OT - Pronunciation of words

Katherine ???? which roile in what play do you this term ??? mirjam

Oh what a wonderful story:)) Just as good as Gems too:)))))

In one play, I am "Cook" - no name, just the cook. This is "A Little Princess", which was done years ago with Shirley Temple in the lead role. In the other play, I am not on stage. I am the stage manager. That play is "A Ghost of a Chance", which is about a dead man who refuses to admit that he is dead. Obviously, it is a farce. Great fun!

Katherine

ROTFLMAO That's a great story, thank you for giving me a laugh on this gloomy looking Sunday.

Gemini

- Autumn is definitely here today.... strong winds and totally overcast.

Sounds brilliant to me Katherine.....cheers...Cher

Thanks, Cher. It should be fun.

Kather> Sounds brilliant to me Katherine.....cheers...Cher

Yes,Cher, I thin that is the thinking re the times of Christmas Masses. However I do not go along with that since my two girls have never missed a midnight Mass since they were born and Shauna (DD#1) was 48 yesterday.

When she was just two months old she was taken in her basket and , naturally, slept through it all since she was accustomed to sleep through the night ( no 10 pm feeds in my household an the advice of my obstetrician - 6pm to 6 am was his idea is it was great)

As they grew older they went to bed early in anticipation and we woke them at around 11 pm and when we came back home for the usual "party" and looked at all the family presents under the Christmas tree , they were allowed to open one parcel from their grandparents and then off to bed to wait for Santa in the morning.

This has not changed at all in all those years - even the biscuit tin which had my special Christmas biscuits in it - of which they were allowed one with a small glass of milk - before being put back to bed - is still kept by Shauna.

So the only change is that the milk has turned into Great Western Champagne and ham and other goodies added to the one biscuit.

I think this is seen by the girls as their most endeared family tradition - even thought they are both in Melbourne and do not get home for Christmas they both phone after midnight Mass to say they are enjoying the same old tradition - held at one or the others home and this means they have to wait an extra hour until we get home as we do not have daylight saving in out state. Even when overseas for three Christmasses we made sure of midnight Mass and we took the same biscuits and the same champers for the "party " after.

God Bless Gwen

God Bless Gwen

No,Katherine, I think it is strictly a Manuel ( my maiden name) custom as no one I know really has a party after midnight Mass , they just go home and maybe have a cup of tea or a drink and go off to bed ( how dull!!). We do not usually go to be before around 4 am and in later years have been clever enough to take the phone off the hook before going to bed. Even Frank's family did not do this until he met up with the Manuel clan . My father, who was Church of England , usually came to midnight Mass with us but if he decided not to come would get out of bed for the "party".

I guess I could add here that the first midnight Mass I ever went to was when I was fourteen and it so impressed me that I thought it was the most wonderful thing I had ever attended. This was because we had just moved near a town - before that we only went to Mass once every three months as the priest used to come to a farmhouse ,about 8 miles form us, to say Mass when ever there were five Sundays in the month. God Bless gwen

It is more than a Manuel custom, Gwen, as we did it, too. My mother said that it was part of her family's Christmas tradition. I found it interesting to read your longer letter about your Christmas Eve, as that is exactly what we did. Other people would come and visit, too, after Mass, and it was really the beginning of the holiday for us. Daddy, of course, being Presbyterian, stayed at home with the little ones, and put the finishing touches on decorations and made sure that drinks were ready.

Kather> No,Katherine, I think it is strictly a Manuel ( my maiden name)

I must admit we always went as children, there was an afternoon service aimed especially for children, and then at night we always had those being Confirmed service which led straight into the Midnight Mass, so that the newly Confirmed could partake of the Holy Communion, it was lovely. My foster father was a church warden, and so we all went to all the services, I became the first choir girl ever in the history of the church, and so obviously I went to every single ceremony they did anyway. I loved the Christmas Tide ones though...Oh and on Christmas morning they had the usual morning Communion, and this was followed by a special Childrens Service, where the children were encourage to bring along one of their presents to show and give thnx for. Acouple of days before Xmas Eve all the children would bring a present to the church as well and place around the crib, these were then distributed to the poorer children in the village, there was also a special Christmas Dinner provided for and cooked by the congregation members for all the poorer or less well off families in the village, this was done at the local school, as there were so many to cook for, it was a huge community event, one of many. Coming from a small village meant that we shared everything we had and not just at Christmas. It was good fun, and my memories of those childhood days are beautiful. hugz....Cher

"Gwendoline Kelly" wrote in message news:4352f4ef$0$26993$ snipped-for-privacy@news.optusnet.com.au...

tradition -

littleones,

Now that has provided me with another memory Katherine....the decorations...we never put ours up til after the Midnight Mass, infact you can do away with the 'we' bit, '' we '' were sent to bed, and awoke Christmas morning, to a stocking full of little bits, our main presents were down around the tree, we came downstairs and the whole front room was like fairy land with the tree sparkling, and spiral hangers which would twirl from the ceiling...beautiful. But no time to stop and look properly, Christmas morning meant we still had to go to Holy Communion, followed by the childrens thankyou service, so when we got home late morning, you walked into the house which was filled with the smell of roasting Turkey, and all sat down whilst my foster father sat under the tree and picked up one present at a time, he would read the label out and pass it over....Haven't a clue what time we eventually got seated for lunch. The afternoon sometimes I would go to my friends house or her to mine, and then at six it was out to Church again. Boxing day was a day where in our house at least, mums and dads rested. Although if the weather wasn't too cold we would go for a walk out of the houses into the lanes.

