A belated Merry Christmas, all!

I got so busy on Christmas Eve, I didn't have time to pop on here before.

Nellie, that's such a sweet gift. Scarlet and I made a photobook of my dad's parents and grandparents for him and we got a copy for each of his siblings for Christmas, it was a huge success. I think I was almost more excited that they all loved it than I was to get any gifts myself. It's been several years since dad's mom died and she was the last of the grandparents on that side, so it was neat to give the all kids this book this Christmas.

I had a lovely white Christmas with my parents and siblings. My parents surprised my sisters and I with a 50mm lens, didn't expect to get that item off my list and I was actually planning to put Christmas money from my grandparents towards purchasing it. Now I can put the money from my grandparents towards a study Bible and get busy practicing with the new lens. One of my sisters gave me a camera lens mug, another sister gave me a notepad/clipboard, and other items received from the parents included a raspberry dark chocolate bar, a purple scarf, red/black/gray hat, green sweater, and a striped green blouse (the no iron kind, my favorite ). So, I am going to wear the green sweater, drink coffee from the new mug, and use the notepad to write a thank you note to my grandparents.

For Christmas Day lunch, we had brisket, mashed potatoes, gravy, layered lettuce salad, and cranberry jello salad. Dessert, which we had late in the afternoon, was a blackberry chocolate trifle; keto chocolate cake, freshly whipped cream, blackberries, and ganache.

I didn't bake my annual Christmas sugar cookies before Christmas Day, so that today's fun project.

SnowAngel

Merry Third Day of Christmas!

I can't say what I got for Christmas this year, because we haven't finished opening presents yet! What did you all get this year?

I'm finally getting around to posting my answers to the questionnaire.

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags?
Gift Bags. My wrapping doesn't usually turn out right.

2. Real tree or Artificial?
I prefer a real tree, but own an artificial tree. It is just easier to deal with than a live tree.

3. When do you put up the tree?
Whenever I get to it...

4. When do you take the tree down?
Whenever I get to it...
Certainly after Ephiphany.

5. Favorite gift received as a child?
Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest. It was more fun than a barrel of monkies!

6. Worst Christmas gift you ever received?
Hmm... I'm not sure. Maybe I blocked it out of my memory?

7. Hardest person to buy for?
My mom. Any ideas what to get her?

8. Easiest person to buy for?
My sister. Gifts for her seem to hop right into the cart.

9. Mail or email Christmas cards?
E-mail. PM me your e-mail address and I'll send you one.

10. When do you start shopping for Christmas?
About mid-December. I usually finish shopping on Dec. 23rd.

11. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present?
As in "re-gifted"? I can't recall. It sounds like a good idea though.

12. Favorite thing to eat during the Christmas season?
Cherry cordials.

13. Lights on the tree?
Oh yes. Do people not put lights on the tree?

14. Favorite ornament theme or color? Theme?
Narnian. For instance: I have a box of pinecone ornaments. I also hang sleigh bells on my tree. Any other ideas of what a Narnian might put on their tree?

15. Angel on the tree top or a star?
I grew up with an angel, but I prefer a star. However, this year we have a Father Christmas tree-topper.

16. Do you have a nativity?
I do.

17. Travel at Christmas or stay home?
I prefer to stay at home.

18. Gifts in the stockings?
Sure.

19. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning?
Why not both?

20. Favorite part of Christmas dinner?
Hmm... the rolls?

21. Do you like eggnog?
Umm........................... no.

22. Favorite Christmas song?
Offering by Paul Baloche

23. Favorite Christmas movie?
Disney's A Christmas Carol.
(Or does The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe count?)

24. Favorite Christmas book?
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens.

25. What do you want for Christmas this year?
Something nice.

14. Favorite ornament theme or color? Theme?
Narnian. For instance: I have a box of pinecone ornaments. I also hang sleigh bells on my tree. Any other ideas of what a Narnian might put on their tree?

Hmmm, interesting question to think about! A lion would be an obvious choice for a Narnian, but it might be hard to find one that's a tree ornament. Maybe one could make one somehow...

Snowflakes would be a good choice — and Father Christmas, of course! And stars, too, because we meet some star-people in the Chronicles.

Maybe some exotic-looking birds like the one in the apple tree in The Magician's Nephew? Or there are other animals that could be Narnian — a horse for Bree or Hwin, a mouse for Reepicheep... Again, it might be hard to find ones that are designed to be hung on the tree, but probably not impossible. One could find a small toy horse, mouse, lion etc. and add a hanging loop.

I don't have a tree of my own this year (because I live on site at the care home where I work and don't have a lot of space in my own room, but we have a big tree downstairs), but when I have one in future, I think I might have to find or make some Narnian decorations myself! Thanks for the inspiration.

