Frosty the Snowman - it's the 2025 Christmas thread!

PennysIntoPounds

I am both happy and sad that I now know of the existence of red velvet yule log @mandco 😂😍

Spendless

Has anyone tried the Coin the Caterpillar frozen dessert? I am considering it. Its £16 and I am tempted to agree with Aldi's social media team who said that they just intended throwing Cuthbert in the freezer. 😆 but if desserts are all expensive this year anyway Im also tempted to try.

Unfortunately a lot of weekend celebrations got cancelled this weekend as Mr S has been full of heavy cold/flu and then I also woke up feeling bunged up. Got work to get thru unfortunately for next 2 days, grateful they're not full days.

Coffees cost £5 each mandco, so £10 worth of freebies, but just poured from a coffee machine many pubs have, even if surroundings were nice and came with a small round shortbread. Very tempted to go back as its a restaurant/hotel/spa just to see if their clientele always dress like that. 

mandco

@Spendless sorry to hear you guys aren’t feeling well sounds a bit like what we had the other week though we had really sore throats too.
not tried the frozen Colin yet but dd has her eye on it but my local being a small store doesn’t stock it and haven’t visited any of the bigger branches lately. yes it is kind of expensive ( what isn’t now) but given the average price of Xmas desserts this year if you’re a fan of Colin could be a good choice. 

Shame the coffees were nothing special considering the surroundings but a freebie is a freebie - lol at thinking of going back to checkout if the clientele always dress like that. what are the restaurant prices like? 

Currently trying to rearrange the living room ready for Xmas as the tree usually goes by the window and have to move some furniture around so it will fit but obviously Can’t risk unsettling the cat once she’s had the kittens to do so. Also Need to get things settled so I can try and convince her to nest in a convenient spot out of the way rather than somewhere random she’s currently favouring ds new gaming chair   

was debating a new xmas tree this year but not sure it’s worth it now - our girl has never been overly interested in the tree but tiny kittens could be a whole other matter.

Spendless

Well of the all the bday freebies I got an email over, the bodyshop wasnt one of them! No idea why, Ive had a £5 voucher from them for years and years. No time to go into store and ask why. Fortunately Id changed the plans I had for it otherwise Id have been really annoyed.

Restaurant prices are bit more expensive mandco but not extortionate. Starters £10-15 for dinner menu, £22 for fish, chips, peas. £32 for steak. 

Mr S passed his cold onto me and I woke yesterday morning to a nose bleed! Went on my newest bra then managed to keep it at bay whilst I worked, only for another one to start on train on way home. This one went on my bag. Unsure if itll come out, will have to be dealt with when back. Looking forward to being away and no time constraints. 

PennysIntoPounds

Oh no @Spendless! Hope you both perk up soon.
Try a little warm water and applying salt like you would with red wine. Then when you get back rinse and apply Vanish or similar for a few days in a row.
Now I come to think of it, a good quality stain remover would be an ideal stocking filler for me!

Coxy11

Oh goodness to kittens for Christmas @mandco - that's a lot to be dealing with. Good that you are getting ahead with prep now.

Annoying about the BS voucher or lack of @Spendless. Hope you feel better soon and enjoy your trip x

It's DD and DIL's birthdays today. All gifts well received and we got DD a card from Lookalikey.com which was hilarious. I said she should use it as her new dating profile photo (she's basically Beyonce on a crystal horse). So funny.

DSis said on Monday that she is going to nieces for Christmas and taking Mum. I had in mind to invite them to us as one nephew (her son) is away with his GF and she was already feeling low about this. Mum takes a moosey holdall with her wherever she goes, so I've bought her a nice cabin, 4 wheel case for Christmas from Tr!pp and will gift it early. There is an offer on their website atm in case anyone is looking for similar. Some nice vanity cases on there too.

The bits I bought early for little nephews are now in a suitcase in the loft. One more birthday to go this year for niece who is 21 next week. Will gift cash and DH will drop it round en route from work. 

