It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas Off Topic Chat

Littlehorny

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117861902#Comment_117861902

Because of the miserable year of it last year we put up the tree for the first time ever in November and it will be going up this year on the last weekend of November again this year.

Even the wife loved how it brightened up the place earlier than usual.

DvB

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117862928#Comment_117862928

It was this forum here that led to us getting into the habit of putting up our decorations in November too, we always left it until the first saturday of December, but as the kids got older & started to look forward to the late late toy show we started to put them up in time for that. We did miss one year when we were getting work done to the house as we were getting furniture delivered the following morning so sat on the living room floor with cushions & blankets to watch it, and put them up the next day after the new furniure arrived. So its become our traditional decorating day and unless something unexpected happens to change that we'll probably stick to it now.

TRS30

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117862953#Comment_117862953

We get a real tree as our main tree so have to be a little more careful on when we put it up as don't want it looking all wilted before New Year! The last few years we have started the decoration end of November and done the main tree last around first week of December.

Loughc

My local Dunnes has their Christmas stock in. Even tried a Cadbury pud. Spoiler alert they’re amazing.

Posy

Ooooooh, I must search for one. 😁

DvB

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117866025#Comment_117866025

Ditto. Will be back in dunnes in blanch on Saturday so will have my eyes peeled!!

SarahLil

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117866371#Comment_117866371

Me too 😂 thinking about my breakfast out at Dunnes already on Saturday the joys of being a new mam

DvB

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117866658#Comment_117866658

Its the little things!! 😉

TRS30

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117866817#Comment_117866817

So true. I usually get about 10/15 uninterrupted mins first thing in the morning with a coffee. One of my favorite parts of the day.

SarahLil

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117866817#Comment_117866817

Especially after COVID we’ve all been locked away for so long

SarahLil

Afternoon everyone how is everyone ?

any plans for the weekend yet?

very muggy out there today…

I was chatting to my neighbour earlier she was on her way home from the weekly shop she had a good few tubs of sweets, she has started the Christmas shop she informed me she has all her fizzy drinks in, She says she wants to be organised

she said to me don’t hold back on anything I want for the baby for Christmas or in general as with truck driver shortages and Brexit?? Are any of you thinking like that ?

Posy

I'm not panicking (yet) but anything important I want online, I'll definitely be ordering by November!

TRS30

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117867651#Comment_117867651

Great, if work wasn't so busy and it wasn't a million degrees in the attic/office :(

Elf1's birthday party Sunday so mentally preparing myself for 25 hyper 7 year olds!!

We usually try to order/buy stuff as early as we can, certainly presents for the kids so just do the same this year. Always start to panic if all presents are done by early/mid December.

Day Lewin

I've been travelling round Ireland, and finally spent the weekend in the West. It has been so warm, so humid!

And then just yesterday morning, I stood outside and sensed a tiny whiff of cool, crisp air; it was still very warm all day, but that touch of cool air was like the earliest fingertip of Autumn and brought to mind such things as blazing fires, a comforting electric blanket, lights in the house, and Christmas on the horizon.

I usually don't like autumn very much but this was so enticing.

SarahLil

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117868614#Comment_117868614

Yes the muggy weather is mad I find I don’t know what to be cooking for dinner it is so warm

Happy Birthday to Elf1 my mind is is going straight to all the gorgeous sweets at a 7 year olds party 😋

TRS30

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117869129#Comment_117869129

According to the daily updates on school pick up, the boys are looking forward to the bouncy castle and the girls the face painting 😂

Love the innocence of kids.

L1011

This years addition to the Lego Winter Village has been announced:

https://brickset.com/article/63563/this-year-s-winter-village-set-revealed%21

Will be ordering this on release date. I don't have all the sets, nor do I have the space to have all of them on display at Christmas, but I might try get a pic of a few of them together at least. Should get some light bricks also to illuminate the insides.

Posy

Ooooooh, I bet they look great!

CheerLouth

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117869730#Comment_117869730

Oh that is cool. My kids are starting to get into lego in a big way so might be something to start a little family tradition!

Lord Spence

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117867651#Comment_117867651

Yup heard there are going to shortages on popular electrics so I am presuming PS5, XBOX, Switch etc, Ordered 2 electric scooters already as I know there hard to get come Christmas and this year could be even worse. Was speaking to the courier who delivered them and he had heard there will be shortages this year aswell. So might be worth shopping early if possible, especially for electronics and stuff if you know what the big man is bringing in advance.

miamee

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117869730#Comment_117869730

Hmm OH is not big into Christmas or decorating but Lego could change all of that 😛

DvB

https://www.causey.ie/causey-events/causey-christmas-experience/

I see causey farm have announced that their traditional Christmas experience is back for 2021 with bookings opening on Friday 1st October.

Normality!!!!

Oh and this day next week... double digits on the countdown... so hold on folks, its going to get bumpy!!

TRS30

Christmas Island website to go live mid Sept with booking from end of Sept :)

CheerLouth

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117871410#Comment_117871410

Is Causey Farm worth it? It seems a bit on the £££ side....would be nearly 100euro for my family 😲

DvB

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117872352#Comment_117872352

We've been twice and loved it, in fact we had hoped to go again last Christmas (as our last ever Santa experience) but obviously couldn't due to the pandemic. We have just the 2 kids so it didn't seem that pricey for us (hands up I cant remember what it cost previously) as it was in keeping with the other Santa experiences we'd gone to beforehand. It mightn't be everyone's cup of tea but we enjoyed both visits immensely.

