I have managed to deter things until now, but the tide of pressure has buckled me
as I type, our Christmas decorations are going up…

My concern is that Christmas has been hijacked by the retailers to try and get us all to start so early in the year.
I love Christmas, I just detest the overhyped commercialisation that goes with it.
When I worked in retail we would start our campaigns in October and the whole focus was on stock churn.
Sod the Christmas spirit, lets make lots of money was the cry..

I want to get back to some of the more traditional values, of fun enjoyment and family participation,
not the incessant drive for bigger brighter decorations, and even more expensive presents..

When I was a child I was lucky to have parents who could afford good presents for me.
However my overriding Christmas memory is a scalextric set. The cars were great but what really made this a memorable present
was that my father had built a table for the track and built a grand stand and pits out of papier-mâché
he had contoured the whole thing with trees and a river and car parking for the visitors… it was fantastic, and he built it all..

It probably took him hours and hours to build, and for me that is what made it so special…

This is Mr Humbug slowly getting into the Christmas spirit. It’s only the 15th and Christmas is the 25th,
so remember folks there are lots of drinking days in between ;~)