I hope each and every one of you had splendid Christmases? Or days off, if you don't celebrate it? I had a really lovely few days, I must say. Usually, every year, there is some small issue, that while not ruining the holiday per se, does detract slightly. Family rows, burnt spuds ... last year my mum had a streaming cold and couldn't eat her Christmas dinner. This year, I can honestly say it was about as perfect as it's possible to be!
It began with a night out in my home town on Christmas Eve. I used to spend my teenage Christmas Eves in the bigger town nearby, so going out locally was a novelty. I bumped into so many people I hadn't seen in about a decade, most of whom were also back home for Christmas, but some who have never moved away. Everyone was so complimentary on my appearance, which was lovely. I woke up on Christmas morning (relatively hangover-free), and opened my many wonderful presents. My dad was in a good mood for the whole time (a very unusual occurrence), and even liked his surprise present (a never-before heard-of occurrence)! I, of course, used the occasion to dress up in my lovely burgundy velvet Able Grable frock. As you can see, I still haven't ironed it - that is far too much effort for Christmas!
I did my hair in victory rolls, with the back pinned up, to create an easy updo. My parents have a tree that is rather like mine, only much bigger and with gold and bronze decorations. This is pre-present carnage...I'll do another post to show my fabulous gifts, most of which were kitchen-based, from my beautiful best friend.
We have a tradition of going for a long walk while the turkey is cooking, and this year was no exception. It was a lovely, crisp and cold day, and I would class it as a semi-white Christmas, because much of the previous week's snowfall hadn't melted. We haven't had a white Christmas in recent memory, and only once in my lifetime, I think. So it was wonderful.
I paired my dress with the same boots and tights as my previous post, but with my V.I. wool coat from Oasis and a warm red pashmina and red leather gloves. Not exactly period accurate, but warm and stylish nonetheless!
The bet bit of the walk is returning home to a house filled with amazing smells. Looking forward to a nice Hendricks gin and tonic sharpener, we discovered someone had forgotten to buy tonic! Noooo! However, the turkey dinner was done to a turn, with my mother claiming the gravy was her best effort in almost four decades of gravy-making. Everything was delicious, and fattening... just the way it should be. Our family do have a tradition of eating later every year, and we didn't actually sit down to eat until 5.30pm this time. But it was worth the wait!
After dinner, we all plonked ourselves in front of the telly, although there was nothing worth watching on, and the eagerly anticipated new Poirot was rather slow and interspersed with advert breaks every 10 minutes for two hours. Poor show!
Boxing day was more of the same, albeit with cold food and an even longer, muddier walk through the hills and fields, which I undertook in a ratty old pair of tracksuit bottoms, a huge fleece, and my Dad's walking boots (with two pairs of thcik socks. I didn't bother taking my camera for that! I then came home with a big bag of turkey trimmings for the cats, and probably several extra pounds (I don't dare weigh myself)!
I'm now off to put the final finishing touches to the arrangements for my big New Year's Eve do... if you haven't decided what you're doing yet, please do join us!
Do let me know what you all got up to, and I'll be back to regular posting soon.
Fleur xx
DiaryofaVintageGirl.com
PS. Miss Matilda has just informed me that the frock I am wearing here is on sale for 24 hours only! Go get it ladies!
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