Christmas Past and Present

My seven year old grandson's main Christmas present will be a toy castle. I went to Toys R Us today and found toy mounted knights and a dragon reduced in price from £8 to £4 each, so I bought half a dozen for for him.


The toy knights seated on their destriers and equipped with weapon evoked images of mediaeval Christmas celebrations.

Modern Christmas festivities did not originate in the Victoria...n era. Many preparations were made to celebrate the period which, due to numerous saints' days lasted longer than it does today. The dates of the pagan festivals became Christian dates, and to remember the birth of the Christ Child Christmas people celebrated. In those days most of them would have gone to Church, exchanged presents, and enjoyed special food and drink as well as making music. In days when when people relied on candlelight Christmas must have been eagerly anticipated in the cold, dark winter, and as they do today children probably hoped for snow.

Retail Therapy

Finding something to wear at The Romantic Festival's gala ball has been more a case of stressful shopping than retail therapy, but, today, my daughter-in-law and I had an enjoyable morning catching up over a coffee, and browsing in the shops. I bought three tops, a brown handbag and a copy of Mallory's Morte d'Arthur, which I know I'm going to enjoy.