Still hoping the kids are up for going again this year despite being on the verge of turning 11 😀

tscul32

We did Causey too, with 3 kids. Great evening and we all enjoyed it very much. I was asking our youngest if he'd like to do a Santa experience (expecting this to be our last as he'll be 10 in Jan) and he said "nah" ☹

Sheep Shagger

M&S Christmas decorations are out

https://www.marksandspencer.com/ie/l/christmas/christmas-decorations-and-christmas-trees/christmas-decorations?page=2

PTH2009

Roll on the 22nd Oct marking our 'unofficial Freedom Day' and really giving an indication that this will be a Christmas of old. Remember the dark days of October/November last year when we went back into level 5 and we all knew deep down it would be a different Christmas. Looks a lot better this year

Heading to Birmingham in 2 weeks to see Genesis live and cant wait. Seeing The Offspring in the 3Arena in November and sir Elton John on the 3rd Dec which will be magical but sadly he doesn't do his Christmas songs live anymore

DvB

Heading over to Birmingham ourselves a few days before Christmas to see the twang in their hometown Christmas gig... been before and its a cracking gig, really looking forward to it now.

Littlehorny

We took our annual trip to the M50 Christmas Shop today and had a good look around and made up a plan for a couple of buys later in the year.

I walked around with a smile on my face the whole time and if you get a chance I urge you guys to try get there and have a good look round.

The owner is very friendly and chatty (he might be one of us 😉😃) and he said there is a big load of new stuff coming in about 3 to 4 weeks and he also said maybe because of Covid he sold nearly everything last Christmas.

I agreed with him saying Christmas decorations went up earlier last year and there was plenty of houses decorated on the outside last year as well.

In fact if I remember right we had plenty of chats on here about decorating the outside of the house last year? 😊

Loughc

We did indeed have plenty of chats about decorating outside. I’m planning on wrapping lights on all of my railings in the driveway this year.

Sheep Shagger

Anyone know where to get a decent red ribbon decoratikn for a front door, not Satin....that's all I can find though?

PTH2009

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117877667#Comment_117877667

This will be my first time in Birmingham. Definitely need to see the Bull Ring and visit that Peaky Blinder Pub

pigtail33

https://www.arnotts.ie/christmas/shop/

The Arnotts Christmas shop is now open too. Hoping to make it in store this year to actually see it and soak up some atmosphere 🤞🏻

Smell the glove

Lazy day on the sofa coming up with nothing to do and the rain outside. Does anyone have any Christmas themed websites for me to look at? Decorating or buying decorations and stuff or just general articles about Christmas?

jellybear

New Yankee candles available from Candles Direct

Also noticed Oxendales have a few nice Christmas bits 😊

freshpopcorn

Littlewoods!

https://www.littlewoodsireland.ie/home-garden/christmas-decorations/e/b/102379.end

jellybear

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117882632#Comment_117882632

Some nice bits there!

I am determined to get these kind of lights, in warm white, if anyone comes across them please let me know 😊 I think Aldi or Lidl had them last year so I'll have to keep an eye out.

sporina

Round Tubs of Roses in Tesco for €4.99 - woo hoo - Christmas is coming (BB'22)

Caranica

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117882784#Comment_117882784

€4 in Dunnes

Loughc

It was so dark this morning. And the evenings feel so short already. It really is the season!!

TRS30

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117882729#Comment_117882729

Those looks great. Just showing the OH and she agrees. Have just the window in mind as well.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117883393#Comment_117883393

Sure is, lights on in the morning and evening now, curtains drawn and will be the heating on next!

DvB

Was out watching a match yesterday afternoon and it really was a really gloomy day, you could tell it was an autumnal day and there was enough of a breeze for it to start feeling chilly as the afternoon progressed too. Glad I'd brought a light jacket. A complete flip from Saturday which was a lovely day, warm too, right up until it got dark!

Having seen the bits really start to appear in the shops we're rapidly approaching the most wonderful time of the year. We even made a start on our Christmas shopping yesterday when up in the blanch sc, the mrs saw some bits for her folks & we agreed if we see something at this time of year we just buy it as we'll inevitably not see it again and will be raging. So our christmas shop is now well underway.

Littlehorny

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117882729#Comment_117882729

We have a set for the window which I'm sure are exactly like those, I think they were either bought in the M50 Christmas shop or a Woodies or some place like that. I'll ask the wife, she will remember.

TRS30

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117883470#Comment_117883470

We have stung a few times with 'ah we wouldn't buy that now, we'll get it later' and then it's gone or gone up in price. Now we just get it if we see it, even if not needed straight away. Also with times like Christmas, it helps spread the cost out as well.

DvB

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117883554#Comment_117883554

Exactly. Been stung ourselves over the years.

pigtail33

I made the first of the Christmas cakes at the weekend! This one is a giant 11" square. We're usually still eating it until Easter!

Autosport

Looks delicious 😋

TRS30

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117883909#Comment_117883909

Could you post me some?? 😂

DvB

BTW, if anyone is a fan of the disney store, we popped into the one in blanch yesterday & we could easily have spent a few hundred euro, they had some great stuff in there, definitely worth a browse.