OneGuyFromBarlick

It has to be Red or I am not going, Wendy. I won't even let them do the bow tie witchcraft thing with the strings on my cuffs. One minute they are hanging free and next you are trussed up like a Christmas Turkey..
- can't even shake hands with Santa! -and can't drink your Red ! ( where is the justice?)

Marilyn wrote: ↑03 Dec 2018, 07:48 I have a vivid memory of someone in a Bunny suit hopping past the classroom window when I was in Grade 3 or 4.

You must have started on the Red or White quite early in your life, Maz!

No actually Tiz...I was a late starter....never drank in my teens or early twenties. ( didn't even drink at my first wedding) Never drank a drop while pregnant or breastfeeding. Never bothered while having to get up to a screaming toddler at night.
Didn't drink a red until I was in my 30s actually.
I don't drink white wine, spirits, beer or liqueurs at all.

I drink White, I'd blend in very nicely

I thought that if you drank too much, you saw pink elephants - not Easter Bunny or Father Christmas. But I'm not going to test the theory!

I haven't seen a single Santa yet this year.....

There were plenty in Liverpool yesterday, maybe one is heading over the border...
Maybe he is taking the leisurely way via the canal...

I got my first Xmas card yesterday from friends in Minnesota.... I'm not expecting a flood of cards because I learned my lesson long ago and the cost is far better applied to other things.
I an a confirmed singleton as you all know and Susan gave me a bit of news that she knew would go down all right with me. She and Mick will be away at Xmas with relatives so I will not be going to Earby for my Xmas Dinner. Absolutely no problem, I really enjoy Xmas on my own with the radio and Jack! I think Xmas dinner this year will be a bacon and egg butty and bugger the carbs! (I once cooked a rib of beef for my Xmas Dinner but on the day preferred dripping on toast.)
Not traditional Xmas spirit I know but I allow myself to be selfish!

We have told the "kids" we are doing our own thing at Christmas too. We have 2 family birthdays on 29th ( both big ones) so will call back through town on that day and celebrate the birthdays. Not trying to upset anyone - it just gets too hard to please everyone on Christmas Day ( and we find ourselves driving miles, as sober as judges, with stopwatch and list as we hate to leave anyone out). Chilling out in the van this year!

Martha sent me a book, 'A Very British Christmas' by Rhodri Marsden. Very funny and perceptive. A road map through the minefield that a 'family Christmas' can turn out to be.
Noted that the hospital has entered (or succumbed to) the Xmas Spirit......

Is he there yet..
. somebody, anybody?
I hear that he is a bit concerned about people in dear old Barlick worrying about certain emitters and walking around wearing tinfoil hats.
I wonder who's been having a word in his ear?

He uses the internet these days Cathy so almost certainly Oneguy!

I wonder of the O2 outage has hit his plans?
Biggest problem here lately is that you can't see the sky, let alone any lights!

One of our neighbours has a sign outside telling him to visit them so I guess they're making sure they don't miss out. It's under a street light so he'll be able to see it.

Advertising copy-writers can be so lazy at times, I noted 'Festive Discounts' on an advert yesterday. To quote PE, Desperate Marketing!

Is it my imagination or was there an increase in traffic in the town yesterday? There also seems to be an air of urgency and many families were shopping together. Could this be the start of the Xmas count down? I think perhaps it is......
No reports at all from Beamsley...

Now being in the local WI, Mrs Tiz is going along with the tradition of handing in a shoe box filled with useful items, the boxes to be handed out at Christmas to `families in need'. She's probably going to put kids' toys in it because one of the worst things is kids missing out at Christmas - I remember one year as a child money must have been in very short supply because I got almost nothing except an orange and chocolate pennies. It's strange what some people put in the boxes. There's a story that one year a box was handed in containing a pair of old knickers!

I was possessed today...must have been possessed...to make some Cadbury Red Velvet Truffles (from the Cadbury Website).
All went well until I had to dip them in melted chocolate. Melted Chocolate and I have never been friends. They were looking like a dog's breakfast when I put them in the fridge to set. ( all kind of joined in a Cadbury Chocolate trail)
However, they have responded brilliantly to a trim with a sharp knife, and look pleasingly edible.
Haven't tried them yet...though quite a bit of the ingredients made it down my throat at various stages...and I licked the melted chocolate off my fingers after completing the project.
I think I have worked all Christmas Cooking out of my system now. No more malarkey...

Just need some visitors to use as Guinea pigs now!

My Xmas cooking will be a bacon butty!
See THIS for a gloomy report about High Street activity in November, it fell 3.2% on last year, and a forecast that December will be 4.5% down. So expect a frantic burst of selling in the next few weeks.

Well if we examine our own family, everything seems to be bought online these days!

You're right Maz, the only shops I use are my local ones.

Looking at the amount of 'festive lighting' on display you would never think that energy prices were so high!
Thinking about the shrinking footfall in the High Street and the growth in online shopping you'd almost think that the Crazy Gang in Pendle have an interest in internet shopping. Why else would they make on-street parking so expensive by installing meters? It's been mentioned elsewhere by Plaques but if it goes forward it will affect Xmas shopping in the future. Great thinking Lads!

It's the criminal dictator in charge of LCC who has made the decision about parking meters, nothing to do with Pendle. When Pendle councillors attempted to present a petition they were immediately silenced and the chairman left his chair and appeared to almost physically threaten David Whipp.

I didn't know that Wendy. Thanks for the information, I thought it was Pendle wot did it.

This caught my eye yesterday

I spent over 3 hours wandering all the big stores and central shopping district in town yesterday. Can't say I felt any magic at all. It was very disappointing. ( the windows were very ordinary too!)