Christmas Eve

New and old traditions today.

Old ...
A trip to our local metropolis (MK) to see the Christmas display and treat ourselves to drinks, cakes and biscuits in the John Lewis restaurant - on the first floor with an open gallery overlooking the square below, it is a great place for people watching and admiring the display below. We find going on Christmas Eve when everything is winding down for Christmas a much nicer experience than fighting the crowds earlier in December. This year's display was themed on The Wind in the Willows and was well done, I thought. Angel took Little Cherub for a ride on the carousel which she loved, waving and giving us beaming smiles each time she passed us. Unfortunately I forgot to take the camera. (Cherub, I'm glad to say, is making a rapid recovery from an upper respiratory tract infection that laid her low at the weekend thanks to a course of antibiotics.)

Newish ...
Joining two thousand or so others to sing carols in our local High Street (my guess of number, which could be wildly out!). Organised to raise money for charity and led by the Salvation Army band, it proves that the political correctness that makes Christmas an unmentionable word has not yet reached our part of the country. Carols sung with varying enthusiasm, Father Christmas in his sleigh on the back of a truck throwing sweets, and ending with Auld Lang Syne (a little early for New Year?) and God Save the Queen. All very traditional. We used to go to the Vigil Mass of Christmas which overlaps with the carol singing. Last year we managed to squeeze in both by running - more or less literally - from one to the other. This year we decided to do the carols tonight and go to Mass on Christmas morning.

New ...
For the first time ever we put up our Christmas tree on New Year's Eve. Angel and Star had both grumbled a little about not having it up earlier, but when it came to it thoroughly enjoyed putting it up today. It definitely added to the almost-Christmassy feeling. Maybe we will stick to this and make it a new family tradition. I usually leave the tree until a week or so before Christmas, but this year was particularly inefficient - not a bad thing, as it turned out.