More Advent Activities and Happy Christmas

Counting Down to Christmas

I seem to be super-organised this year and haven't felt the usual pressure that seems to mount day by day in the lead-up to Christmas. I've been able to relax and enjoy the Advent activities of week three.
Here's what we've been doing:

1. Eat marshmallow Santas! Almost as good as Easter eggs!
2. Mulled wine and Christmas mince pies: More food - do you sense a theme here?! I make the mulled wine from a recipe published in 1901 and it's delicious.
3. Send Christmas emails: For some people I send Christmas cards by snail mail; for others I send e-cards. I use this website for the cards - by sending a (free) card you support various charities with donations from the website's advertisers.
4. Remember our first Christmas meal together:  It was Ernest Hemingway who said, "Memory is never true." How right he was! Pete thought our first Christmas was when we went to a Regional Park beach and shared our picnic under the pohutukawa trees with a park ranger. I thought it was when we walked into the city centre from my apartment and bought hamburgers from the pie cart! Who was right? Me!
5. Have a fun day out together: We've put this on hold till after Christmas hoping the weather will improve.
6. Donate 'treat' food to the food bank: Instead of the boring old pasta and pasta sauce I donate each week, I put in bags of gold wrapped chocolate 'coins'.
7. Watch a Christmas movie: We tried, we really tried, but the DVD I got from the library was so dire that after half an hour we switched it off and went for a walk instead. Probably better for us after all the marshmallows and Christmas treats!

Which leaves me with one pleasant task - to thank you for the lovely comments, emails and cards I've had about this blog and to wish you all

                     A Very Merry Christmas

See you again next year!