Stuff the Turkey!

Elizabeth Chadwick on how to do Christmas.

What is your favourite Christmas memory?

Occasions that stand out are:

Being given a cowboy outfit and six guns for Christmas when I was six.  I just loved that present.  It made pretending to be the Lone Ranger so much more real!

Childhood and teenage Christmas visits to my grandmother, which were always undertaken a couple of weeks before due to us living in different parts of the country.

We'd always exchange small pre-Christmas presents at the table which could be opened there and then.  Usually they were of the cheap smellies or charity shop buys kind of thing and just for fun, but from a child's perspective it was a treat and a little bit magical.

What is the worst present you’ve ever given or received?

 I don't think that's ever happened, but we did once have a disaster Christmas Day all told.  The previous night I had hidden all the presents round the house because Simon, my youngest son and then six years old,  loved to have a present treasure hunt.  At 7.30 am Simon fell down the stairs and landed on the vacuum cleaner which I hadn't put away.  He cut open his face along the jaw on a sharp edge. Blood everywhere. My husband bundled him in the car, a towel against the wound and raced off to Queen's  Hospital A&E with him, leaving me and the nine year old behind.  As time drew on, I decided rather than worrying, to do something constructive and set about heating the oven ready to put in the sausage rolls.  A short while later came the most dreadful stench of burning plastic.  Yup, I'd hidden a Beano video in the oven and it was cooking!  Nasty melted mess to remove from the rungs.  Husband finally returned with the invalid about 1 o'clock.  Simon had had seven stitches in the wound.  My husband, while holding his hand at A&E hand, had gone funny at the sight of the needle going in, and the nurses had had to find him a seat quickly before he flaked out on them, so he wasn't feeling too clever.  All in all a Christmas to be forgotten, although it never will be.  Simon is 21 now and still has a small ridged scar along his jawline as a memento!

What are your plans for this Christmas?

I will try and sneak away to the PC and do some writing. I managed it last year.  We may also go away for a few days to the middle of nowhere and be totally anti-social but most likely we'll be home and just chilling out and taking the dog for long walks.  My youngest son is home from university at the moment, but he has a holiday job that involves shifts and he'll be working Christmas day and Boxing day. so our plans are very fluid (see answer to final question!)

Are you giving any books as gifts this Christmas?

My mother always receives books as stocking fillers, but I haven't finalised ideas yet.  A friend, Julia Williams has just had her first book published, Pastures New, so I think that will be one.  Probably something by Jill Mansell or Katie Fforde to join it.  I have bought my husband the latest Leslie Thomas novel and two novels by Robert Crais.  My son at home will receive a title by Terry Pratchett.  I'll give my dad, still a keen cyclist at almost 80, Josie Dew's book Long Cloud Ride.

Is there a certain book which you’d love to receive this Christmas?

I''d love to receive the facsimile version of the Luttrell Psalter, but looking at the price tag, I doubt it'll be in Santa's sack!  A set of Pipe Rolls for the rein of Henry II would be nice too, but again, I suspect they'll remain on my wish list.  I've put a Sue Lawrence baking book on my list as home baking is something I enjoy.  You'd never catch me buying a cake, I always make my own.  Fiction wise I've been enjoying Stephenie Meyer's vampire series and I'd love to read the third one, Eclipse.

Any tips for surviving the festive period?

Stuff the turkey! Basically do what you want and not what's expected of you.  Don't be a martyr.  When my children were little we used to have beans on toast for Christmas dinner because the boys were too hyped up with excitement and various obligatory visits meant that we were pushed for time.  We used to have Christmas dinner a couple of days after the 25th.  You need to keep everything in perspective and maintain a sense of humour.  If you're beset, just think ''This too will pass.'

Posted 22/11/2007 11:54:25 by Elizabeth Chadwick with 0 comments.