 |
| Through the eyes of a child................... |
By the glow of the embers of the fire, we could make out each one of our stockings full to bursting point and in some casess, overflowing onto the furniture where we had ogionally set them! In that magical moment anything was possible, and i know I speak for the others when I say, Father Christmas was as real to us then, as the air that you brethe is to you now!
One of us would switch on the light and the full extent of Santa's magic came to life! We each had our own way of unwrapping our presents. Peter was the tidy one, making sure that his ripped off paper was screwed up into a tight ball before proceeding onto his next present, Cath? She just ripped into hers one after another enjoying every Minuit of it while i took my time, i started off like Pete but finished like Cath! We would each be showing each other what wonderful gifts we got before running up the stairs and waking mum and dad to show them! "why don't you go and show Uncle PJ" they would say, " bet he would love to see them"! So in we would pile, showing him all the lovely things we had been given! Looking back, and after having five children of my own, i can now understand why they didn't seem as excited as we were at 3am Christmas morning!
We would play with our new toys until sleep got the better of us and we would go back up to bed for another hour or two until it was time to actually get up!
First things first on a Christmas morning! The fireplace would be cleaned out and re-set and then it would be time for nan and grandad to arrive before we had breakfast and opened the presents under the tree! In the early days before my father owned a car, nan and grandad would walk around to ours arriving about 10am. Nan was a great cook and would bring around tins of home made mince pie's and sausage rolls whilst grandad would have made his famous Christmas pudding laced with the finest Brandy!. Christmas day was about the only day of the year that we didnt want a traditional cooked breakfast, so we were more than happy to indulge in mince pies and sausage rolls (a tradition which i carried all through my years with my own family, along with a side order of Baileys Irish Liquor) Then it would be time to open up the tree presents but not before nan and grandad had seen what father Christmas had left for us! On this one occasion, and amongst lots of other things, i remember having four Loopy loo dolls, each with there own different coloured hair and outfits on! They were all hand made with platted hair made from wool, and little detailed dresses on and stripy legs! I had taken it upon myself to "combe out" one of the dolls hair and not made a good job of it.
The tree presents were opened and as far as i can remember, not a disappointed face was in sight! With all three children playing merrily away in the living room, the fire lit and my nan and mum were in the kitchen preparing dinner, my father would bring in a few sods of turf that we had brought back from my other Grand parents house on Achill island, Ireland, the previouse summer. My Uncle Farrel would follow his nose by the home sick smell of that turf round to our house (he only lived ten minutes away) and he, my dad and PJ and grandad would all go for there Christmas lunch time drink down the Laindon hotel. "Be back by three" mum and nan would say, "or God help yer if you don't"! Needless to say, they were always back by three, one nagging woman was enough as my father would say, never mind two!
The table would be laid cloth, condiment's, napkins, place mats! Then Tom Smiths Crackers would be put in front of each setting. The heavenly aroma of the meal my mother cooked for us all would fill the house and all of us would be seated at the table (which was the only time of year it was set in the living room) Then the plates of food would be brought in by my nan. Mum was always the last to sit down, she poured everyone a glass of wine, a bottle of Sultan which my grand father always brought round at this time of year, ours was just a tiny drop mixed with lemonade but to children, as equally nice! The meal was fabulous as usual, nothing ever got waisted, it was followed by Christmas pudding which i loved with fresh cream, or sherry trifle for those that weren't so keen, some had both! My Grandad was always the first to comment on what a lovely meal it was, nan would always say, "may God bless our bellies" while PJ (who never smoked) tryed to light up a cigar after dipping it in his Brandy, followed closely by my father (who also never smoked) and my grandad who smoked like a chimney! We would pull our Crackers, the adults would read out the jokes while the children played and argued over the little toys inside! It was always the grown ups job to clear the tables and then for the men to wash and dry up! Mum and nan got a well deserved rest while us kids played some more! Then, all the grown ups would fall asleep for a few hours! The TV would then be turned on and we would sit as a family watching a film, normally The Wizard Of Oz, i remember being memorised by it! We didn't own a colour TV, so it was a long time before i got to see the full extent of the film and was captivated by it again once more! All of us as a family would then sit and play board games, we had such fun! It was a time of bye gone days when TV was a part of life and not the be all and end all of life, well, at least not in our house anyway.
My mum and nan would then disappear into the kitchen to prepare for the evening Tea. Nan would be popping in and out putting food onto the table, my mum popping in every now and then to see that it was all done correctly! By the time they had finished, they had put on a spread fit for the Queen herself, (should she have decided just to pop in and say hello)! Dad would be sent into the kitchen to make a pot of Tea for all of us. On the table would be a selection of cold cuts, Turkey, Ham and Pork, Sausage rolls, Potato salad, Mixed Salad, Coleslaw, Cheeses, pickles, crisps nuts, Gala pie and just about anything else you could think off! We would also have Christmas cake, mince pies, fruit flans and Gateaux of three different kinds. Coffee and Mandarin, Strawberry and Back Forest..............all served with a jug of fresh double cream! One more thing i forgot!! Pickled walnuts! Apparently they are lovely? My nan always insisted on a jar although i cant say i actually recal her ever eating any of them!
Christmas night us three children were always allowed a little drink, (other than all the pop they used to get for us) Me and Cath were allowed an "egg flip or maybe a babycham, while Peter was allowed a glass of Smithicks, (again, brought back from our Irish holiday). We would then play some more family games before sitting down to watch a Christmas Special on the television, Morcambe & Wise was always a firm favourite!
Me Cath and Pete would actually ask to go to bed after that, Christmas didn't disappoint in anyway, shape or form, I thank God for a wonderful family, selfless parents and of course.................Father Christmas!
