Christmas in the summer

[TheSandgroper]

I saw this https://www.reddit.com/r/australia/comments/1hl4k9l/i_love_australian_summertime_christmas_desserts/
and wondered how Mumsnetters were going.

We’re back in the U.K. for Xmas this year and we walked up to the village “walking nativity” where they played carols and stopped at various places to do scenes from the nativity. It was nice but it was bloody freezing and I couldn’t help but think it would have been better on a nice warm summers evening!

I hope everyone has had a lovely Christmas. Perfect weather here in Sydney today, sunny but not too hot. GD was able to play with her new pool toys but it wasn’t too hot to have the oven on for the full turkey and ham lunch my adult kids always want. It took a while to get used to but the idea of a cold, grey Christmas now seems horrible, not cosy, whereas cocktails by the pool seems like a winner. Guests have left now so I am reading the first of my rather large pile of Christmas books with an aperol spritz, might make some turkey sandwiches later.

That would be a nice Christmas idea for a warm evening to be honest. Especially if everyone could do the walk with a glass of bubbles

It was 30 in Melbourne on Christmas Day - a little too warm to be outside for me. DD and I had the usual cold Christmas lunch, and it was lovely.

Like @Flatandhappy and happy I'm tackling a pile of books on Boxing Day - battening down the hatches for a 39 day, though a cool change is on the way too.

I don't miss the northern hemisphere Christmases, just used to doing it differently now. For comparison, Hallowe'en is now firmly in my mind as taking place on a sunny afternoon and evening. Hordes of small children crowding the streets with mum and dad in tow. Not better than in the UK, just different and delightful.

Hi, yes I'm British and I save the best celebrations for Midwinter. Christmas in the middle of Summer is crazy and I try to keep the imagery summery as having snowy scenes everywhere is just a mind fuck and Australians have a massive disconnect with their seasons and with nature generally because eof all the pagan based celebrations being in the wrong place. See also.. Halloween in Spring and Easter with bunnies and lambs in Autumn.

Tasmania is always best for Midwinter celebrations because they are the coldest, but other states are catching up. And Christmas in July is a bit of a thing, especially where there are lots of Brits.

I’m British too although I’ve lived in Aus for 18 years now. I adore summer Christmas, plus having Christmas in the middle of a big long holiday. We do things the Australian way and have a delicious seafood bbq for Christmas lunch, pavlova, walk on the beach. People do Christmas lights on their houses and you can go for a nice evening stroll in the warm to look at them.
I don’t feel a disconnect with the seasons at all to be honest, but I embrace the Australian way rather than trying to make Australia an outpost of England.

Australians have a massive disconnect with their seasons and with nature generally because eof all the pagan based celebrations being in the wrong place. See also.. Halloween in Spring and Easter with bunnies and lambs in Autumn

Ridiculous. In keeping Hallowe'en and Easter as in the northern hemisphere they are actually preserving the connections.
By the way, no-one gets to choose when Easter is as it's a Christian festival, though hijacking earlier pagan rites.
Would you ridicule Indian Aussies for having Diwali when it's spring, not autumn? Thought not.

Oh heck no we did the rolled turkey breast from Aldi!

I hope your day went well.

Well, no aircon needed for Christmas in Perth. That, I think, is a first for this house. We often need it for a couple of hours in the afternoon. Salad with chicken and ham for dinner this evening so that was nice.

@echt I agree with everything you said!

Australians have no 'disconnect' with our seasons. Hence all the summer fruits eaten at Christmas in summer.

Hallowe'en is an American import, which isn't celebrated as much here. Not largely due to seasons- more to do with the fact that it is rude and inconvenient for kids to be knocking on doors asking for lollies. Also these days if you "tricked" people by trashing their house someone would be calling the police. It's a dated and stupid occasion IMHO.

Easter is a Christian holiday that most non-religious Aussies couldn't care less about. It's just the public holidays we like. TBH that bothers me- as a secular country (supposedly) we shouldn't base our public holidays around religious calendar dates.

@FeralWoman Yeah cherries haven't been abundant this year. Luckily some friends who live near Vic Market managed to grab a pallet and gave me some!

Still have leftover camp-fire lamb and potatoes. Made potato salad to eat with it tonight, sooo good!