A Festive Thread 2024

[Jubal]

How have you all been celebrating the end of the year/impending start of 2025?

[The Seamstress]

Christmas Eve (24th) with family at my sister's, being a bit envious because my nephews got a very cool Playmobil castle complete with dragons and knights and all... Today at home with the bunnies, tomorrow lunch with family. New Years will most probably be the same as ever: fondue & raclette, again at my sister's because it's the most spacious place... (All in all there will be up to 12-14 people.) Eating lots of my mum's homemade cookies (which are undoubtedly the best ever), my favourite thing about Christmas time.

[dubsartur]

It was a dark and stormy day!  We opened stockings and Christmas presents, had the traditional cinnamon buns made from kits in cardboard tubes, and watched the animated "Mole's Christmas" from 1994.  Did a lot of hand sewing on the 14th-16th century gown I am making so I have a second winter coat.  Was not successful at ignoring the Internet, email, and social media.  Tried to find the right hard drive to back up my laptop on.  Took a call from $relative who is living out of province.  Turkey dinner.

The Christmas Day dinner with family in town has not happened in the COVID era but my mother will visit them in a few days. 

[Jubal]

We're doing most of our festivities on Dec 30-Jan 1 when my sister gets here, but the last few days we decorated and prepared the house in any case, and today we visited my aunt & uncle: the next few days will be a bit of a lull before festive round 2.

For Christmas day itself we went to see seals! There are some large colonies on the Norfolk coast and this is the breeding/birthing time of year for Atlantic grey seals. They're big animals - males up to 400kg - and really interesting to see flopped all over the beach like sleepy tourists on holiday (with occasional bouts of certain other activities that can also happen on holiday). So here are the Christmas selkies