Christmas Eve
I was raised Catholic, so when we were younger the whole family used to go to a big nativity and children's mass at our church on Christmas eve - which we'd often take part in. But in more recent years, even though my siblings and I aren't particularly religious, we've attended a Christingle at the village church. If you've never heard of it, a Christingle is kind of like a carol service where everyone is given a 'christingle' - usually an orange (representing the world) with a lit candle pushed into the centre (representing Jesus as the light of the world), a red ribbon wrapped around (representing the blood of Christ) and dried fruits or sweets stuck in on cocktail sticks (representing the fruits of the earth and the four seasons). This might sound kind of strange but it's actually really lovely, with all the carols and excited children - there's a really nice sense of community.
After that we head back to my parent's house and eat gammon with jacket potato and red cabbage - we've eaten this Christmas eve meal for as long as I can remember, I don't know where the tradition came from but it's tasty nonetheless!
Despite the fact that my siblings and I are all in our late twenties/early thirties we still leave out a tray for Santa - usually a mince pie and, depending on how kind we're feeling, either a nice glass or port or a deadly cocktail of our own making!
Christmas Day
We definitely don't wake up at 5am like we used to, but I'm still up pretty early on Christmas morning with the excitement of what's to come! I usually go and wake up my reluctant siblings and drag them into my room to open our stocking presents. Far from the luxurious 'stocking fillers' that you find on a lot of gift guides, we're more likely to unwrap some shower gel, a few chocolate coins and of course a satsuma at the bottom!
With a quick breakfast of chocolate coins keeping us going, we get showered and ready and sometimes go to church, but we haven't been on Christmas morning for a few years now. Last year we all wrapped up and took the dog out for a Christmas walk - it was really lovely walking through the village and wishing Merry Christmas to the few other dog walkers.
After that it's a breakfast of croissants and bucks fizz - heavy on the fizz. I think we're quite unusual in the fact that we don't start opening our presents until around 11am or sometimes even 12! We gather in the living room with some Christmas music on and pass out the presents, we go a bit nuts on presents and we've been known to still be opening them four hours later. We've started to actually take a break in the middle to have our Christmas lunch - turkey with all the trimmings followed by a variety of desserts, Nigella's brownies are probably my all-time favourite.
When all the presents are opened and the Christmas lunch has been devoured, we usually take some time to look at everyone's presents, play a game or watch a Christmas film. To be honest, the evening is all a bit of a blur of prosecco and pringles but there's always time for late-night Cards Against Humanity.
I hope you found that little peek into my Christmas at least a little bit interesting! Let me know what traditions you have or if my Christmas is completely different to yours! I always find it fascinating to find out other's routines and traditions.
Have a wonderful, safe and happy Christmas - I'll be back post festivities with my Costa Book Awards reviews!
