Welcome to Christmas at our Home!
We put the decorations up on Saturday after Youngest had opened his presents and had breakfast, having been coaching at the swimming club between 7.00am and 9.00am!
Our Tree this year.
We always have a real tree and we put it up in our sitting room as that is where we spend most of our time over Christmas but it is in the corner of the room behind one of our sofas so you can’t see all of it. I will take some pictures at night so you can see the lights.
The ornaments have been collected since DH and I have been together and a few from my parents. We always bought both boys a new ornament for the tree each year until last year when DH said we would need a fifty foot tree to fit all of them on soon! I like that it looks full though. We have a lot from our two visits to the US.
This year we have some new lights around the window in our Dining room.
The lights on the stairs as usual and a new piece this year which says “Christmas at the Parrs”, this is in place of our “Welcome” sign which sits there the rest of the year.
This is my “Think Christmas” quilt from the Blog Hop run by Lesley a few years ago.
Christmas lights on our piano.
Christmas lights in our Den. I think the best bit of Christmas is all the Christmas lights.
Youngest’s 18th Birthday Banner which has Lego on it!
Some of his 18th Birthday cards.
Youngest opening his gifts, he was very pleased with them.
Last night I went to the Advent Carol Service at Derby Cathedral. DH was unable to go, so I invited a good friend from the village and her husband to go with me. Now the last time DH and I went it was very much traditional Carols and Service but this year its was very formal with Carols that none of us had heard of! In fact when DH saw the programme he said it was very “High” Church. I think because we have a new Dean and obviously they like to make changes but if they are steering more to High Church practices then it will be like this.
I enjoyed the music, the choir were excellent and the first half of the service was conducted by Candlelight but it was a shame that there were not more popular Carols, plus I don’t think our friends will ever come to anything else I invite them to!!!!! It was a lovely way to start off the Christmas season.
I read an article last week in The Guardian newspaper on-line by a very jaded commentator saying that we should not celebrate Christmas ever! I won’t go into the full rancid spiel but the gist was that there are elements of society who are unable to celebrate Christmas because of their lack of money, are homeless, a different religion or spend too much money on Christmas and then spend the whole of next year paying for it. The way the article was written basically said that all the rest of us who do not fall into the above categories should therefore forget Christmas all together!
I take exception at these types of articles. Firstly Britain is, and has been for a long time, a Christian Country and therefore Christmas is part of our traditions. We do have lots of religions also in this country and have for alot of years and they choose whether to celebrate or not. Secondly homelessness is something every society has and there are alot of organisations out there who help the homeless at Christmas and through the year and we as a family donate to these orgnisations. Thirdly lack of money or spending too much that you are paying for it for the rest of the year is in each individual’s hands. We have had times when finances were tight and we spent only what we could afford but still had a wonderful Christmas and we save through the year for Christmas and it is all paid for before Christmas happens.
So I do not think we should stop celebrating Christmas, why should all of us not celebrate the Birth of Jesus and spending time with our family and friends in whatever way we do but made to feel guilty about doing so? Why are these people given print space to air their views because they don’t like Christmas? Someone told me last week that a relative of theirs is not sending Christmas Cards this year as it is not “socially correct”! What? All I can say to these people is Bah Humbug and go crawl back into the holes you came from! I love Christmas and will be sending cards and putting up the tree and doing all the other Christmas things, so there!
Happy Monday Rant!!!!! I hope you all had a lovely Advent Weekend.
Hugs, Susie xx
It is looking like Christmas at your house – so pretty!! When someone new comes into a church, they seem to feel the need to change things radically (rather reminds me of a dog marking his territory) to show that they are there. Stupid, in my not-so-humble opinion! Yes, change is good for us, but there is a limit to what we are willing to accept all at once. When my pastor was new to the church, he introduced the “new” praise music, one or two a month, liberally sprinkled with the traditional hymns the church is familiar with. It works very well and there is a 50/50 mix of new and old music, with no one feeling pushed out of the singing. If you can’t sing along with the choir at Christmas, that’s sad. As for those who don’t want to celebrate Christmas, please, be my guest and hide under a rock for the month! Just don’t expect to force your desires on to anyone else…doesn’t work that way! I won’t shove Christmas down your throat and you don’t get to flush my Christmas down the drain!!! Fight on for what you believe, Susie!!!
Your home is looking BEAUTIFUL, Miss Susie – and we agree – the lights are soooooo special. Without them; it would not be Christmas!
Your home looks lovely and I agree with everything you said about Christmas. I am so tired of other people that think they have the right to tell us what we should do so as not to disturb someone else. Don’t they realize they are disturbing me with their opinions. Thanksgiving through New Year is my favorite time of year and I will conitinue to celebrate.
Sorry I really do know how to spell continue. I tried to fix it but apparently didn’t get it done.