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In our family we've always had Christmas lists, of what presents everyone wants. Sounds a bit boring and mercenary maybe, but it avoids the stress of not knowing what to get people, and then the waste afterwards when they don't really want whatever you've panic bought them in the end. It used to work well, bits of paper passed around with items ticked off along the way. There's still the surprise element as you didn't know exactly what you'd get and from whom, if you had a well populated list. That all changed with the advent of internet shopping though. Now it's just emails circulated around with half the entries just being hotlinks directly to the item, (on Amazon as often as not!). That's sucked the last bit of magic out of the whole idea of presents for me, so the Mrs and I have opted out completely now. We only buy things for the children.

What a muppet, I completely forgot one of my yellow letters. Wordle 1,290 X/6 🟨⬜⬜⬜⬜ 🟩🟩🟨🟨⬜ 🟩🟩🟩🟩⬜ 🟩🟩🟩🟩⬜ 🟩🟩🟩🟩⬜ 🟩🟩🟩🟩⬜

That has to be the most creative post you've ever done Dave. Is it this a new leaf for a new year? Keep it up.

Well that didn't last long. Wordle 1,289 X/6 🟨⬜⬜⬜🟩 ⬜⬜🟨⬜🟩 ⬜🟩⬜⬜🟩 ⬜🟩⬜⬜🟩 🟨🟩⬜⬜🟩 ⬜🟩🟨⬜🟩

Endangered mountain trees making a comeback in Scotland, study shows | About | University of Stirling WWW.STIR.AC.UK Endangered mountain trees and shrubs are making a comeback in Scotland, a study has shown.

This reminded me of something @Doug Tait spotted a few weeks back

A couple from the edge of Dartmoor. Ever the opportunists.

Wordle 1,287 3/6 🟨⬜⬜🟩⬜ ⬜🟩🟩🟩⬜ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 Two days of X's and then two days of 3's. How very consistent.

Not a face but ..........?

Easter Island tree?

I've not reached that level quite yet, but I do find with each year that I'm tending towards that sentiment. I love the family time and time off work, but I hate the massive overconsumption and waste that comes with Christmas now. (Last minute shopping the day before Xmas eve has scarred me for life I think, so depressing). I'd be happy if there was just a couple of special meals and that was it, no presents, no massive hype.

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I'll kick us off. Christmas opens with stockings for the tinkers. Then a normal breakfast followed by some preparation work for the meal, veg peeling and stuffing making. Then it's a short cycle, or drive for some, to the pub. Once there the objective is to get as many pints in as time/family/bar que length allows, 2 or 3 normally. A slightly wobbly ride home and it's time for the main present carnage. Dinner is towards the end of the afternoon following an intense period of family squabbling, too many cooks in the kitchen and all that. Dinner is chickens rather than turkey. The evening is a bloated blur of TV and board games punctuated by a cheese and port supper, depending on bloat status. Boxing Day is similar in terms of venue and participants, but a shorter affair, starting in the afternoon after a walk or another cycle. Ham and a leg of lamb are the main events on the table this time. The challenge is to try to keep the children away from any kind of screens for as long as possible and try to make them play with all the toys they unpacked in about 30 seconds the day before!

I thought it might be interesting to see what everyone else does in the way of family traditions or routines over the festive season, well, two days. Ours is fairly mundane, anyone do anything unusual or even better, outrageous?

Aye, chillies. Thin Jim type specimens.

Ham aux trucs.

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Happy Christmas one and all. Eat much, drink plenty and be merry! So the potato peeler: probably the most used tool today.

Wordle 1,284 X/6 🟨⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜🟨🟨⬜ ⬜🟨🟨⬜🟩 ⬜🟩⬜⬜🟩 ⬜🟩⬜🟩🟩 🟨🟩⬜🟩🟩 Well, it wasn't for me..

Sorry Dave mate, I forgot to add this for you. Fill ya boots with a whole link rather than just a LinkedIn screenshot. Spiralling deer population 'devastating' UK nature - prompting calls to reintroduce wolves and lynx NEWS.SKY.COM New footage reveals the growing scale of the country's deer population - and while the animals generally enjoy a positive... Guessing you wouldn't be in favour of wolves and lynx, so culling for the dinner plate it is then.

Pinus scaffoldicus is a great choice for cheap woodworking projects. I've used it for heavy duty book shelves a couple of times.