Saturday Snippets…Dec 25th 2021…Christmas!

Saturday Snippets on a Sunday this time it wasn’t quite finished and I didn’t have time yesterday…Quite a hectic day all round…We had a lovely team meeting with family around the world some of whom are quarantined and can only “window wave” …it was lovely to see my mum looking well …

Welcome to Saturday Snippets albeit a day late...my one-word prompt today is “Christmas” that was given really, wasn’t it?….

Christmas Eve…

Christmas Eve, also known as the Vigil of Christmas, is perceived as the culmination of the Advent season. Christmas Eve is the day before Christmas Day and is associated with celebrating Jesus Christ’s birth, although his actual birth date has been disputed among many scholars.

Christmas Day History…

The first known date of Christmas being rejoiced on December 25th was in 336 AD, through the time of the Roman Emperor Constantine who was the first Christian Roman Emperor. After some years, Pope Julius I formally announced that the birth of Jesus would be rejoiced on the 25th of December.

Did you know? Mari Lwyd. Wales…

Welsh culture is ancient and steeped in superstition. It’s not surprising, therefore, that residents of South Wales enjoy parading an undead horse around their villages to celebrate the happiest time of year. In a-wassailing display dating back to (probably) Celtic times, the custom involves draping a white sheet over a pole with a horse skull attached and knocking on townsfolk’s doors, no doubt giving them the fright of their lives. The party carrying the morbid effigy then sing to the residents, who are supposed to sing back before relinquishing some food or drink. There is some debate about whether Mari Lwyd translates as ‘Holy Mary’ or ‘Grey Mare’, but either seems equally creepy …

Christmas Flower…The Poinsettia.

The deep, saturated, traditional red and burgundy or the more subtle shades of white and pink, the poinsettia’s bracts or modified leaves with their wide-open faces virtually announce their relevance in the panoply of Christmas flowers.

Originating in Mexico, the plants were used by the ancient Aztecs to extract the dye, and sap to treat illness. Its popular name is Joel Roberts Poinsett, a botanist and physician who was the first U.S. Ambassador to Mexico. He fell in love with their red hue in 1828 and had the plants sent back to his greenhouses in Greenville, South Carolina.

We can attribute poinsettia’s holiday popularity to the fact that it tends to bloom in December in its native Mexico. A folkloric tale tells the story of a young girl named Pepita who wanted to give a gift to baby Jesus. She had no money, so she picked a bouquet of weeds. Her cousin Pedro told her that even though they were a small gift, the fact that they were offered with love meant everything. When Pepita laid the bouquet at the cradle of Jesus, the humble gift became a bouquet of lush, beautiful flowers—a manifestation of her devotion.

Christmas Holly…

Holly with its lovely red berries is synonymous with Christmas…The red berries against the glossy green leaves are so pretty…holly is prized for its beauty and feared for its rumoured toxicity. But studies show that much like its two Christmas companions(mistletoe and Poinsettia, holly is not quite as deadly as portrayed. Its berries, which contain a caffeine-like alkaloid, might cause irritation, but fatal ingestion is unlikely.

Deer, squirrels, and other small mammals will devour Ilex opaca (American holly) and the berries are an important source of food for as many as 18 species of birds.

Holly also looks so Christmassy made into wreaths for the door or as a table decoration with a candle they look so stunning…

Christmas …John Denver and The Muppets…

 

Did you Know? Spider Webs, Ukraine…

You’ve probably heard about the German pickle stories where adults hang a pickle in a Christmas tree and the first child that finds it gets an extra gift. Now if you thought that was unique and culturally different, then you ought to know that Ukrainians put spider webs in their Christmas trees… swapping fairy lights for spider webs. The legend of the Christmas spider explains that a poor widow and her kids cultivated a Christmas tree from a pine cone but couldn’t afford any decorations…then on Christmas morning, they woke to see their tree blanketed in cobwebs. which sunlight transformed into gold and silver.

