While the house on the hill is usually Ground Zero in the storm that surrounds the holiday, this year, the house is quiet. With only one out of four grown children in town for the holiday, no houseful of guests, no whir and whirl of breakfasts and large dinners to prepare. No chaos of grandkids tearing open presents and laughter over spilled mimosas and silly gifts. This year, no stress. Nancy and I even had the opportunity to take in a movie Christmas Eve.
A quiet Christmas is rare.
For the first time, Christmas Day activities will be celebrated at Daughter #1's new home. She is excited to host and the grandkids will be happy not to bundle up and haul all of their presents to grandmas. Later, the Christmas Dinner Feast will be held at a nearby resort.
With most holiday responsibilities removed, there will be time for reflection and even an opportunity for a quiet painting session if I choose.
No matter how this day is spent, I wish you all a Merry Christmas.
Merry Christmas!
69 comments:
Merry Christmas Jonathan...
My Christmas actually starts properly tomorrow... when my daughter comes over and gives me the traditional annual wargames thrashing .
All the best Aly
Sounds wonderful, Jonathan! Meanwhile I am stealing precious moments away to read Norm's Christmas Bumper episode, in between all of the craziness in my house! :) Merry Christmas sir!
An annual wargames' thrashing? I look forward to reading your battle account. It will be funny, as always.
Merry Christmas!
Norm's Christmas work is a tour de force on a variety of topics. I enjoyed his Christmas tome very much!
And to you also Jonathan!
Merry Xmas to you and yours Jonathan. For the past 10 years or so we've had non-standard Xmas' due to a variety of reasons. Not having to do the standard large meal with family has meant it has been much, much more relaxed and enjoyable, especially for my wife. We enjoy the day without any pressure whatsoever, which is wonderful!
Merry Christmas Jonathan!
Christopher
Have a wonderful Christmas, Jonathan
Thanks!
Merry Christmas, Jonathan! The quiet and calm sound lovely.
Best Regards and Compliments of the Season,
Stokes
Merry Christmas, Steve! This Christmas is beginning much more relaxed than Christmas' past, for sure. Usually, we have house guests for a week or more during the holidays.
And to you, Christopher!
I hope you enjoy your Christmas as well!
Thank you, Stokes! Merry Christmas to you!
Have a great Xmas and New Year!
Merry Christmas Jonathan! Put your feet up, let the middle generation do the heavy lifting and enjoy the grandkids.
Thank you, Ray!
Sound advice, Peter! Merry Christmas!
Merry Christmas, Jonathan. It is a quiet Christmas here as well, going to our daughter's to celebrate. Best of both worlds, you'll see.
Merry Christmas Jonathan, I hope that your quiet is equal in enjoyment to the former frenzies (I am still in that stage...)
Merry Christmas to you and yours, Jon. Funny how Christmas evolves as the years pass - sometimes I remember wistfully the riotous family gatherings of yesteryear - if I were honest, I don't think I could handle it now, so maybe the biggest changes are in me! Whatever, it's a time for reflection, and the peace and quiet are welcome!
Meery Christmas
Hope you're enjoying the calm...
A quiet dayat our house too Jonathan, with just two guests. We deliberately did Christmas lunch to give us the opportunity to unwind in the evening an sleep off the excess food and wine. We have long since abandoned Christmas presents although the Foundry Christmas discount is looking attractive for a self present.
A very Merry Christmas, with at least some Tin men under the tree!
Merry Christmas to you and yours. See you in a week!
Some life goals, right there ;) I figure we have another 10-15 years of chaos before we can tap in one of the kids, but I live in hope. Enjoy the peace, enjoy your family, and Merry Christmas!
Best Wishes Jonathan, thanks for a year of giving freely and encouragement to the world of blogs.
We spent the day visiting the kids and grand kids, so our place was spared the usual epicentre of the family descending .... it was all a rather pleasant ramble. I did return home with wargamery things ..... so they are learning :-)
Merry Christmas mate,
Hope you had a great day! We had the opposite a house full of friends, a six course hour lunch, a very enjoyable day.
All the best for the coming year
Cheers
Matt
Sounds like a great way to spend the day Jonathan. I hope you all enjoyed each other's company. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year !
