Christmas 2021

[Ingram85]

Hate the German market. It’s horrible. None of it is German stuff,  none of the people are German and it’s all the same over priced crap repeated every 5-10 huts. It’s horrendous. 

As for the tree/decorations, they go up whenever the first weekend of December is and come down a week or so after New Years. 

I had a mince pie today. It was nice but felt wrong. I’ve also had a M&S turkey sandwich which was a bit plop and also felt wrong. I will now be withholding from anymore festive based nonsense for a few more weeks as it all felt wrong but having said that, I’ll probably be tempted by a festive bake or M&S hog roast sausage roll. I’m weak. 

I haven’t bought anyone’s presents yet and I haven’t started any food shopping yet. I’m really gonna try and hold off doing anything Christmassy until the 22nd November at the earliest. 

Thank you for reading Richards Christmas 2021 update. Like, comment and subscribe. 

Edited November 8, 2021 by Ingram85

[sidcow]

I can't wait for Pret to bring out their Christmas Sandwich.  A genuine Christmas highlight for me although I did have one in September as they brought it out then for a brief time as they re-opened a load of their shops. 

[Seat68]

1 minute ago, sidcow said:

I can't wait for Pret to bring out their Christmas Sandwich.  A genuine Christmas highlight for me although I did have one in September as they brought it out then for a brief time as they re-opened a load of their shops. 

It's the Gregg's festive bake for me. It's a simple delight but it hits the spot. 

[villa4europe]

54 minutes ago, Seat68 said:

It's the Gregg's festive bake for me. It's a simple delight but it hits the spot. 

glad i read your post rather than just steaming in with "festive bake!!!!!!"

hope food wars do this again

 

[sidcow]

Didn't have to wait for long for my Pret Christmas Sandwich, had one today as they've started them already! 

I have to say I am absolutely amazed that the Christmas Market is going ahead again in St Phillips Churchyard. It strikes me of The Church throwing their hand in with the commercialisation of Christmas, it wasn't particularly successful last time and it completely destroyed the grass, its taken the 2 years to recover. 

But the most astonishing thing is that they've installed a giant Victorian style helter skelter slide, with a big sign talking about "fun" which is sandwiched between 2 tombs.  Seems very disrespectful to me? With its location it seems more like somekind of theme park mock horror ride, expect to find an IT like scary clown waiting for you at the bottom. 

Very strange decision by The Cathedral for me.  Still, as long as they sell the Christmas Lunch Yorkshire Pudding wrap all is forgiven. 

[rjw63]

15 hours ago, Seat68 said:

It's the Gregg's festive bake for me. It's a simple delight but it hits the spot. 

I've never purchased a thing from Greggs in my life. I just don't see why they are so popular.

[sidcow]

34 minutes ago, rjw63 said:

I've never purchased a thing from Greggs in my life. I just don't see why they are so popular.

 

[TheAuthority]

The top of Lower High Street in Stourbridge used to have a van (food truck in hipster language) that always had hot pork sandwiches with apple sauce, gravy and cracklin'

My God that was pure joy.

[Seat68]

7 hours ago, rjw63 said:

I've never purchased a thing from Greggs in my life. I just don't see why they are so popular.

Gregg's per se, nothing special. I don't go there as they don't really do it for me. A festive bake though is Christmas in a molten pocket. I may only have one over a Christmas period but it's as timely as the John Lewis ad. 

[Genie]

Something a bit different this year

 

[foreveryoung]

On 10/11/2021 at 06:32, Seat68 said:

Gregg's per se, nothing special. I don't go there as they don't really do it for me. A festive bake though is Christmas in a molten pocket. I may only have one over a Christmas period but it's as timely as the John Lewis ad. 

Greggs is a place you go when you are starving for food. I couldn't go there if I was a little hungry, to taste a volcanic sausage roll or steak bake that quirts out lava over your work shirt. It's just not nice food, but okay if you are starved to death.

[bickster]

1 hour ago, Genie said:

Something a bit different this year

 

I’ve used that phrase many a time, usually with Why did you buy me at the front of it

[sidcow]

I don't want to sound like some religious zealot but they've also built an actual pub in St Phillips Churchyard. 

This is meant to be our Cathedral. Would they build this next to St Paul's Cathedral? This all just seems badly judged to me. 

And might I add, The Churchyard is not Pigeon Park.  Pigeon Park was the bit of grassland that used to be in front of The Council House before The Floozie etc was built. 

[bickster]

13 hours ago, sidcow said:

I don't want to sound like some religious zealot but they've also built an actual pub in St Phillips Churchyard. 

This is meant to be our Cathedral. Would they build this next to St Paul's Cathedral? This all just seems badly judged to me. 

And might I add, The Churchyard is not Pigeon Park.  Pigeon Park was the bit of grassland that used to be in front of The Council House before The Floozie etc was built. 

I think you are being a bit naive here. Around these parts, most Catholic churches have social clubs in the car park. Even in your example of St Paul's there are plenty of bars right on the edge of the cathedral estate

The Church of England is one of the biggest landowners in the country, for example it owns Hyde Park, you know where they hold festivals and big gigs and obviously sell alchohol

Churches are businesses to view them any other way is illogical and neither of the large Christian Cults have ever had a problem with establishments that turn wine into water

[sidcow]

1 minute ago, bickster said:

I think you are being a bit naive here. Around these parts, most Catholic churches have social clubs in the car park. Even in your example of St Paul's there are plenty of bars right on the edge of the cathedral estate

The Church of England is one of the biggest landowners in the country, for example it owns Hyde Park, you know where they hold festivals and big gigs and obviously sell alchohol

Churches are businesses to view them any other way is illogical and neither of the large Christian Cults have ever had a problem with establishments that turn wine into water

It's more the fact that its in a graveyard, surrounded by and one would imagine actually on top of people's graves. 

Just seems very disrespectful to me. 

[mjmooney]

45 minutes ago, bickster said:

I think you are being a bit naive here. Around these parts, most Catholic churches have social clubs in the car park. Even in your example of St Paul's there are plenty of bars right on the edge of the cathedral estate

The Church of England is one of the biggest landowners in the country, for example it owns Hyde Park, you know where they hold festivals and big gigs and obviously sell alchohol

Churches are businesses to view them any other way is illogical and neither of the large Christian Cults have ever had a problem with establishments that turn wine into water

There was a pub in Bradford (The Cock and Bottle, now sadly demised) that was actually owned and run by the Church of England during the 1990s.  

[chrisp65]

58 minutes ago, sidcow said:

It's more the fact that its in a graveyard, surrounded by and one would imagine actually on top of people's graves. 

Just seems very disrespectful to me. 

The victorians used to rip up graveyards from the 17th and 18th centuries to make way for Victorian graveyards. They would use the tombstones as pathways, laid face down, so they didn’t get their shoes wet on the grass. Many of the stones would simply be smashed up and used as hardcore for new outbuildings or large Victorian statement graves.

 

[Mark Albrighton]

Pouring one out for one’s homie will be made a lot easier because of this.

[Xela]

[Seat68]

Laying the groundwork early. Grandson was talking about milk and biscuits being put out for Santa. Told him I have it on good authority that Santa likes whiskey.