Nowadays, trees across Ukraine are decorated with little spider ornaments called ” pavuchky” and fake spider webs…

 Christmas Time… Bryan Adams…

Christmas Island…

Christmas Island is an Australian territory in the Indian Ocean, lying south of Java, Indonesia. A national park covers most of the 135-sq-km island, offering rainforest hikes to wetlands and waterfalls like Hugh’s Dale. Native wildlife includes nesting seabirds and the red crab, a land species known for its late-fall migration to the sea. The island is ringed with snorkelling and diving reefs

Christmas Michael Buble...I’ll leave it to Michael Buble to promote the Christmas sweater…

One of my all-time favourite Christmas stories and films…is “A Christmas Story”…

Ebenezer Scrooge  is the definition of a miser. He is rich but completely stingy with his money, and he exploits the good nature of his employee Bob Cratchit  On Christmas Eve, however,

Scrooge is in store for a rude awakening when he is visited by the ghost of his old business
partner, Jacob Marley, who informs him that he is going to be visited by three ghosts, including
the Ghosts of Christmas Past and Present …

 

Written by Charles Dickens …was it based on a true story…probably not but in those times the character of Ebenezer Scrooge and the dire straits of the poorest people living in the city of London at the time Dickens must have drawn from real people and places as writers often do…

That’s all for Saturday Snippets this week I hope you all had an enjoyable Christmas day…

I would like you all though to take a minute and think of those for whom it may be their last Christmas and for those who have had to isolate once again because this new variant of covid is romping through many communities although it doesn’t appear to be as virulent…

But please if you are anti-vaxxers because you have done your due diligence and have made an informed choice and not listened to all the (social media) doctors and experts or you don’t wear a mask and observe social distancing then PLEASE spare a thought for those and that includes two of my daughters who have low immunity due to cancer treatment…you could unknowingly be carrying the virus and if my daughters become infected it will be serious and life-threatening and one of them has a daughter of 8 yrs old who would like her mummy to celebrate next Christmas with her…

Please think about your actions and how those actions may impact on someone you may not even know but you may have infected…

Merry Christmas xx

 

 

 

37 thoughts on “Saturday Snippets…Dec 25th 2021…Christmas!”

  1. Pingback: CarolCooks2…#bloganuary….What advice would I give to my teenage self? | Retired? No one told me!

  5. Pingback: CarolCooks2 weekly roundup… 19th- 25th December 2021… | Retired? No one told me!

  6. Pingback: CarolCooks2 weekly roundup… 19th- 25th December 2021… | Retired? No one told me!

  10. Victoria Zigler

    Though the symbolism is disputed, if translated literally, “Mari Lwyd” translates as “Grey Mary” – just in case you were interested. And there are some stories featuring the Mari Lwyd from various points in the year among Welsh folk tales/fairy stories.

    Anyway, late Merry Christmas, and happy Boxing Day.

    Liked by 1 person

  12. Pingback: Saturday Snippets…Dec 25th 2021…Christmas! – MobsterTiger

  14. Clive

    Happy Boxing Day, Carol! Thanks for another entertaining and educational post – I always enjoy these. Hope you had a lovely day yesterday and are feeling suitably relaxed today. Your message to anti-vaxxers is well made 😊🎁 x

    Liked by 1 person

    1. CarolCooks2 Post author

      Thank you, Clive I hope you have a lovely Boxing Day watching some great movies…and thank you but I think sometimes we have to think of others and not just ourselves especially as we don’t what we are passing on to others 🙂 xxx

      Liked by 1 person

  16. Norah

    I hope you had a wonderful Christmas, Carol, meeting with family around the world. How nice the magic of the internet could bring you all together.
    You have chosen some great music to celebrate.
    A Christmas Carol is a great story. I watched the story behind the story – its inspiration – last night in a most enjoyable movie called ‘The Man Who Invented Christmas’. If you get the chance to watch it, I highly recommend it. I love the way ‘they’ told the story.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. CarolCooks2 Post author

      Thank you, Norah I will check the movie out… Yes the internet can be a marvelous tool and it was lovely to connect with them all together on one screen.. Fantastic what technolgy can do.. Happy you enjoyed the music, Norah.. I hope you have enjoyed Chrismas and have a fabulous New Year xx

      Liked by 1 person

  17. robbiesinspiration

    Hi Carol, this is a great post. I admire how you condensed the entire controversy over what date Jesus’ birth should be celebrated into a single paragraph. That is all anyone needs to know, isn’t it? The story about the Ukrainians hanging spider webs on Christmas trees is very entertaining. Have a great new week, Carol. I’m going away on Tuesday so I’ll be visiting sporadically until 8 December.

    Liked by 1 person

Comments are closed.