a kind of christmas

[biff]

afore i go to bed,
               i hark back to a time of innocence,of youth,of childhood and of old father christmas.we lived in a fair sized house with loads of bedrooms,which we as kids secretly searched in the run up to christmas ,,for pressies,,our mam and dad did everything they could to make the christmas as best as possible.my old man would drive his ford customline v8 from inishowen to the cobh of cork to meet the yankee boat and take his customers the 350 mile  trip north to donegal for the holidays. the starvation and snow of 47 were fresh memories and in those days the midlands would be either sheet ice or fresh snowfall which the old man prefered.
 there was no mobile phones or such and telly had not arrived,forcasting was limited,so one did not know how a journey such as cork would turn out. petrol was rationed and journeys were limited to 110 mile,so the old man registered his car in boyle in roscommon in the midlands which gave him an official 110 either way from that base.ballykelly ,an american air base was just across the foyle and the americans came to our town and left their mark and dna. christmas was special,always frozen and bitter cold,we had matinees and our own brand of panto,singing contests and card drives.there was a magic air about the place which fell flat in the new year and the town secumbed to alchol with 32 pubs for a population of 800 till the spring arrived.anything could turn up at christmas,some of the american stuff was real class,especially the bikes and toys.ours was a christmas with a difference.
                                                          biff

[clockmanFR]

Biff, do cheer up its holiday season you know.

Modern times, my lot/boys, 5 , 7 12,  ripped open the presents all upstairs on their Playstations, (e bay), with the 60 odd games i got them, (e bay). Money also arrived, eldest "nearly got 40 euros to buy the latest mobile phone", what about that ne pushbike you wanted, "no prefer the phone more street cred".  

Typical modern times. PS Mrs is asleep on the sofa..

[biff]

yo clockman,
        we are having a lovely christmas,too much to eat,turkey+ham,trifle cream and assorted deserts,,,,,,,wooooo huu,!! tummy taking on a mind of its own,dogs snoring on full tummies,woofing and hunting in their sleep,roads quiet,no traffic,everyone indoors a perfect family time.
   our kids long grown up with kids of their own and their own christmas tree.we hear the mistrael has been blowing rough in the south of france carrying debris over from the sahara,my son and his french wife have been telling me about the pieces of wood dropping from the sky near avignon. this was happening yesterday,strange.
 today was warm 12 degreesthis time last year was -15,some difference.
 happy new year to one and all
                                        biff

[clockmanFR]

Excellent,
I am now off to bath the 5 year old, and off to bed. We didn't get back from Paris until early 3 this morning so i need another day rest. 

I accidentally stumbled across Toyota's new electric cars in the Paris showroom and Renault's new concept jobs, boy's got me in as macDos on the main drag shut at 18.00hrs, (very French).

[eabadger]

This year for us was slightly biblical, we spent Christmas in a barn.
4 young children, 1 through to 10, all had lots of presents to open, most recycled or ebay bargains.
Food good and late, night before Christmas was mass in Everon with carols and tree’s.
Sunny here all day yesterday, cold but not that cold.

All decided it was the best Christmas so far.

Happy Christmas.