Christmas / New Year Memories

Brilliant! I'm back off down the Co-op! Probably me as a six year old thinking it was upstairs.

My father always cut wedges of pork pie for breakfast on Christmas morning (I'd forgotten all about it, so thank you Anne) I never knew why we should have such a strange feast on only that day of the year! It was obviously some sort of ritual, which at the time I thought we were the only family to do it! Can anyone shed any light on where it may have come from?

Can someone tell me whatever has happened to the mistletoe these days. Never see any here not even the dreaded plastic variety? I even looked through last years Christmas cards and there is not any pictured on those!! Perhaps it has been banned in case someone gets 'kissed to death' it would not surprise me

Hi Dreamtime, Driving south along the M5 through Gloucestershire, Worcestershire & Somerset, until last year there has been an abundance of it growing in the trees. This year, there is a noticeable absence of it.

Hi Anne, My friend always told me that it was a Coventry tradition to have pork pie for breakfast on Christmas day. She said her mother used to get the pies from Gardners in Far Gosford Street. I had never heard of the tradition so I was pleased that you wrote about it.

Good morning Philip, Thanks for your response. I know mistletoe is considered a parasite on trees but it makes a very romantic tradition don't you think ? As much as I absolutely love the English countryside I am sorry to say it is a little too far for me to travel to acquire some. It would be a shame for it to die out and what remained would be costly to buy. I notice you are very observant when you are on your travels

Regarding the Mistletoe, there's stacks of it growing in I think lime trees on the approach to King Henry VIII, both sides of the road. Bit dodgy looking for it when you are driving though. If there's no sign of it depicted on cards and stuff, it's probably been banned for 'Health and Safety'!

Anne mentioned popular toys and I remembered the pop-up story books especially the fairy stories which I had. Loved lots of books and had a lovely Grimm story book which contained most of their well known tales. Whilst we are discussing Christmas can I just mention the new year tradition concerning a lump of coal. My father used to go outside and come in the front door with a lump of coal on the stroke of midnight. I am not sure if it was for luck, or prosperity. I remember he did it for a few years but now when I think about it and wonder what he did when smokeless fuel came into use !!!!! Somehow a piece of coke does not seem to fit the bill !!!

The year was 1971. Jane had been my girlfriend for three months and it was fast approaching Christmas. She told me that 'a friend of hers' was buying her boyfriend a leather writing set as a Christmas present and she wanted to know what I thought of it as a gift. 'I could not think of anything more boring' I replied and she burst into tears. Of course I now realise that there was no imaginary friend who had bought an imaginary boyfriend this gift but it was Jane's way of being reassured that I would like her present. I must have backpedalled pretty well because in January we will have been married for 38 years.

One of the things that I got bought each year was a Smokers Set with chocolate cigarettes, pipe etc. I mentioned this to my daughter a few years back and she thought I was making it up! I suspect they stopped making them a long time ago.

I've found this on "Bakeryinfo.co.uk" from a Melton Mowbray pie-maker "There is a tradition in Leicestershire of always having a slice of pork pie for breakfast at Christmas, which harks back to medieval times when the pie was the equivalent of today's turkey. We're keeping alive that tradition. We see a 500% uplift of pork pie sales at Christmas. But there's another 51 weeks that we could sell customers a pie" No doubt it doesn't just apply to Leicestershire

Perhaps it's me but I usually find the quality of pork pies goes down at Christmas due to the amount that are being produced. We usually buy ours early and freeze them in two layers of foil and enclosed in a poly bag. This was a tip at a Good Food Show a few years ago. Always seems to work for us if thawed out correctly.

Hi all I have so many happy memories of Christmas time and, "The weeks leading to Christmas" memories, in particular. Food, "Oh no", I can hear someone say, not Philip & food. Music played a huge part of my life at this time of the year. This year, I only have one music engagement for this Christmas, which is for a Coventry Charity. Until 2006, I had to keep a diary in order for the preparation of music programmes, but my eyesight has taken its toll on that. It was a joy to accompany choirs, panto's, serious drama as well as the duties as a church organist. The thing is, we all get older & we adapt to our changing circumstances. Now you have to put up with me on here! Most of my posts on here I am editing all of the time, but that can't be done if I am playing an organ or a piano. A plea from me. I have been invited to play for the funeral of a dear, dear lady, Mavis Inglis. She was a Coventry midwife & I had known her from my earliest days. I always knew her as "That still small voice of calm". Ideal in her job where everyone else was having a fit, whilst she was delivering an infant. We all get flustered and uptight now & again, I know that I do, but when the shouting has died down, can anyone remember what the shouting issue was, or is? So my plea is as we approach Christmas, with missiles flying over the Middle East, please let us stamp out the fuses on our missiles flying over our forum. Please. Whilst the missiles are flying, Mavis would still have been delivering her infant. She knew what was important.

I'm surprised nobody's yet mentioned the annual lights display on Greyfriars Green? It was always the first indication to me that Xmas was on the way. My dad used to take me for a walk on the green after dark and recite his own version of the nursery rhymes on display with the words altered to make them sound slightly rude!

Hello Philip. What super thoughts. Many years ago, at a business "meeting" I was going off on one, ranting and raving and hardly coming up for air. The man I was ranting at kept talking slowly and quietly and when I finally stopped, he said "I hope you were listening because I am not repeating this". I had no idea what he was saying because, somehow, with two ears and one mouth, I was using them in the wrong ratio. I am sure you music will make the funeral of your friend a memorable occassion, and thank you for your postings.