Solstice Greetings...

[NettleMania]

I'm not religious, so we decided a few years ago to take the pressure off Christmas Day and have our big roast on the 21st instead.

In our family it means we still get all the traditional food, but on the day when the kids open their presents, I'm not slaving for hours over a hot stove.

So now the big meal is over and the fridge is groaning with leftover turkey and sprouts 😩

How have your family adapted to make the holiday fit your timetable?

Nice idea.

Our DD is grown up now. Last year she couldn't get home so DH and I simply didn't bother. The year before, the weather was good on the 25th but forecast rain on Boxing Day so we went out with a picnic and deferred the food and presents a day.

For me the Winter Solstice has a lot of significance. Bring an avid grower, it signals the start of warmth and light returning, but it takes a few more weeks to notice that.

Today I walked across the fields to get some holly as I always do, because this is the day we start to prepare for Christmas, not a day before. Usually the berries have been stripped by fieldfares but they need them more. I also have the first week of January off to enjoy the full twelve days of Christmas. Lots of walks and enjoy the fresh air, late afternoon sunsets, the flocks of geese flying back and forth to feed and roost. This is a magical moment of the year.

We also move animals off the hay fields tomorrow, not a day later. That way there is more time to allow the pasture to rest and the grass to lay new roots and start to get stronger. Grassing until February is too late in my opinion.