Well, on one of our trees we have enough owl ornaments to make a parliament! It helps that one of them almost exactly resembles Glimfeather...
I suppose miniature lampposts would be in order on a Narnian Christmas tree. (We actually have a lamppost ornament too! )

My Narnian Christmas ornaments include some beavers, an official Narnia ornament, a lamppost my sister cross-stitched for me, and a couple of squirrels. I also have a Narnia tree skirt.

I don't have time to answer all of the questions. Or actually any of the questions. Sigh. Life. But I've saved the list so maybe I will have them answered by next year.

I have a question. Does your church do candle lighting on Christmas Eve? Our church decided to stop doing it because they don't want wax to get all over the new sanctuary. Luckily, I was visiting my mom so we went to a church that had it.

In 2005 I had a LWW themed tree with lots of plastic icicles and a line of white beads! In 2010 I collected all the plastic swords and daggers I could find, and laid them around at the base of the tree.
Apart from that, I have a golden apple, several birds, and a deer (?white stag?). Nothing else could really count as Narnian, apart from some images of Father Christmas.
But some of the other items on my tree remind me of other Narniawebbers, such as a red cardinal from Ontario, where a couple of members live.

I had a really nice Christmas. I got a lot of books and a few DVDs. (I intend to write about some of the books in the Books topic.) I got to see a lot of family members whom I don't normally get to see much. I was pretty sure some of them would be unable to make it due to the weather but none of my Puddleglum-esque predictions came to pass.

The only real problem is that I had to see all my distant relatives at the same time. When there are three different conversations going on in the same room at the same time, I have to concentrate hard to pay attention to a single one (and deciding which one is a burden) and the noise makes me want to run away screaming.

P.S.
My brother's wife-to-be says her Church used to do a candle light Christmas Eve service.

I have a question. Does your church do candle lighting on Christmas Eve? Our church decided to stop doing it because they don't want wax to get all over the new sanctuary. Luckily, I was visiting my mom so we went to a church that had it.

Neither my mom nor I could make it to our respective Christmas Eve services because they only offered afternoon services and it was before we got off work. We went to another church, and they had a traditional candlelight service - actual candles, even, not the electric ones! I understand the safety and mess concerns with real candles, but there's nothing quite like singing "Silent Night" in the light of real candles.

Maybe some exotic-looking birds like the one in the apple tree in The Magician's Nephew? Or there are other animals that could be Narnian — a horse for Bree or Hwin, a mouse for Reepicheep... Again, it might be hard to find ones that are designed to be hung on the tree, but probably not impossible. One could find a small toy horse, mouse, lion etc. and add a hanging loop.

Now you mention Magician's Nephew, yes that sounds like a good idea. The idea of Narnian birth & rebirth so inherent in that book, sounds so brilliant at Christmas, especially the last few days afterwards. We have had the driest three months on record so far, with absolutely no rainfall & even on my husband's birthday (14th November) we daren't so much as light one birthday candle. At the moment, the Sun is looking better than it did yesterday, when it was such a dire dull red that thoughts of Charn did cross my mind.

Some good news! An apple orchard at Bilpin, in the mountains, having been saved from the fires, was able to reopen, whilst koalas & koala rescue have been a priority for this Christmas. I used to love going up to beautiful Kurrajong, on the road to Bilpin, where even on the ascent into the mountains, one could hear the bell birds calling each other, as in the Nepean Gorge. May this area also one day recover. We could go up there to the lookout there, where apple & orange orchards let people come to pick their own fruit, paying for it as they left the premises. Jadis wouldn't have been welcome there either.

Good to hear that things are looking up for the koalas, wagga!
I've been to only one candlelight Christmas Eve service that I remember. I just remember we were all wearing gloves and getting wax everywhere.

My family's Christmas was good. My one sister is getting married on Saturday, so it was kind of special since it was her last Christmas at home.
The gifts were pretty good though. I actually got a knockoff replica of Lucy's dagger! It has a black and silver handle, so it's not 100% accurate, but I like to think it looks a little more ... manly. It has a really nice sheath, and also nicely compliments my Rhindon replica.

We had a very nice Christmas with our families.

My husband got me this awesome Lego treehouse set. I'm STILL not done with it (over 3000 pieces!!), but that hasn't stopped my kids from playing with it. But if you've seen The Lego Movie, I'm very much the Will Ferrell character in the movie. Legos must go together according to the instructions and stay that way So my kids have been properly threatened in the event they take my treehouse apart.

I also got a National Geographic Atlas of the United States of America that was published around the year 2000. It's fascinating because it's NOT like a road atlas. More like the changing maps and newspapers and headlines from I think the foundation of the country through current times.