Yeah, this approach is much more relaxing! Merry Christmas!
Merry Christmas, Tony! I had not really thought about a Christmas evolution until now and you are quite right in your observations.
I could use more time for reflection during the hectic holidays. If this is more than a one-off change of pace, I could get used to it.
And Merry Christmas to you!
Indeed! Although watching the grandkids tear into presents or helping assemble toys is anything but tranquil.
I commend you in your holiday civilities and practicalities. Merry Christmas, Mark! What is on your Foundry Wish List?
Merry Christmas to you, Peter! No new tin men yet but I did receive a voucher for figures, a new painting lamp, and a number of excellent books.
Merry Christmas, Jake! Hope you are enjoying the warm sunshine of Southern California.
Enjoy the chaos but look forward to tranquility. Tat sounds like a good plan. Merry Christmas, Markus!
Best wishes and Merry Christmas to you, Norm!
I returned home with some hobby related gifts too. They can be taught!
Your Christmas post was an enjoyable read this morning covering a multitude of topics. Thank you for that.
I appreciate your kind words.
Matt, Merry Christmas to you too! Was this a working holiday for you and your business?
Thanks, Keith! Day is not over yet. Dinner is planned for later this evening.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you!
Merry Christmas! Not having to prepare a major dinner feast with assorted dietary wants is a plus.
Have a great Christmas Jonathan!
Best Iain
You too, Iain!
Merry Christmas!
Merry Christmas!
What a victory, kids who can walk on their own! 😀
Merry Christmas Jonathan... and good painting session! 🎅
A victory, indeed! Merry Christmas!
Have great Christmas Jonathan, whilst it was nice to have our kids back home for the festive seasons they are pretty grown up and less demanding. I managed a good session finishing off another SYW unit 👍
Ps managed to get out on my bike Christmas morning too !
All the best Jonathan!
Missus and I were home alone this year for the first time in a long time. Quiet day so painted some buildings and got half a King Tiger done :) Happy New Year when it comes.
Sounds like a lovely day, and season's greetings Jonathan.
We had ten over at various stages including the four children and their partners, but I still managed to sneak away for a couple of hours' painting and a nap which I think was a great result.
Happy Xmas Jonathan, I hope it's a good one.
JJ
And to you, Michal!
Thanks, Matt! This year was much more relaxing than previous years. Good to see you found time for a painting session. I managed a little painting myself. Nothing completed yesterday but hopefully two more units will be finished before year end.
Merry Christmas!
Congrats on getting out on the bike Christmas Day! I considered it with temps in the mid-30s F but there was a dusting of snow on the ground and I am still banged up from a fall two weeks ago.
Sounds like a relaxing and productive day for you! I await seeing your work results.
Happy Holidays to you, Lawrence!
Good to see you managed to sneak in a little respite in between all of your holiday activities.
Happy Holidays, Jonathan!
A quiet Xmas! Priceless! Hope you enjoyed the day Jon. Merry Xmas to you and yours!
Christmas Day was much more relaxing than in the past although we did stay busy much of the day.
Happy holidays to you!
A belated Christmas greeting Jonathan. It’s great to get some quieter time.
Never too late for a holiday greeting! Happy Holidays to you!
Merry Christmas to you. Passing holidays to the next generation is all part of the cycle and should be embraced. 😀
Happy holidays, Stew! You are so right on passing the torch to the next gen.
I had not much of time to read your blog these days. But I approve such a Silent Night. We had great days from Christmas to 6th of January playing games including CCN and Age of Hannibal (with my now 5 years old son).
Now I wish you a very good new year and hope to read more of your excellent reports.
Cheers,
Andre, I am glad you found time to come back to the blog and leave a comment. Will we see reports from your CCN and AoH games?
I wish you a Happy New Year too!
I'm too much occupied with the writing of a book and the Posts about 18th century dancing in Germany and in fact these reports would not fit into the Topic of my blog.
But you could find reports on that forum: https://sweetwater-forum.net/index.php/topic,24370.msg290269.html#msg290269
https://sweetwater-forum.net/index.php/topic,24086.msg290176.html#msg290176
I will continue to write in my blog reports about 30-years-war-games and maybe some 18th century games as well, as far as it is connected with Germany during the mid to late 18th century.
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