Season of mist and mellow fruitfulness...and ramping up those Christmas preparations! Countdown to Christmas 2024 (thread 3) (title edited by MNHQ @request of OP)

[NoWordForFluffy]

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(Saves us checking the old thread tomorrow!)

Here goes, folks. New thread to see us through autumn!

@NoCheesesForUsMeeces

Full fat Pepsi??? I suffer with migraines but have never heard of this remedy.

Presumably you've had success with it? (I'll try anything).

One of my faves!

Omg this one though 💔

I love garden centre Christmas stuff hoping
The one you may remember from your time down here (out towards Usk) is absolutely lovely in December - they have a mini ice rink and everything


monkey full fat Pepsi/coke helps with some of mine. I can't remember who put me on to it - possibly Fluffy.
I will say though, it doesn't always work. My theory is that what helps depends on the cause - so absolutely nothing helps a hormonal one for me, but one caused by too much/too little sleep will bugger off after full fat coke.

@Magnoliasunrise
I've just heard about Last Train to Christmas on a podcast.

Is it any good and where can I watch it?

Our local garden centre goes all out at Christmas Time.
When the DCs were smaller my Mum would take them every year to get a new tree decoration. Magical times.

Last Train to Christmas is on my "To Watch List" ( Martin Sheen time travel one )

Last year I watched "This Is Christmas " , Timothy Spall and Alfred Enoch , it's a bitter/sweet Christmas story .

The CCF (Cheesey Christmas Film) Threads will be starting soon.

I nominate "Angels In The Snow"

Oh Oh Countdown:

89

Into the eighties............

It is tipping down here . I am going to drop DD at work ( sandwich/pain au chocolat tradition) then I have to pick up an M&S order so I might as well have a potter about instore too .

@70isaLimitNotaTarget
Yes it’s the Martin Sheen one.

CCFs….I think Channel 5 start screening them in October! So cheesy but oh so good.

Windy and crisp here (yay!).
Got a lovely relaxing day off ahead. Drop DD at school, long dog walk whilst listening to David Mitchell’s Unruly (thoroughly recommend, it’s hilarious!) then finish reading book.

Less than 3 months to go 😳

I have a very big soft spot for CCFs (although to me they are Crappy Christmas Films ). I have a few I tend to rewatch when I'm busy and just want some noise around me.
Christmas Land, My Christmas Inn and Christmas Inheritance are favourites of mine. I have a Teams chat with a little group in work where we discuss/review/recommend them.

I need to get a wriggle on with my Christmas card kits - I'm still only on the second one as I had to unpick a load of it the other day and it annoyed me so much I haven't picked it up since 🙄 I wish I had your focus Fluffy!

Busy-ish day here. Work and in my lunch break I need to pop to the pharmacy. Will use a break to sort some washing - it'll need to hang in the utility room with the radiator on or on the heated airer as it's cold and wet here.
Then I'm food shopping, going for a cold dip then out for tea before coming home to finish fixing a chair I've been working on for a few days (a bamboo hanging basket/egg chair that is years old and the twine holding the pieces in place has come off so I've been diligently cleaning and repairing it). And if I have time after that I'll be cross stitching.

Hope everyone is having a nice Friday. I’ve been floored by something this week, and have gone to bed the same time as the DC all week.

Make sure you check the price of any Christmas magazines you buy - Waitrose have one that is £12.99!! It doesn’t look any thicker than the others.

It’s so windy and rainy today, it feels like autumn. Going to plan our Christmas cards soon - this year will be the final one using DC footprint/handprint. They take hours to do, but I’ve enjoyed doing them. Wish I’d kept one for myself each year though.

I'll wait till the GH December one early Nov release .
But in the meantime I picked up the M&S free Christmas Food magazine to peruse over .

Highly recommend Last Train to Christmas.

Channel 5 normally does a CCF in the afternoon through December and they are soooooooooooooooo bad they are wierdly watchable. At least you can wrap while they are on and not miss anything important coz nothing important ever happens.

Magnolia what do you mean nothing important happens? How will you follow the story of corporate high flyer jacks it all in to set up cupcake bakery in small New England town where she convinces grumpy but devastatingly handsome doctor/vet/factory owner that Christmas is not Bah Humbug while wearing a series of amazing sweaters 🤷🏻‍♀️

Sometimes the grumpy but devastatingly handsome doctor/vet/factory owner is the corporate high flyer 's childhood sweetheart but she broke him when she spurned his proclamations of love to leave the tiny village and head off to the Big City to become a RedHotLawyer or Editor of a High End Fashion Magazine while looking more stylish and beautiful than any of the models .

There will be snow , possibly being snowed in .
Hot chocolate and cookies
Everyone in the village is lovely except devastatingly handsome man who is putting his life in hold .
By Boxing Day she has his grandmothers diamond ring on her finger and they're looking at churches .

I haven't seen The Muppets Christmas Carol , might need to bite the bullet and watch it .

