Christmas feels SO long ago, it is a little strange to be re-visiting it. I share photos from Christmas every year so I thought I’d keep up the tradition! My SD card broke half way through the day so I didn’t get to photograph as much as I’d like to – hopefully these pet pictures make up for it. This year, my Grandpa and his wife came to stay and brought Bella the lab with them as well as their new puppy dog, Polly. I hadn’t met Polly before so it was fun getting to play with her! On Christmas Eve we watched The Tailor of Gloucester, as per tradition. I know the dialogue off by heart I’ve seen it so many times, but the illustrations of Gloucester covered in snow and the magic of the animals coming alive on Christmas Eve still warms my heart. This is the first year we watched it on DVD instead of VHS – high tech or what!
Christmas morning has always consisted of opening Santa presents in my parents room (no I’m not too old for Santa thank you very much) followed by porridge for breakfast. We sometimes open a couple of presents from under the tree before lunch, but save some for the evening. Archie even got a present from his bunny sitter this year! Lunch is a long drawn out affair, with nibbles and champagne throughout the middle of the day, before my Mum’s incredible roast dinner is served. People sometimes ask me what I eat on Christmas day as a vegan, but it actually hasn’t changed a lot. My Mum makes an incredible nut roast and I sometimes have some veggie sausages, but the rest of the meal is the same.
Since Oscar and I became grown-ups, a Christmas day walk has found its way into our traditional activities. It’s actually one of my favourite parts of Christmas and the weather this year was bright but cold, just the way I like it. There’s nothing better than a brisk walk to shake off the post-lunch sluggishness and I like to make the most of the available countryside at my parents’ house when I’m there to visit. We even managed a walk in one of my favourite places in the world, Bradgate Park, on Boxing Day. Apparently everyone else in Leicestershire had the same idea and it was chaos with so many dogs wanting to sniff each other!
As well as the Tailor of Gloucester, Miracle on 34th Street and the Blackadder Christmas Carol are a must-watch for our family every year. I love Christmas traditions and there’s something comforting about re-watching things that you’re so familiar with. I also like to see Edward Scissorhands and the Nightmare Before Christmas around the festive period, but that’s a tradition I share with only myself. What are your favourite films? What did you get up to on Christmas day?
Christmas 2012 / Christmas 2013 / Christmas 2014 / Christmas 2015
Aww loved that you have a tradition of writing about Christmas every year
Archie is the cutest! It’s also my dream to one day, be in close vicinity of bunnies. I’ve only ever celebrated ‘traditional’ Christmas for the last 3 years but it’s all very enjoyable, especially during mealtimes… Ever since I stopped eating dairy, it’s become more of a tricky situation (with all the cakes/biscuits) but it’s good fun, and the best thing for me is spending time with everyone and enjoying some down time 
Cherie ✽ sinonym
It’s nice to have a reason to take good quality photos at Christmas, although I’m sure these posts are quite repetitive because we do the same thing every year! Christmas food is the best, I always make sure i have lots of vegan treats on hand so I don’t feel left out, I don’t want to miss out on all the chocolate eating!
The photos are wonderful–warm and friendly, and made even more so with all the shots of the animals! Looks about perfect, I’d say!
Thanks Kerry, I hope your Christmas was cosy too!
Teaching English in Russia, most of what I find are British traditions for Christmas, so it’s interesting to read about your traditions compared to what I know as an American. Your Christmas sounded great and not just because you spent the day with animals!
What is a nut roast? That sounds intriguing.
Do you mean the English books feature British traditions? That’s interesting, I had no idea our traditions were different! Animals always make everything better
Nutroasts are delicious – I can’t believe you haven’t tried one! It’s like a meatloaf I guess, but with nuts and oats and vegetables instead of meat.
The photographs are wonderful–warm and neighborly, and made considerably more so with every one of the shots of the animals!…
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Thank you! It’s so hard to remember to take pictures of people when there are animals around…
Oh such a lovely holiday! (Catching up on my reading again…) I love how many folks thought to walk all at once. The bunny photos with the tree are almost too cute. I love it. i’ve not seen the movie you are mentioning, I’ll have to look into it here for next year! I love Edward Scissorhands. We got to see it on the big screen in September. It was so lovely. My favorites are kind of mushy, KC and I cuddle up with hotschnnapslate and watch Love Actually and The Holiday. We usually listen to Christmas Vacation, The Santa Clause, and Scrooged. I don’t enjoy the latter, but it’s one of KC’s childhood favorites. hahahahah We often wrap or play games while we listen to those. I want to get more into a few classics that i have picked up, but not had a chance to watch. Glad you had a lovely holiday! XO – Alexandra
Simply Alexandra: My Favorite Things
I think a countryside walk is a must when you have family (and animals..) visiting! We always bump into people when walking around the village on Christmas day. The Tailor of Gloucester is a really unknown film, it’s an animation of a children’s book and there are very few copies of it on DVD so I’m not surprised you haven’t heard of it! Aww, Love Actually is suck a classic, and I love wrapping presents and watching films too. It feels so much more Christmassy xx
Omg all these animals! My heart is melting!!
xo
Siffat
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They’re adorable aren’t they!