrated and well laid out pocket book, detailing 40 short circular walks in Kent. I’m itching to try a few of them out, especially as none of them seem too taxing. Some of the walks cover familiar ground, although the majority do not, and it is amazing that despite having lived most of my life in Kent, there are still areas of the county that I am unfamiliar with.

I’ll bring this post to an end now, apart from offering compliments of the season to all my readers and followers. Thank you all for your interest in, and continued support of this blog, over the past year. It is very much appreciated!