isnt it ironic?

christmas always fills me with irony. i wont go on about the irony of crass consumerism, because im not a christian either, so dont really care about 'the true meaning' of christmas. as a historian, i suspect that the true meaning has something to do with pagan solstice festivals in the woods of germany, but we wont go into that either! the reality is that capitalism is the religion of our age, so people are, in many ways, doing exactly as required.

the other irony about christmas is much more personal for me, being that i loved it when i was a kid. far and away my favourite time of year, i totally believed in santa and left out my little mince pie and glass of lemonade. i wrote letters, i never peeked. i was a very good girl! i enjoyed being around my families, my paternal one especially, my nanny was a polish jew but she did christmas anyway, and for a day, or maybe half a day, people were nice to each other.

then of course, families split, dads disappear, things turn nasty...eventually i grow apart and dont see my mother or sister at all anymore. my dad is off in qld in a caravan spending my inheritance. we have met up again after many years apart but im supposed to be all grown up now and not need anything from him.

the irony is of course that i do, but i cant let myself. so i spend christmas day being all bah humbug, but i really would like to have a big happy family around, to have a tree and open presents and all that stuff.

instead, i am very lucky to have had a coffee freshly made and put in front of me, to have a yummy sweet fresh ham in the fridge that im going to make into ham and eggs for breakfast, and for maybe the sun to come out later to take the dogs for a swim.

and tomorrow, i am extremely lucky to be having two great friends come down for festivus! we are having a bbq lunch, there may be feats of strength but we might pass on the airing of greivances, because i dont have any with jo and dave. ok, jo's bossy, but we all know that already :)

in preparation, i have made my signature christmas dish, icecream pudding. you mix dried and glaced fruits with lots of brandy and grand marnier and orange peel with chocolate bits and pecans, and 2 litres of the best vanilla icecream:

pour it into a bowl lined with plastic wrap:

and freeze it for a day or two, so when you take it out and peel off the plastic it sits on a plate like a proper pudding. you drown it in chocolate and brandy sauce and enjoy. i will take pics of that when it happens.

also ironic, is that i should have just listened to bells about the right pattern for this cotton i am trying to make into something. i was doing jaywalkers and there was some evidence of zigzagging, but not in that strong strident way that is necessary i think. so i frogged it, and am making these instead.

whats ironic about this is that i said i didnt want to make lace with this cotton cos it would look like c*****t which it does:

but its the perfect pattern, firstly because it is working quite nicely tho you cant see it in that picture and secondly because who wears long cotton socks? of course cotton should be shorties! and i get 4 socks this way and get to share the love (btw, those little yellow bits on the wool are some dried glue from the label, anyone know how to get that off?)

anyway, have a great christmas doing whatever is right for you, catch you on the other side.

kxxx