Pass the mince pies- Christmas Chat Thread Part Deux

TRS30

Best of luck with the move Jude, done it more times that I care to remember and is always stressful especially with little ones involved.

I'm sure the Christmas decorations will be carefully watched

Jude13

Cheers all, we did have a nest the last few years in our currnet house. We had a bird bath, and the dog kept the cats away. As a kid we had a robins who nested in our garden every year. My Mum always said they were santa's spy.

DvB

Post 3000, had to be here in the friendliest forum on Boards!

Best of luck with the move Jude, & like TRS above I dont envy you, done it a couple of times (not for 15 years now though) & don't ever fancy repeating the process (unless I win millions & can move into a castle/mansion)

@ New Home, speaking of nesting season, we have starlings nesting in our eaves, right at the corner of our bedroom and they absolutely wreck our sleep so I plan to get the eaves resealed & fitted with wire to prevent them coming back, when would it be safe to carry out that work? I think starlings are still protected so need to be careful of the timing.

freshpopcorn

It felt very windy during the night almost wintery/Christmasy!

DvB

freshpopcorn wrote: »

It felt very windy during the night almost wintery/Christmasy!

My Mrs turned the heating back on last night!!

Its the middle of June I said to her, to which she delivered the checkmate response of 'I don't care, I'm freezing'

miamee

DvB wrote: »

My Mrs turned the heating back on last night!!

Its the middle of June I said to her, to which she delivered the checkmate response of 'I don't care, I'm freezing'

Did you not tell her to just put on a (Christmas) jumper and she'd be grand? :pac:

TRS30

DvB wrote: »

My Mrs turned the heating back on last night!!

Its the middle of June I said to her, to which she delivered the checkmate response of 'I don't care, I'm freezing'

miamee wrote: »

Did you not tell her to just put on a (Christmas) jumper and she'd be grand? :pac:

I could be watching the Truman Show!

Went to shop last night, came home to a noise I recognised however couldn't quite put my finger on, till I copped it was the boiler.

Suggested putting a jumper on and got a withering looking and 'I can wear what I want in my own house'

DvB

miamee wrote: »

Did you not tell her to just put on a (Christmas) jumper and she'd be grand? :pac:

She was already wrapped in a blanket, and anyway i've tried that response before (I was in shorts & a t-shirt btw so it was 'not' cold!) to be told something akin to what TRS was told in his post above.

Its easier to just go with the flow I find.

SCOOP 64

Is there some sort of passcode you can get for turning heating on?:pac:

DvB

Guys, after a few weeks of bedlam work ( and a few more to come too btw) I'm struggling big time today, we have no remote connection to our servers today due to maintenance & no access to our work emails either. I've managed to close out 90% of what I had planned for today already & have found myself going down an internet christmas wormhole this morning looking up all sorts of christmas related bits & bobs... I suspect my productivity for the day will be minimal from this point on. Even though I've been doing a load of overtime I still feel a wee bit guilty... still though the craving for Christmas is strong today.

TRS30

I'm in a similarish position DvB, big project finished at the start of this week and waiting on a client to sign off work to start on another so in limbo a bit. Have been spending a bit more time with the kids, doing jigsaws etc which has been nice. Also been looking at a few Christmas things, trying to see what might be impacted, what wouldn't etc. I see it as payback for the late nights, working Easter Friday/Monday and the odd Saturday.

DvB

TRS30 wrote: »

I'm in a similarish position DvB, big project finished at the start of this week and waiting on a client to sign off work to start on another so in limbo a bit. Have been spending a bit more time with the kids, doing jigsaws etc which has been nice. Also been looking at a few Christmas things, trying to see what might be impacted, what wouldn't etc. I see it as payback for the late nights, working Easter Friday/Monday and the odd Saturday.

Exactly how I'm justifying it to myself also. I've to call to a clients facility on Saturday morning at 8am too as its the only time we can get access without affecting manufacturing for which I wont get OT or time in Lieu so I'm mentally balancing that out I suspect.

