* Step into Christmas * & 2020 - It's the 2020 Christmas Chatter Thread

Treasurequeen

Redredrobin- i hope he feels better soon.
Rachsecret- i thought the same on hampers there doesn't seem to be much available even at the beginning either. Lottie shaws have some Christmas hampers left. 

Beshki

Been enjoying some quick and simple crafts over the past few days, baking oranges to hang on the tree perhaps & have used them in wrapping with brown paper and twine. Also made some candle holders with jam jars, flour/water and salt. Again used twine and dried orange to decorate. Strung pine cones etc. I would have liked to have bought a few decorations this year but am yet to find anything I like. Bought a string of warm white lights for around the front window for £5 from Tesco and was so impressed that I bought some more for the back living room window. Broke the back of my wrapping last weekend so not very much left there. I am finished buying now but am resisting the urge to add ‘top ups’ to people’s pressies - I do it every year and want to break the habit. I’ve gone very minimal in gift buying this year and I would like to stick to that if I can refrain

Spendless

Daughter's bag for Christmas has turned up. It's from Harrods, their own line not a designer name. A few weeks ago she went to London and had her ipad stolen, though it was in her bag, the bag was unzipped. After that we said she needed to own more bags that were secure, so this was one of those she chose as suitable. We also ordered a complementary gift box for it, which says Harrods on it.

mandco

Redrobin hope dh is making a good recovery and the rest of you stay ok 
spendless - sorry to hear about dd ipad being stolen its easy to think your stuff is safe if its in your bag but there are some real lowlifes around who will take advantage of any opportunity 
Beshki sounds like you've had a busy few days all your crafts sound lovely
GTQ - the post is awful at the moment I hope they get the rest of their advent gifts 
Princesskitty I'm sure wiggle had a great time despite the wobbles - I think its easy to have expectations and then feel a bit disappointed when things don't go how we planned but that doesn't mean it wasn't still good or they didn't enjoy it.
Fingers crossed you get the cross stitch done and get your evenings back in time to enjoy a bit of the pre xmas period

I'm pretty much done shopping wise mostly just waiting on stuff to turn up as the post is awful - I had things posted nearly 3 weeks ago and they still have not arrived yet. I ordered a hoodie for ds that was estimated delivery dec 10th- yodel are now saying estimated delivery dec 27th so no idea if it will come in time.
got to pick up the game I preordered for ds today and have a couple of bits on click & collect I'm waiting for pick up emails on
then its just some top ups to get but I do those last minute and can always get them online if needed.
Have everything in the freezer for xmas dinner and plenty of snacky stuff in so really just need fresh stuff  xmas week now.
Ended up getting ds a kindle for xmas - he wanted some books that we could only find on the kindle store and he said he could get the app on his phone but as he showing an interest in reading I thought I'd encourage it.
Still need to get things wrapped but I think a lot of the kids stuff I'll put in gift bags this year rather than wrapping so that can be done last minute if needed which will make storing things easier

My cooker decided to die this week    I knew it was going to need replacing soon but was hoping to wait till the new year - pants timing and options were really really limited - only options for delivery I could get on anything before xmas was the 18th or 22nd so had to go with what I could get in time rather than what I would have really liked but at least we'll have a cooker. 

Hope all the thread regulars who are mia are doing ok 

noodles86

Mrs_Ryan I think you live very close to me! I thought it sounded like you were describing Fosse Park in an earlier post, and now you mention being decoupled from Leicester I wonder if the borough you live in has the initials H&B? I'm sorry to read of your financial troubles, also seems so unfair of Royal Mail in how they are treating their dedicated staff. 

noodles86

Redredrobin - sorry to hear about your husband, is there anyone local who is doing voluntary dog walks? I know if a neighbour of mine were housebound I wouldn't hesitate in offering if I knew. 

noodles86

I'm finding it really hard this year of having no plans. My two have never overly liked seeing Santa but we normally book something. No pantomime. No events seeing family. Just feels a bit flat. We're doing things like crafts and movie nights but it't just not the same! My two also seem be constantly arguing (8 and 14, both always have to be right/have the last word) I think being cooped up isn't helping, we try and get out for walks etc but with the dark weather pretty much after we get in from school and the unpredictable weather it's really hard to get out. I'm almost dreading trying to keep them entertained from when the schools break up. 

Present wise all done, expecting a couple of deliveries today and then need to start wrapping! 

Gettingtherequickly

Sorry about your DH RR, going to be difficult dealing with things with restrictions.

That is painful Mrs R about Royal Mail, probably explains why there is a van parked outside the office every morning.  We are round the corner from the sorting office, but this van is sitting out side when I get to the office about 7:45 and doesn't move until about 8:30. I can understand if he is "working to rule", but could he at least  park somewhere else! There are loads of empty bays and he parks where there is no bay and forces me to reverse park into the drive at a more awkward angle so that I don't do any damage to either vehicle

Pretty much done on presents, just the delivery is the difficult bit!

Treasurequeen

Went to Swanage today to shop in local independents and for a day out. Managed to get some one off designs tree decorations. Each year my mum buys me a new tree decoration and I buy her one for her tree too. We didn’t think we would be able to do it this year as we usually go to a garden centre Christmas grotto. But a small independent had some gorgeous decorations that we managed to buy each other one. 

Popped into m&s and got some party food for Christmas Eve using a voucher offer. Going to brave big supermarket next week not looking forward to it. 

Mrs_Ryan

noodles86 said:

Mrs_Ryan I think you live very close to me! I thought it sounded like you were describing Fosse Park in an earlier post, and now you mention being decoupled from Leicester I wonder if the borough you live in has the initials H&B? I'm sorry to read of your financial troubles, also seems so unfair of Royal Mail in how they are treating their dedicated staff. 

Yes I do live in H&B! And yes indeed it was Fosse Park I was describing. Thanks for your kind words x