Time for tea gingerbread and Christmas

Time for tea gingerbread and Christmas

Time for tea gingerbread and Christmas. I love this time of the year. It is also the when I bake lots of cookies for my cookie tins/jars.

Those were the days

Ever since I can remember, we celebrated Christmas in a big way. We used to put the Christmas tree up on the day the school closed for the Holidays. Around the 7^th of December. Every part of the house was decorated. Christmas lights switched on every evening until bedtime. Homemade cookies. Ice tea. Christmas falls in high summer in South Africa. Sweet memories of Christmas carols playing on the radio. Beautiful Christmas table with lots of food. Time spend with family.

This year

There will be only two people for Christmas lunch this year. Me and my Mum (84). She will join me from her old age home this year. Things changed a lot. From having a house full of people to only the two of us. My Children have their own families now and have to spend time with their in-laws in other parts of the country. My sisters the same thing. Every second year it is only me and my Mum. However my Grandchildren help me to decorate my house for Christmas around about 1 December each year. I take them down again after my birthday on 6 January.

Two Christmas celebrations

A few days before Christmas my Grand children have a sleepover at my house. We then have a pretend Christmas eve with the next day spent as Christmas day. During these two days we bake and decorate gingerbread houses, make Christmas cards and on our special Christmas eve we unwrap presents and drive around town in awe with all the Christmas lights. Alone time spend with Granny. Precious.