I think being sat at my desk in complete isolation has fed the Christmas internet wormhole this morning though, but better get my act together for the afternoon!:D

TRS30

DvB wrote: »

I think being sat at my desk in complete isolation has fed the Christmas internet wormhole this morning though, but better get my act together for the afternoon!:D

Tell me about it. Try googling 'best snowman for windy weather'! A bizarre range of things come up.

Just in case you think I'm putting random stuff into Google, we have an arch over our side passage and want to put a snowman on top of it this Christmas.

I've been let go from work, and today is the first day I feel a bit human again.. Thanks for the giggles everyone, I always enjoy hearing of heating vs jumpers debates
I think I'll be breaking out my Christmas jammies tonight, for the coziness and to bring a little cheer to what's been a crappy week.

I too went down the Christmas rabbit hole, I accidentally discovered an online pet shop has a Christmas section and it is amazing. I managed to stop myself this time from buying anything, just about

TRS30, I now want a snowman weathervane, I have no idea if they are a thing but I'm going to try look for one

TRS30

Sorry to hear that Eskie

Here you go;

https://swenproducts.com/snowman-snow-winter-weathervane/

Not sure about shipping costs though!!

TRS30

TRS30 wrote: »

Sorry to hear that Eskie

Here you go;

https://swenproducts.com/snowman-snow-winter-weathervane/

Not sure about shipping costs though!!

Ah I love it! Thank you the shipping costs tend to ruin the fun of shopping for obscure things. It'll go on the list for when I win the lotto

freshpopcorn

Has anybody any thought on Christmas stock this year in shops?
I know somethings may be delayed but I think that will be okay.
However do people think things will be snapped up fast this year Incase we’ve another closedown of businesses,etc?
Or am I just giving people ideas.

DvB

freshpopcorn wrote: »

Has anybody any thought on Christmas stock this year in shops?
I know somethings may be delayed but I think that will be okay.
However do people think things will be snapped up fast this year Incase we’ve another closedown of businesses,etc?
Or am I just giving people ideas.

Haven't put any real thought into it yet TBH. I suspect attitudes may change after we're back 'open' so to speak & we can see what the implications are in terms of cases increasing etc & if to a scale that requires the reintroduction of restrictions. If that happens I suspect we'll be looking to organise some stuff earlier, though we tend to get the kids stuff organised in September so not sure we'd really be bringing that forward as that's less than 3 months away.

One thing we've learned in all this is that we don't need to shop anywhere near as much as we used to and that the majority of it was for vanity purposes more than anything else, so as long as we can still get mince pies & stollen all will be well

TRS30

freshpopcorn wrote: »

Has anybody any thought on Christmas stock this year in shops?
I know somethings may be delayed but I think that will be okay.
However do people think things will be snapped up fast this year Incase we’ve another closedown of businesses,etc?
Or am I just giving people ideas.

Similar to DvB haven't given it too much though however don't think (hope) we would be too massively impacted.

We have loads (loadsssssss!) of decorations, lights etc and anything new we get now is not out of necessity and more than we just like it so buy it!

Most large retailers have online set up and running pretty well so if shops were to close again we could still get the presents we want (will probably do more online this year anyway). So don't think that would be too much of an issue.

My concern is more around Christmas events, like seeing Santa, Christmas markets, pretty much anything that involves bigish groups. I think these will be impacted however not sure to what extent.

One of my highlights last year was the weekend we had in my sisters house in Wicklow, seeing Santa at Christmas Island, big family meals in country pubs and the Christmas market in Wicklow. Hopefully we'll be able to something similar this year.

Postgrad10

All this talk of students only attending one or two days per week. So carol services or Christmas variety shows. It’s these little things that keep people going, events they look forward to.

freshpopcorn

I do think if things settle down and they reduce the 2m rule to 1m things mightn’t be to bad.
I think Christmas Markets will be okay if they are outdoor but the weather is another store.
I think Santa experience might be different if things continue tough but just hope for the best.
As for the shops I do think people will buy earlier compared to before but I think the in store experience will be okay. I’ve spoken to people that visited various shops and they all say apart from the queue it’s almost the same as before with people browsing away.

