Good morning everyone and a very Happy Christmas to you 
Not much chance here of any snow today as the temperature here is already in double figures.
I hope everyone has a very good day
A lovely mild day here too!
We were sat next to a KLM pilot and Cabin Crew whom I asked if they were stuck here for the day.
apparently there are flights to schipol today. Take me with you beautiful ladies!
Wishing everyone a happy, peaceful and blessÃĐd Christmas Day. The weather is bright at the moment, in between showers. I've got a new visitor this morning, a full grown wild rabbit is scampering about the lawn!
I hope everyone's day goes well, will you be going to church this morning EL to spend time with your church family? My youngest grandson slept at my house last night as it is near to the hotel where he works. He worked until 10 last night and started again at 7 this morning, not enough time in between to get home and back.
Squiggle, yes, I've been to church with my church people and it was very nice. The gospel reading finished with your verse above.
The vicar's sermon was rather unusual. She asked a few people which type of chococlate they preferred - dark or milk. Then she called a few of them up and have them a chocolate and got them to eat them (she also had one) at the same time.
What she hadn't said was that they had an unexpected centre - a brussel sprout 
Beth choked a bit on hers - she doesn't like sprouts.
The idea was to show two sides of Christmas - secular and spiritual.
I should think this must be a very busy time of year for your grandson. It's unlikely that I'll ever see a wild rabbit in my garden. There's the odd hedgehog and the odd fox but no other wildlife.
Merry Christmas everyone! 
I hope you're all having a lovely day. It's a mild 15 degrees here and we've had a lovely walk with Bramble. Just having dinner, back soon x
Merry Christmas everyone.
It's mild but wet and blustery here.
Squiggle, I hope your grandson gets some time to relax.
Aww, I do envy the wildlife you get to see.
Have a lovely day everyone.
I happened to see a few minutes of the 1970 musical version of Scrooge (it's not in the same league as for instance the Alastair Sim version. I was a bit surprised to see him near the end of the film go into a shop and get a Santa Claus suit of the sort we are familiar with.
Charles Dickens' novella A Christmas Carol was published in December 1843. IMDB has the film being set in 1860. Thomas Nast, the American illustrator, is regarded as the man most influential in developing the popular image in his illustations over the years. His first to shown Santa at all was in 1863 and then it was black and white with Santa wearing a costume showing stars and stripes.
A pictorial history:
https://publicdomainreview.org...tory-of-santa-claus/
Well we've eaten, exchanged presents and I seem to be the only person still standing! They've all crashed.
It was interesting to see KLM had a table for the flight which arrived at lunchtime.
i do try to eat just a normal amount and of course i haven't had alcohol!
El, I have a 1st edition of A Christmas Carol 
it's not in great condition inside, but the cover is still nice
oh poor sister Velvet, I hope she's resting well and that you have plenty of other food in the cupboards
El, have you had some dinner?
Santa Baz posted:
Merry Christmas Buddies and a happy, healthful 2017
Bazzy!!!!! Merry Christmas
Summer, that first edition of A Christmas Carol is worth preserving 
Yes, I had a meal though not entirely a traditional Christmas one. Sweet and sour chicken with a side helping of tenderstem broccoli and brussel sprouts and a small christmas pudding. I have a small stock of those puddings so will have more when my brother visits along with the Christmas cake I got.
Merry Christmas in here, hope you've all had a brilliant day
Velvet, I hope your sister gets well soon.
El, your Christmas dinner may not be traditional but sweet and sour chicken is my favourite Chinese takeaway dish.
Baz and Dame, thank you and Merry Christmas to both of you.
Summer, I hope you and your mum are having a good day.
Good evening
i hope you've all had a lovely day our's had been wonderful. I've amazed us both by remembering how to knit, after 20 years!
El your dinner sounds lovely, I hope you've thoroughly enjoyed it
Lovely pic Dame, merry Christmas to you too 
~Sweet Winter Wonderland~ posted:Good evening
i hope you've all had a lovely day
El your dinner sounds lovely, I hope you've thoroughly enjoyed it
I'm glad you've had such a lovely day. Well done on remembering how to knit. Maybe you take after your mum, as she is a fabulous knitter.
Goodnight and sweet dreams, Summer.
Hug for any night owls.