Cheers.....Cher

"Katherine" wrote in message news: snipped-for-privacy@individual.net...

Yes, Cher, I forgot that. My parents decorated after we went to bed as well. The tree was up - in fact, it had been up for several days, as the branches had to "settle" before decorating. But the decorating was done after the guests left. I guess that my parents didn't sleep at all on Christmas Eve!

Kather> Now that has provided me with another memory Katherine....the

Cher that is the best part of a small community - everyone helps everyone else. I kind of thought we would have that here is our little patch -we live on the side of the hill and when these units were built the land owner had to give an easement to four houses down the "lane" and so there are just those four houses and our four units in this block. Total of eight and I figured it would be like when we lived in a small country town. So on the first Christmas morning I fronted up with a tiny basket of "goodies" I had made to wish each one a happy Christmas. Four of the eight do not believe in Christmas or birthdays so I was left holding the baskets. One of the others was ( I think) high and told me to get lost ( that is the genteel version). One was too old to be bothered ( only early 60s) and told me to keep them. I could not find the two boys in the other unit and I was the eighth one so we had a few little baskets that no one wanted !!

Needless to say I did not repeat that idea which was one my mother used to do. Anyway I made some more and took them to the church to put around the Christmas Tree we have for the needy. God Bless Gwen

How disappointing, Gwen!

Kather> Cher that is the best part of a small community - everyone helps

Gosh that is sad Gwen, still they didn't go to waste, Ours went into the church and our local Lions \(charity group for the children in need) sorted it all out, they already had a list. Bookings were taken in advance for the meal, mind you it ended up as a main social event, we payed for our meal, and those who were on benefits or pensions didn't...

Times have changed, the community has grown, and this is no longer done, but it was great when it was though. Oh and the bit I loved the best of all, was when all the choir would commune around a large tree on the village green and sing carols, preferred it before I was actually in the choir as once I was, I couldn't watch it, and it was a lovely sight to see. Today when I make my Christmas Cake I stand the icing up in peaks to represent snow, I have some tiny china ornaments, one church, three cottages, and some Edwardian people, I arrange the scene to represent this, the little church with the three cottages running opposite it, down the side, and the taller house groups of people with hymn books, around a little furry fir tree, One little girl on a sledge. It reminds me of home, and I dont want to cut into it....lol ..Cher

Cher, I do not think I could possibly cut that cake - it is beautiful - I would have to preserve it forever !!**

The scene reminds me of our first trip to join the girls for a white Christmas in Zermatt. On the way we visited Ireland ( Frank had always wanted to go to the land of his forebears) and we were in a little village near Galway and having booked in to a B&B we went to have dinner and the first surprise was that the menu was a "Christmas dinner" of roast turkey and all the trimmings ( It was early December)

Then we walked down the street and the locals had just finished putting up a Christmas tree and decorating it and a choir had assembled and sang the carols and we were just enchanted - we had never seen anything like this, but had always imagines that Christmasses in the Northern Hemisphere would be like that but, in our wildest dreams we never thought we would witness the spectacle.

Since our Christmasses are so hot - we take a fan and hope we do not melt before midnight Mass is over - just occasionally we do have a cool Christmas - around the mid 20s.

The nearest thing we have to really celebrate Christmas is a pagent put on by out parish in the large public park nearby for everyone in the district as it is free entry. It is really very good complete with donkeys and camels etc and a full play acted out by just the locals and is very well staged. There is a problem though with anything, in summer, after dark , on ground level and near the river and that is the little bities - so lots of repellant is needed.

Then , of course, there is "carols by candlelight". Each capital city had a very big one of these where thousands attend but we also have one in our city and at least 20000 usually turn up and we can all join in the singing holding the candles.

It is only in the last few years that we have gone into street decoration. At first the council put up festoon type santas etc - made of fluffy paper and that did not look too good after heavy rain from a low off shore ( December is part of our wet season). However it was worse for the next couple of years when they trotted out the bedraggled things again and again. However they have now seen the sense of putting up strings of coloured globes and other lovely ornaments that do not disfigure in the rain.

God Bless Gen

Gwen Kelly

Yes indeed, katherine. To share at any time is good but at Christmas time is really great I think

However, we have overcome all that and the two couples who do not believe in Christmas and the one that does ,are really good neighbours anyway and we get together regularly at either of our homes for dinner and a good chat. They also come in sometimes on a Friday night to sample Frank's home brew. Of course, they still try to convert us ,but having no success in six years I think it is time they gave up. God Bless Gwen

Well, much as I loved to watch Fred and Ginger, I've never in my life heard anyone say "po-tah-to" and I'd be really curious to know if anyone else has.

Eimear

I've a friend from Mass. who does. She also orders reg-u-lah coffee, which to a midwesterner is black, caffienated, but to a Bostonite is not... JM2C, Noreen :D