I am listening to The Messiah on Radio 3 .
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“He’s not The Mesiah, he’s a very naughty boy!l
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I just love it that Monty python has an answer for just about everything.
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Shame that they are not around now then.
So…
I was going about things quietly & calmly, & someone mentions “Christmas”…
Joking apart…see above
“Decorating the house for Christmas” means just that this year…
Painting rooms that should have been finished years ago…
Fixing skirting to walls because…well, there isn’t any
& just for good measure, pitching a roof on the workshop…
Still, better than inviting family over.
Oh wait…they’re coming too
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Our first Christmas here was a real laugh… we were camping in one room… the least dilapidated and fortunately the room with a chimney. (for Santa)
No decorations as such, but we set camping chairs around a couple of boxes (table) and eat our festive fare in front of a lovely log fire… Can’t remember what I cooked as it was on a one-ring gadget… but I do remember the thrill of it all… 
Nowadays, the main rooms get stripped out and the place is turned into Santa’s Grotto… absolutely wonderful… 
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Not sure it was our first Christmas, but one year the former Mrs Bob disappeared through the kitchen floor…one leg, up to her thigh…oh how we (that is to say, I) laughed !
How long before you got the floor repaired…??
A couple of months
You can’t waste that kind of potential for comedy…
it needs to be savoured
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I can assure you that my budget (per person) is much, much less than 571 € 
Surely, it’s about time folk got their priorities right… 'tis the season to be jolly, not bankrupt !
So far three out of four of the kids won’t be with us, if youngest daughter spends the day with her boyfriend then it will be a pyjama day for us.
Sounds cosy…
It will our first Christmas on our own if it happens so fingers crossed.
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Absolutely.
We do not have presents for ourselves.
The guinea fowl was bought on promo and I have morels in the freezer bought on the same basis.
Our ‘tree’ is fallen branches in old shell cases.
I think all our Christmas will be far less than the cost for one.
Incredible, why on earth do people spend so much at Christmas ?
Surely you only ever buy decorations once, (well I did when I had my own home) some of mine are over 30 years old, others got broken (the days of fragile glass) and were replaced. I store them all in a box and retrieve them every December.
Same with clothes, I have a couple of outfits that are ‘multi - occasion’, I don’t go out and buy new ones. Then again if I were young and single and going to a lot of parties it might be different!
As for presents, apart from a couple of token ones to give at the table (generally a book or chocolates) we don’t bother.
I don’t spend a lot extra on food either, usually buy a filet mignon de porc because it’s nice and tender for mum to eat. Order a small Christmas log from our excellent award winning baker, have a good bottle of wine and that’s it for extras !
I do go all out with dressing the table with my bone china, crystal glasses, and my silverware + candles of course
I prefer to make more of an effort for a loved one’s birthday than to over indulge during this period !
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My Christmas is going to be spread over several days Christmas Day itself there are only a four of us , so we are thinking about doing something voluntary. Boxing Day midwife niece is off so that will be the main day, then the 27 my nephew and his girlfriend arrive from her parents and another celebration will take place
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Nellie… one of the “best” Christmases ever… was when we helped serve Christmas Dinner at a centre… and joined the cabaret… singing our hearts out…
Nothing like bringing a smile to someone’s face… to give your heart a warm glow…
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I work with a lady who used to boast how much (and we are talking a lot ) she spent on her family at Christmas as if it was 'I really must love them mustn’t I '. Then a couple of years ago she announced she wasn’t giving presents but the money instead however she was also making them hampers chocolate , drink etc and these hampers were filling the spare bedroom. It was all about impressing people
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It’s so stupid… money, money, money
something baked with love… is wonderful… a homemade card is wonderful… a loving hug and perhaps an extra helping-hand… is just as good…