(Having just finished this, I apologise in advance for the history lecture!!!)

I love the idea of celebrating the winter solstice instead chaos after all, the old pagan midwinter festival is the root of our modern Christmas. They would feast and sing, and bring evergreen boughs into their homes to remind them that life carried on even through the darkness and cold. The feasting part was important because many folk starved in the winter, it was a lean time, and only those with good food stores who had had a good crop made it through comfortably. That feast time probably saved a few lives.

Early Christians used several of the existing feast times as their holy days because it made sense to use something that was already there, but I hate the way the original christian idea of giving gifts (from the wise men) has eventually been warped into modern Christmas - all about excess and advertising, and spending more than you can afford, and companies trying to convince us that it's perfectly normal to spend £300 on a laptop for a gift... The old midwinter festival is a much better thought, after all, it's all about family and friends having a good feast together and ignoring the weather!! Trying to hold on to your own modest ideals and traditions is very difficult when you have children whose friends will get the latest iPhone as one of their presents! Hey ho, we do our best for them, and for me that's nothing to do with how much we spend!

I like the gift bag idea, I've used them occasionally for awkward things, but it would certainly be easier on the hands. I always loved wrapping the gifts, but I usually ended up wrapping everything on Christmas Eve!!!! Always a late night! I don't think I could manage that now.

It's lovely hearing everyone's festive thoughts and ways of doing things Gives me a little warm Christmassy glow (no I haven't had any port yet lol).

Bram.