Yogi19 posted:~Sweet Winter Wonderland~ posted:Good evening
i hope you've all had a lovely day
El your dinner sounds lovely, I hope you've thoroughly enjoyed it
I'm glad you've had such a lovely day. Well done on remembering how to knit. Maybe you take after your mum, as she is a fabulous knitter.
She translated the pattern for me- it really is like another language! I enjoyed what I did so I might have to find a knitting project to do 
how was your day?
merry Christmas to everybody - sorry having trouble posting so can't post pic
night yogi and summer
Sweet dreams Ros, have a fab Boxing Day
Yogi19 posted:Goodnight and sweet dreams, Summer.
Hug for any night owls.
Ooh sorry I missed this post! Sweet dreams yogi
I'm not watching tonight's Witness for the Prosecution on BBC1. I don't like what I've seen of it and I'd rather stick with the brilliant Billy Wilder film version (Charles Laughton, Tyrone Power & Marlene Dietrich). The BBC version is being described as the darkest Agatha Christie yet.
It's scripted by Sally Phelps who did last year's And Then There Were None. Nest year she's doing Ordeal by Innocence. She seems to be concentrating on the Agatha Christie writing which do not feature Poirot or Marple. At least next year's will be better than the Donald Sutherland film version of Ordeal by Innocence which was appalling. And the Dave Brubeck score to that is the strongest contender for the most inappropriate score to a film ever.
Good morning everyone, such a beautiful morning here, pale blue sky with a scattering of clouds. I hope everyone's Christmas Day went well. Such bad timing for your sister Velvet and I hope she feels better soon and you can have your festive meal after all, what a wonderful message too, I know we are all sending love and blessings your way too
I think I will give the Agatha Christie a swerve too EL. Agatha Christie is such a superb writer she really doesn't need anyone to come along and give her stories a dark twist. Well done Summer, now to find a pattern for something you really want to knit, and some beautiful wool.
Enjoy your day everyone
Good morning we've had a lay in and awaoken to a sunny sky, with no clouds at all! Breakfast has been eaten and the walking boots are calling it'll be gentle because my mum is not as fit as myself (although she has lost 2 1/2 stone recently!)
El, your post on the Christmas Carol inspired me to research Nutcrackers. I saw the shops full of these wooden statues this year and I've always seen them in movies, but I had no idea what they had to do with Christmas. They have quite a long history to them, but they basically originate from Germany and we're given as good luck tokens, to guard the home from evil. They're not just soldiers like I thought, they could be knights, kings, or any other heroic character from fairytales.
They became popular in America following the war, when GI's took them home from Germany...
People now collect them, and many are limited edition items!
How do we all feel about them?
I love the story but I don't think I'd like a collection of my own. I would consider a pair perhaps, if they look nice enough
Summer, I never had toy soldiers when I was young, probably because my father was a pacifist so toys of that nature were forbidden. I seem to remember that my maternal grandfather used to play board war games of a serious nature such as replicating famous historical battles. I think there are still fans of that sort of game though they now include science fiction and fantasy. And of course nowadays there are many many computer game equivalents. I've mentioned before about one of my brother's friends who still plays one of the earlier versions of Civilisation. He must have spent many thousands of hours over the years on that one game.
Summer, you might want to try seeing the 1951 film version of "The Tales of Hoffmann". It's directed by Michael Powell and is based on Offenbach's ballet. He made it following the success of his "The Red Shoes". Offenbach based the ballet on three of Hoffmann's stories. One of the stories centres around Olympia, a mechanical full sized doll.
A couple of years later after Hoffmann wrote the stories he wrote the novella The Nutcracker and the Mouse King which forms the basis of The Nutcracker ballet complete with the toy soldiers and mechanical dolls.
Thank you El, I will look it up
I've recorded a couple of classic films this Christmas, but I have no idea what they'll be like. One is Holiday affair and the other is To have and have not. I'll probably watch them after the new year as I'll be on holiday the first week of the year
Summer, Holiday Affair is a lovely Christmassy film and Robert Mitchum, in a very different role from what he's best known for, is very likeable. It's my favourite Christmas film outside the fanous ones.
To Have and Have Not is not quite in the Casablanca league but is a classic Bogart film. It's also notable for being Lauren Bacall's film debut and has the "you know how to whistle " scene.
In that case I'm glad I have recorded them and will look forward to seeing them both
have you had a good day El?
Ive been lazing around and watching tv with my mum, and eating lots too
I'm pleased to hear it and has your brother had a nice Christmas?
Goodnight everyone sweet dreams