Magnolia if you don't pay attention you might miss the moment the snowed in woman's eyes meet the eyes of the local handyman/inn manager and the whole plot becomes clear (usually within 15 mins of the film starting)

I particularly like the snow that's obviously fake and the fact everyone is all wrapped up and pretending to be cold when it's blatantly summer.
Why they can't film in the winter and release the following winter I don't know 🤷‍♀️

If you watch My Christmas Inn, you can also feel uncomfortable with the clear sponsorship by Balsam Hill - they're mentioned a few times in the most clunky way.

70 I don't know how Muppets Christmas Carol will land if you see it for the first time as an adult (the nostalgia is a huge part of my love for it) but it's not a bad telling of the story at all and the songs are sweet.

I would also say, if you have audible, there's a free version of a Christmas Carol read by Hugh Grant that is very good.

And the devastatingly handsome doctor/vet/factory is a single parent to an extremely cute child 😂

They really are so bad, they're good!

Have just spent an hour under the heated throw watching the All Creatures Great and Small Christmas Special.
I only recently discovered this series, it's my guilty pleasure.
Cosy, predictable storylines, cuddly pets. 🩷

@NoCheesesForUsMeeces

A Christmas Carol read by Hugh Grant?.....I'm in!

@TheWoollybacksWife @70isaLimitNotaTarget @NoCheesesForUsMeeces @MonkeyTennis34

absolutely laughing out loud at of all this - I stand corrected, will pay more attention in December. You've clearly all seen a fair few of them as well.

I'm peeved coz I had the really good 3 for 2 PLUS the 30% discount SIGNUP30 for Boots and ordered quite a few xmas gifts and theyve cancelled half of them and refunded despite the stuff still being for sale - they clearly realised that the offer was a bit too good and it expired at midnight on Wednesday.

I've still sent them a STRONGLY WORDED email 😂

88

DD has decided she wants porridge for breakfast tomorrrow , it is not something I would choose to eat but I know it is Good For You .

We have fruit and honey and syrup to add but she might end up giving the rest to DH

I quite like porridge, although once did it overnight in the slow cooker and it was revolting.

Dropped DS off for training this morning at 7am and it was 5 degrees. Brrrrrrr....... I'm still not putting the heating on though. ❄

Right I’m joining you! I’m really looking forward to Christmas this year as 2 of my children are away and they’ll be back. My dad has been ill and he’s in the mend now hopefully. So lots to celebrate. It looks like we’ll be having that in-laws too so 13 of us in total.

I’m struggling a bit with the darker days so a focus on this will cheer me up.

When should I do indoor flowering bulbs for Christmas? Is it too late? And when do people do pudding ? Cake?

Oh and what is the poncetaatic thread? Thanks!!!🙏

Welcome @herecomesthesunyes

My cake is done and I'll be feeding it this weekend.

Funnily enough I was thinking about indoor christmas bulbs like cyclamen and paperwhites and amarylis - most probably need to be planted pretty soon. You can often get pre prepped ones in November. They do make nice gifts.

Morning! It's is 🥶 here too but DH switched the heating on an hour ago so it's nice and toasty now.

Just jumping in the shower then we're off to do some shopping for house stuff, trousers for DH and possibly boots for me.

Welcome here 👋
The poncetastic thread is lovely, it's on the Christmas board. It's basically where people who like to go a bit OTT or generally craft/make things from scratch for Christmas chat about their plans. It usually covers everything from cake to homemade napkins, to jam, to elaborate table plans and everything else.
There's a poster who usually pops up there that is an mn expert on getting paperwhites to bloom just around Christmas Eve so they're there for the big day.

Morning!

No heating here yet either. We only heat to 18° anyway, and the house hasn't dropped below that really. And even when it does, if we shut the windows, it heats itself back up (which is a revelation, as the old house would've just stayed cold / got colder)!

I've been out with the dog for a gallop. We did about 7k, judging by my step count, so I'm now eagerly awaiting my bacon roll which DH is making!

Then I need to collect stuff from Sainsbos and Next, as well as go to The Range and B&M. Might pop into the pound shop near the latter 3 to see if I can find cheap dark chocolate oranges, as Tesco only has milk ones on offer, and the kids have dark ones here.

I'm also venturing to M&S to try to find the NHM advent calendar.

Warning: If your idea of a good Christmas involves Pizza, ITV, gravy granules or anything with 'Aunt Bessie’s' on the packet, this is not the thread for you".

@herecomesthesunyes

That's the warning at the end of the Poncetastic Thread which tells me , it's not for me

Though , In My Defence , I have Aunt Bessie yorkshire puddings as a standby if mine decide not to work (it's one of the most daunting parts of the dinner watching them through the oven door )
And I do make gravy from the vegetable water and Bisto vegan granuals
But our Boxing Day Pizza (tradition carved in stone) is a fresh dough that the breadmaker gets on with , I put everything in, switch on and wait a few hours for lovely pilllowey pizza dough .

There's the "Nigel Stater Read-a-Long" , I have his Christmas Chronicles , it starts early November .
In our house when we serve food we Nigel it onto the plate (ie placed not just dolloped) or things are NVN - Not Very Nigel