Littlehorny

freshpopcorn wrote: »

Has anybody any thought on Christmas stock this year in shops?
I know somethings may be delayed but I think that will be okay.
However do people think things will be snapped up fast this year Incase we’ve another closedown of businesses,etc?
Or am I just giving people ideas.

As DvB said we have learned that we don't need as much "stuff" as we thought we needed but I work for Tayto and a trial run of the Christmas boxes were carried out recently so if your a crisp fan then I can assure you that the Christmas boxes will be in the shops this year.

freshpopcorn

Littlehorny wrote: »

As DvB said we have learned that we don't need as much "stuff" as we thought we needed but I work for Tayto and a trial run of the Christmas boxes were carried out recently so if your a crisp fan then I can assure you that the Christmas boxes will be in the shops this year.

What happens to the trial run boxes?
Asking for a friend.

Littlehorny

freshpopcorn wrote: »

What happens to the trial run boxes?
Asking for a friend.

Given out to staff to take away, I must say I'm impressed by your thinking! ha ha:D

Postgrad10

What a great job. Let us know if you need any testers! !

Jude13

Moved house at the weekend to a house with no utility/store room. We had two in the old house. We now live in a house of boxes. I had to cull my two outside reindeer, one of the lights were broken. I drove past them at the bin outside this morning, no idea why its annoying me so much.

Eskie, I hope you get sorted soon.

PaulT21

Jude13 wrote: »

Moved house at the weekend to a house with no utility/store room. We had two in the old house. We now live in a house of boxes. I had to cull my two outside reindeer, one of the lights were broken. I drove past them at the bin outside this morning, no idea why its annoying me so much.

Eskie, I hope you get sorted soon.

Best of luck in the new home. It won't be long I'm sure until everything finds its place in your new home:D

Thats a sad picture you paint of two abandoned reindeer though

Jude13

There is a halfway to Christmas Brunch on the 25th of this month (a Thursday which is the last working day of the week here) in one of the Irish pubs. I went last and it was pretty good. Only 4 allowed at each table so it will be a reserved affair. I will post pics.

Loughc

freshpopcorn wrote: »

Has anybody any thought on Christmas stock this year in shops?
I know somethings may be delayed but I think that will be okay.
However do people think things will be snapped up fast this year Incase we’ve another closedown of businesses,etc?
Or am I just giving people ideas.

I seen a webinar from Retail Ireland a couple of weeks ago about getting businesses back open and they actually were asking shops NOT to start stocking Christmas items in August and to wait until September/October time to start.

With many stores in need of a big Christmas sales boost I can see stores heavily relying on Christmas stock to save their year.

Moving the 2m distance to 1m will help so many businesses, I imagine if we make it to stage 4 and still looking good they will lower it to 1m.

And then all of this could go out the window when winter and flu season hits.

Jude13 wrote: »

Moved house at the weekend to a house with no utility/store room. We had two in the old house. We now live in a house of boxes. I had to cull my two outside reindeer, one of the lights were broken. I drove past them at the bin outside this morning, no idea why its annoying me so much.

All the best in your new home Jude I hope you have many happy years there and make lots of fond memories.

Loughc

DvB wrote: »

Guys, after a few weeks of bedlam work ( and a few more to come too btw) I'm struggling big time today, we have no remote connection to our servers today due to maintenance & no access to our work emails either. I've managed to close out 90% of what I had planned for today already & have found myself going down an internet christmas wormhole this morning looking up all sorts of christmas related bits & bobs... I suspect my productivity for the day will be minimal from this point on. Even though I've been doing a load of overtime I still feel a wee bit guilty... still though the craving for Christmas is strong today.

Same here chief, mental in work lately, there was a dull dark dreary day last week which just left me a longing for Christmas and the tree and the bright lights.

I'm looking forward to the NFL season starting up as that's always a marker Christmas and dark nights are coming.

I'm getting to spend less and less time on here these days which is making me guilty about not being around more often, I miss just hanging out here.