Boxing Day

Boxing Day Sunday Musings

~ beetleypete ~ 64 Comments

I hope everyone had an enjoyable 25th. It was a relaxed day here in Beetley, with present opening for me, followed by a very quiet (and cold) dog walk with Ollie. Hardly anyone was out and about at lunchtime, and we only saw one other dog being walked. It has still been raining, so the mud was bad.

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Remember when Christmas morning we would see excited children out on the street? Riding new bikes or scooters, falling over as they tried out new skates, or walking in family groups in their best new clothes on their way to visit family or friends.
Well that never seems to happen anymore, certainly not in Beetley.

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Ollie loved getting his wrapped presents. He was so excited, running in circles, jumping up and smelling the parcels. It was easy to forget he is almost 10 now, as he was like a small puppy again. He got a plush grey squirrel, a cow that squeaks and crackles, a ‘Nemo’ type stuffed fish, a hedgehog in a spiky ball, a squeaky hot dog in a bun, and a rubber squeaky Christmas Tree. Later on he was so worn out, he slept soundly all evening.

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I did well too. A lovely heavy plush dressing gown and real sheepskin ankle-boot slippers. (Both being worn as I type this.) Three different bottles of red wine. (I had the Malbec last night.) Two boxes of chocolate-covered Brazil Nuts and two packets of pistachios. A pair of very nice stemless wine goblets, and a paperback book.

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We went out to the restaurant for our Christmas meal at 2:30 pm. It was great food, and served piping hot. There were three courses, and Julie couldn’t finish her cheese board selection at the end, asking for it to be boxed up to bring home. We were the last to leave, and got home just before 4:30.

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Today is called Boxing Day in England. This explains why.

The name comes from a time when the rich used to box up gifts to give to the poor. Boxing Day was traditionally a day off for servants – a day when they received a special Christmas box from their masters.The servants would also go home on Boxing Day to give Christmas boxes to their families.

I will be cooking a traditional roast Sunday dinner later, and we have a lot to do to prepare for a long day tomorrow with guests coming from around 2pm.

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Life returns to normal on the 28th.

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Thinking Aloud on Boxing Day

~ beetleypete ~ 50 Comments

Seasonal Consumerism.

I am still trying to digest the large Christmas Dinner that I enjoyed, and the presents received are still in a pile where they were left after being unwrapped. Ollie got new soft toys, and still can’t decide which one he likes best. The 26th is upon us, which in England is still known as Boxing Day. Although it is a Public Holiday, all of the shops will be open at some stage, as the post-Christmas sales begin. At one time, we only had ‘January Sales’. People would anticipate bargains to be had on the second of January, often queuing overnight outside big department stores. The clever shop owners would have loss-leaders featured in the windows. Televisions for a few pounds, or a half-price mink coat. The first through the doors would grab those bargains, and feel very pleased with themselves. But such once-a-year events are long behind us.

Now we have Black Friday and Cyber Monday. They are followed rapidly by Pre-Christmas sales, and immediately after by the Boxing Day sales. Before the shops close today, they will already be tempting buyers with previews of the New Year sales that start next week. As customers rush to buy things which are supposedly reduced by up to 50%, other less happy shoppers have to see huge reductions on things that they paid full price for on the 24th. Vouchers and cash received as presents yesterday will all be spent by the time it gets dark today. Having to endure a whole day with no shops open yesterday unleashes a buying frenzy once they are all trading again.

Logging onto my emails this morning, my Yahoo account was chock-full of sale offers from companies I have used online. Amazon suggesting things I have already bought, with the friendly comment “Buy them again?”. It never seems to occur to their computerised sales adviser that I am unlikely to buy exactly the same things that I ordered last week. Cookies provide fertile ground for companies I may have glanced at fleetingly, with obscure suggestions that I might like to buy some bags of gravel for the driveway, or rubber sealant for a cracked gutter. And let’s not forget the holiday companies. Holiday adverts traditionally begin on Christmas Day here, with TV advertising full of suggestions for exotic foreign holidays, cruises, villa rentals, or Disney trips. When the UK is in the grip of gloomy weather, and we are shivering in below-freezing temperatures, the sight of a tropical beach, or someone sipping drinks by a sun-soaked swimming pool is guaranteed to make you think about escaping the winter.

So, what I woke up thinking about today was this. How long will it be before most shops are open on Christmas Day? How long before companies just cannot bear to miss just that one day of trading? Most people no longer celebrate the religious aspects of the season, and I am convinced that many bored people would like nothing better than to get to the shopping malls on the 25th, instead of watching re-runs of old kid’s films after a heavy lunch. They could get an even earlier start on the sales, and the shops would save money by having to print ‘Boxing Day’ on their banners. I am also sure that many shop staff would welcome the extra pay from working on a public holiday, and anyone who is still religious would not be forced to work.

It will be a lot like Sunday shopping, which started as an experiment, with the reduced opening hours. At first, it felt strange to go shopping on a Sunday. Now, it is one of the busiest days of the week in most supermarkets. I always used to say that I would never see Christmas Day opening in my lifetime.
Now I’m not so sure.

What do you reckon? Say within five years?

Merry Shopping!

The end of a Beetley Christmas

~ beetleypete ~ 8 Comments

Julie is back to work tomorrow. ( I know, Saturday, but it is a Bank) So that is pretty much the end of Christmas for us, in Beetley. Boxing Day went well. ( It is really St Stephen’s Day on the 26th, but we all call it Boxing Day, named for when servants received boxes of gifts) We went to see Julie’s brother and Mum, in Suffolk. He and his partner, Caroline, prepared a very nice meal, and we were joined by her daughter and boyfriend, as well as their dog. Unfortunately, their  dog did not take to Ollie, and after growls and snarls, he had to be returned home. We settled down for a good chat and laughs, followed by an unrealistically early tea, where too much food followed a large lunch. Sadly, their Mum was poorly, with a heavy cold; but we all made the best of it, ate far too much, and chuckled the evening away, until time to depart.

Today, we rose at a reasonable time, and I took Ollie for his walk. He was very much his old self, and played with his friend Buddy, despite hurricane strength winds. During a vigorous shake, his tail bandage came off. However, it didn’t seem to concern him, and as he is due back at the Vet tomorrow, I just brought him home a little early. Late afternoon, we went to visit Julie’s daughter and her boyfriend, at their house in Attleborough, about 25 miles away, still in Norfolk. Her younger son was there, visiting with his Dad; and her other twin daughter was there also, so she got to see most of her family. We handed out more presents, and left when they were serving their evening meal.

This evening at home was quiet, and we finished our Christmas meats, and relaxed before the TV. I enjoyed an expensive Bordeaux wine, a gift from neighbours, and Ollie slept off a busy weekend. Tomorrow, after Julie gets home, we are entertaining our neighbours, for an evening meal. I have a Vet appointment for Ollie at 10am, then some housework and tidying, before our guests arrive. It has all gone very quickly, and although we have New Year to anticipate soon, it has been subdued, to say the least.

Perhaps that is the way of things, as you get older. Contentment and routine replaces excitement. That is the way of things in Beetley, in the Norfolk countryside, at least. And all the better for it, as far as I am concerned.