Sunday Musings 21 Days Before Christmas

~ beetleypete

Well I have the presents I am giving Julie as the last one was delivered yesterday. Now all I have to do is get around to wrapping them, and buying her card.

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Talking of Christmas Cards, this is the first time I am not posting any to family, friends, or contacts. The price of stamps is getting ridiculous, with our privatised Royal Mail paying out fortunes to greedy shareholders. On top of that, the ordinary postal workers are striking for better pay and conditions, so cards may not arrive.
(I support the postmen and women 100%!)

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Yesterday, we went into Norwich to celebrate our grandson’s eighth birthday. It was held at a family-friendly restaurant that includes a huge play area for children. As well as the birthday boy and his young sister, the whole extended family was there. A happy celebration indeed.

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Ollie has had another good week. No head shaking or scratching, and his skin and fur in pretty good condition. I hope he manages to avoid any medical issues until the new year, if at all. He will be 11 in February, a grand old age for his breed.

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No weather moans this week, I have already posted about the leaves starting to fall.

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Wherever you are, and whatever you are doing, I hope you have a peaceful Sunday.

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53 thoughts on “Sunday Musings 21 Days Before Christmas”

    1. I wholeheartedly support their strike, Jennie. The company wants to completely change their working conditions. And they are being refused a decent pay rise whilst the CEO earns £500,000 a year, plus share bonuses that can total almost as much again.
      Best wishes, Pete.

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  4. (1) “Now all I have to do is get around to wrapping them, and buying her card.” Overheard:
    Pete: “Julie, I like your card. Can I buy it?”
    (2) Terence Stamp just emails his season’s greetings. It’s free.
    (3) Which game does your grandson prefer to play: Eight-Ball or Crazy Eights?
    (4) Ocean’s Eleven…Good film! “Ollie’s Eleven….Happy birthday!”
    (5) The leaves don’t moan when they fall?
    (6) I went for a long desert hike in mountainous terrain today. Except for my thumping heart, it was a peaceful hike.

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  6. I think we have about six folks we exchange Christmas cards with at this point. I love the tradition, but it really has fallen by the wayside unfortunately. A victim of the times. When I saw the title of this post, it hit me – really hit me – there are but three weeks before Christmas! Some “work” to do, Pete! Have a good Sunday and start to the new week.

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  7. Here is something for you folks. The biggest complaint of all about Christmas is it comes sooner than we expect, and we run out of time, call it the ‘silly season’, get stressed etc.
    Ok here’s the solution that works. When you get your next years calendar, go to Oct 16 and write a 10 on it, then count down each week.
    That means things won’t run away from you and it trains your mind to what day of the week Christmas will be. Our mind naturally transfers last years day.
    Some of you may laugh, but this technique I taught when business mentoring and it saved businesses. It also stops family squabbles and stress by leaving things to the last minute.

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  9. Well, you note about the # of days to Christmas was shocking, but luckily we too have gotten ahead of our gift needs, so we aren’t too panicked, but the year has really flown by again, hasn’t it? Great news about Ollie and nothing more fun that to watch a child’s happy birthday party – the fun and joy of youth!

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    1. I rarely count down the days until Christmas, but this year it seemed to arrive far too quickly. Julie is wrapping presents for the family as I type, and she feels stressed to have so little time left to get everything sorted.
      Best wishes, Pete.

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  10. We haven’t sent cards in years, instead we donate the money it would have cost us to a local charity that supports the homeless. As for gifts we agreed with adult children not to buy them for each other, cash for the grandies (used to send books to the youngest ones in Australia, but the postage is more than the books now) and we tend to buy our own gifts, with maybe a couple of smaller surprises 😊

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    1. We have cut back dramatically for the first time ever, Jude. It isn’t that we can’t afford it, just that it seems we waste too much money on things people neither need nor want.
      Best wishes, Pete. x

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    1. She knows what two of them are. We ‘suggest’ gifts to each other to avoid unwanted presents that get stacked in a cupboard. The one ‘surprise’ is sealed, and not shakeable. 🙂
      Best wishes, Pete.

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  12. Sorry, Pete! I’m late again and will read all previous posts today!I am pleased that you all are doing well.Our Deutsche Post has done that with the Royal Mail.This is the main owner of your postal service, isn’t it?Here in Germany they also do not bring anything in the line! Enjoy a beautiful Sunday! Best wishes, Michael

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  13. I agree about cards. My list has become quite short and I only use cards that support animal charities (in theory). If I didn’t have a phobia about telephones, I would probably just make a few calls. A friend of mine that I was very fond of never responded in any way so last year I decided to cross her off the list and I didn’t send her a birthday card either. One day we were outside talking to a man that was doing some work for us and a police car arrived. My friend had tried to call me but for some reason her calls were rejected so she decided something had happened to me and got the police to come and check! So I sent her a card this year! Daft woman!

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        1. I was contacted by an American blogger who was concerned about a friend in England. The friend lived in Somerset, much too far away for me to visit. So I contacted the local police online, said I used to work for the police in London, and aksed them to do a welfare check on the Somerset lady. (Police call it a ‘Call-on’.) They did it the same afternoon, and I was able to report to the American blogger that her friend was safe and well.
          That was around three years ago, and is a very similar tale to your own.

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  16. Im glad Ollie is on the mend. So, he’s even older than me – Ollie 11 years old. Me 75 next March 8th. Regarding my lack of being able to use the reblog button, I delved into WordPress’s online help. I found the following step by step guide – Appearance > Customize > General Theme Options > Links & Buttons to make your adjustments. I followed the steps only to find that Links and Buttons does not exist on my WP!!! ):

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    2. Apropos my missing reblog button, let alone seeing it on your blog, Currently I have the following ‘Like’ ‘Press this’ FBshare and ‘More’. That’s it!!! Below them is the ‘Customize Buttons’ heading. Click on that I see the missing ‘REblog’ button in red. This means it is no longer available!!!!

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  20. Thank you, Pete, for your well wishes. I’m still trying to shop, I’m not very imaginative when it comes to gift-giving. We finally have the windows open, so I’m hoping for a cool Christmas!

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    1. It is very cool here, GP. Only 4C today, and a cold wind from the East. 🙂
      (We cut out the imagination by telling each other what we need. That saves buying things that never get used or looked at.)
      Best wishes, Pete.

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