Stay Where Your Presence is Valued, The Gift of Presence, Kentucky Fried Christmas, Christmas Trivia & Pawfect Christmas

Taken from Lynne’s weekly column ‘Green Scene’ for the Western Mail
21^st December 2024

Stay Where Your Presence is Valued

It’s a great time in work as Christmas approaches.  We all get spoiled with lots of coffee and calories – mostly in the guise of mince pies and Stollen’.

“Is this Stollen?” One young brickie asked.

“No,” replied my brother, “It’s been paid for”

I think we all feel a sense of relief having made it through another year – personally and professionally.  The atmosphere is relaxed and chats are funny.  Last week we were discussing our most unusual – and useful – Christmas presents.  Amongst mine was a ton of coal given to me by Dad for the first Christmas I spent in my own home.  Unusual and useful.  Bu possibly the most unusual was a twisty plughole cleaner gadget, (which sounds even weirder now I’m sharing it with you), but the satisfaction it has given is far greater than it’s size or cost!

I do love a good gadget, and some of you may remember that my very first columns for the Western Mail were about gadgets and titled Gadget Girl.

The Gift of Presence

I may have had my fair share of unusual presents but I don’t recall having many unwanted ones – either people know me well or I’m easy to buy for.  Various polls have found that the most common unwanted gifts people receive for Christmas include diet plans (not very diplomatic), cufflinks, soap on a string, self-help books and photo frames.

I rest my case, as other than cufflinks (and I do have a couple of pairs for a lovely dress shirt), I would actually be very happy with all of those gifts.

Apparently the most-often gifted presents include money, clothes, vouchers, all sorts of techy stuff and jewellery.

Among the most popular Christmas gifts this year are (I’ve omitted the various brand names) a compact little hand-warmer, a funky travel backpack with more compartments than a Snap-on tool box, an ‘everywhere/everyday’ belt bag, a stainless steel water bottle, neon light signs for the home (especially kids bedrooms), a 9-in-1 multi tool pen, a portable charger for an iPhone and an instant digital camera.

The thing that struck me most whilst reading that list is there is a definite lack or anything outdoorsy.  And books. Shame.

Kentucky Fried Christmas

As a traditional Christmas dinner features as a strong high point in most people’s festivities, it might be worth remembering that in Japan it is tradition for people to tuck into a Kentucky Fried Chicken meal on Christmas Day.

It is so popular that meals have to be booked in advance.

So, I suppose if your own dinner goes awry, you could go ‘Japanese’.

Christmas Trivia

Written in 1857 Jingle Bells’ was originally written for Thanksgiving and was also the first song played in space, being broadcast during NASA’s Gemini 6A space flight on December 16, 1965 .

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer was almost called Rollo or Reginald but his creator Robert L May finally decided on Rudolph.  He was originally a marketing gimmick for an American department store, making his debut in 1939 in a give-away colouring book as part of a Christmas promotion.

Bing Crosby’s classic song ‘White Christmas’ is not only the best-selling Christmas song world-wide, but the best-selling single of all time.  ‘The Grinch’ is the highest-grossing Christmas film of all time with the 2018 computer-animated film bringing in a whopping $512,858,819 worldwide. ‘Home Alone’, from 1990 was the runner up.

The famous Christmas tree displayed at Rockerfeller Centre in New York features more than 50,000 multi-coloured LED lights. That’s nearly five miles of lights – worth remembering when you are trying to untangle yours!

The very first Christmas tree was made of dyed goose feathers and was displayed in Germany.  Tinsel was also invented in Germany and was originally made from real silver making it a luxury decoration.

And for those people who say, “All I want for Christmas is for it to be over,” take heart in the fact that Christmas has actually been banned in the past. In the mid-17th century, the Puritan-led English Parliament banned Christmas celebrations in favour of a day of fasting. I’m not sure that would go down well these days.

Pawfect Christmas

This time last year my beloved little Westie, Yogi had a seizure.  She was also on strong antibiotics for a water infection. It was a tough time and a tough Christmas, spent very quietly, with lots of cwtches (that bit was OK), and with us both sleeping on the floor downstairs in front of the fire (that bit wasn’t too bad either).  But the stress of seeing her so unwell was awful.  As she is aged 15 (now) I am privileged to be with her in the Old Dog Arena, but it is not without its worries.  Rather irritatingly and insidiously, I seem to have morphed from Warrior to Worrier.

Anyway, I’m absolutely thrilled to report that Yogi and I are both looking forward to a more relaxed Christmas this year – it will still be a quiet affair with lots of cwtches, but hopefully without the temporary sleeping arrangements and stress.  We have lots of sniffari’s planned and no doubt Yogi will indulge in lots of sleeping whilst I read a lot and go out running a little.  Just Pawfect.

However you are spending your Christmas, I hope it is a happy and healthy one and I’ll see you on the other side.  Merry Always and a Happy Everything x