I received a voucher for a 45 minute walk with a miniature pig for my birthday. Any spectators need to pay to enter the farm - think it's £12. I also received a gift voucher for an escape room, for one person. This will cost more to do as minimum is 3 people at £35 each. Sorry if that comes across as ungrateful, but it's like buying someone a single theatre ticket and expecting them to go alone. Just odd.

Re: desserts for Christmas - we usually just stick to mince pies and Christmas pudding which invariably get left until Boxing Day! Maybe if I got something more unusual it would be eaten on the day itself. Frozen Colin sounds interesting....

fionaandphil

I think we may stick to home made puds this year if they are too expensive, usually too full to eat them as part of Christmas dinner so they form the basis of supper or get used the next day.  My mum does a clootie dumpling and I usually do a trifle for DH so that will take a bit more planning but a lot less expense.

I love a good voucher but as you say buying an escape room for one is strange 

Spendless

Oh my gosh coxy- trying not to laugh, but how frustrating to receive random gift experiences that you then have to add to to use (got a vague feeling thats happened before? )or go solo. 

If you like pigs/animals then yeah great idea.  Ive a vet friend and Im sure shed adore walking a pig or any other animal experience but otherwise? Escape room voucher  for 1 but 3 is minimum admitted??!

It sounds like youre in the middle of some social media blog etc  'experiencing the random stuff my family buy me' 😂😂😂

I'm sky high  posting this, free wifi due to something Mr S signed up to. DS is missing all the perks of PE like drinks &snacks due to falling asleep after lunch! 

I bought a Christmas present at the airport. Some biscuits - lol. I wanted some nice in a tin non chocolate caramel biscuits for Mum to go with the reading cushion etc, but could only find John Lewis as a stockist with exactly what I wanted and our nearest is miles away. They were all over the place at the airport to buy so picked some up. 

princesskitty29

Hi all, I am so sorry I had no intention of being so absent this year but we've had a very challenging year at home and we've had a lot to learn! DS1 is currently on reduced hours at school temporarily to alleviate some of the pressure on him and I have just been keeping my head down to get through the days! Things have got ever so slightly easier though and i'm finding a bit more capacity now to do things. I see i'm a bit behind so will have a good catch up, I hope you are all well and will post again very soon.

mandco

@coxy11 I’d normally say it’s the thought that counts but even I’d be a bit miffed to get gifted a present that’s basically unusable or going to cost me a lot - I’d rather spend the money on something I actually want. Yes some experience gifts have small print for additional extra costs that might be over overlooked but seriously an escape room for 1? blatantly obvious that’s not useable without more people going. walking a pig is different and could be fun though guess it depends on if you actually like pigs & would want to walk one? Having to pay extra for someone else to go is annoying though.

@spendless lol at ds aren’t you glad you spent extra on him for pe? Next time I’d put him in economy  . Enjoy your trip 

@fionaandphil i do make a couple of hm puddings mostly gluten free & dairy free as the usual supermarket Xmas offering for gf is a basic chocolate yule log which in inevitably dry and bland but tbh i do find the extra time & effort of something special can be lot on top of all the other Xmas prep. None of my lot any of the traditional Xmas treats like mince pies, xmas cake,Xmas pud ect I’d swear they weren’t mine if I didn’t know better so do like to treat them to something a bit special. Taz is dairy free but there’s usually a reasonable choice for vegan/df desserts.
did actually pick up some cherries in Kirsch the other day as m&s finally had them back in stock(I’ve looked all year) so going to make a Black Forest dessert this year - left it too late last year and couldn’t get them anywhere even online. 

@princesskitty29 good to see you.
 sorry to hear things have been tough at home some days just getting through it is an achievement so do what you have to to do to take care of you. 

Boots finally got the penguin gift sets I wanted for Taz in stock so ordered those. ended up going with the duo & showergel sets as pricing up the bumper set it actually worked out better value buying separately and it’s more presents to open that way too.
found a free postage code for gamer supps so ordered one of those for ds in a flavour he like that only ships from the us postage would have been nearly £30   so huge saving. I’ll probably get him another later but in a Flavour I can order from the eu site where postage is only about £6.