Anybody else get something cool for Christmas?

Er, no. It is even terrible to expect anything more startling than replacements of badly needed worn out clothing or equipment. Too much drama & heartache around this part of the world at the moment, when people have lost their homes, their lives, even, to do more than be very grateful for a new book to read & the unexpected & most enjoyable box of chocolates, given to me with so much love.

It is now a full week after Christmas Day. Happy New Year today, January 1st, 2020, wherever in the world you happen to be! We had fireworks as usual in Sydney, itself, to ring in the New Year, even though many felt, with 2020 hindsight, that this year they should have been cancelled, especially with total fire bans in place. Suburban events in Parramatta & Campbelltown definitely were cancelled & there were only a few fireworks let off around here.

However, such yearly events are planned well ahead, & who would have ever dreamed, at the end of 2018, that the bushfires would have been so devastating on New Year's Eve in 2019? They went ahead as scheduled, as around Sydney Harbour is probably the safest part to have fireworks. But this year's fireworks, as spectacular as they still were, were a bit subdued, & only went on for about half the time it did in past years. Red Cross & other charity volunteers used the occasion to collect donations, raising A$900,000 or more for the Australian Red Cross alone.

There have been some good news though. Mogo Zoo & its animals have been so far protected from a raging bushfire at Clyde Mountain, near Batemans Bay on the NSW south coast. However, the township has been demolished instead, & there has been some deaths. Courtenay, I'm sorry to have to tell you the bushfires of 2009 have returned to Gippsland, a decade later.

It's awful even just hearing about it, Wagga — my family aren't near the fires, but that's no comfort for everyone else who is. My prayers are with you all and I'm making a big donation to the Aussie Red Cross — I remember how much they did back in 2009. Here's hoping for better days ahead soon.

It's New Year's Day in New Zealand, and the sky over much of the country is full of smoke that has come over from Australia, making it darker than usual, and the sun piercing through like a rather yellow lamp. It's about 30 degrees C, a hot day, but I am skulking indoors where it's cooler, and peering out at the odd sky, which has grown brighter in the last couple of hours.
If it looks this odd here, what is the smoke like in Australia!? Our empathy is restricted by our lack of experience in fires (apart from a few years ago here when there was a big fire on the hills).

To add a celebratory tone, I am watching LWW, and have PC and VDT ready to play next!

It has cooled down a bit from yesterday where it was at least 44C in Penrith, in the Western Suburbs, on the opposite side of Sydney, itself, from NZ. But the heat will probably come back by Saturday. Most mornings & evenings the bushfire haze has continued unabated, some days worse than others. Just when we think that we might be getting on top of things, back it comes, often from fires that seemed to be subdued & have reignited with a change of wind. The Sun, especially in the morning & evening, looks horribly like the Sun Polly & Digory saw in Charn, just a bit smaller, I hope. My personal freedom has become somewhat restricted due to a medical history of asthma, & as horrifying as the reports have been, I am glad that the usual fires in Winmalee, Yellow Rock & elsewhere, so bad in October 2013, have not happened - so far. Three cheers for the preparation work done in the area during last autumn. One benefit from so much haze is that in a weird way it never seems to get as hot as is feared, such as the beginning of 2018, when on 7th January the temperature reached 47.3C.

I don't suppose the yearly fireworks display would have helped, though letting off fireworks seemed strangely subdued here, as a whole. Two of my 3 daughters went into Circular Quay where they said it was a terrific display, as usual but agreed with us that it was curtailed somewhat, as a nod to people's sensitivities. The Sydney City Council decided not to can this yearly event, which allegedly draws in the tourists bigtime, & used it instead for a fundraising event to aid the RFS, among other things. My daughters had been preparing for this year's event six months ago, & only had to pay A$250 dollars for overnight accommodation for 2 people. But some of the big hotels with good views of Sydney Harbour Bridge charge tariffs of thousands of dollars just for that one night of the year.

My husband rang his brother in Tasmania, who up until Christmas Day had seen very little smoke down there, though the situation seems to have changed yesterday. I'm not surprised that you have been getting so much pollution in Christchurch, though I hope you had a nice Christmas nonetheless. Sitting in a cool place watching Narnia films sounds fantastic. I'm afraid to wake up the sleeping beauties who came home about 11'ish, AM that is.

The severity of the bushfires has been blamed on the horribly dry atmosphere, with a positive IOD (Indian Ocean Dipole), now weakening, coupled with a late Indian Monsoon, which has, in turn, made the Darwin Monsoon, too late to cool the atmosphere in the north part of the continent. Maybe the monsoon will turn up before the end of the month.