CHRISTMAS FARE

 

There has never been a good time to be poor

Certainly not Christmas

As Dickens wrote

“This time when want is keenly felt by the poor”

And there has never been a good place to be poor

Certainly not Victorian London

Now a wealthy Victorian family

Would dine upon a Christmas dinner

Of Vegetable soup

Oyster patties,

Roast turkey or goose,

Boiled leg of mutton with caper sauce

Followed by Port wine jelly,

Mince pies and plum pudding

Queen Victoria is known to have eaten roast swan

While in the country

A piece of Smoked bacon

Or rabbit pie was had

The poor in town or country

Dined upon whatever could be found

THE BEST CHRISTMAS MOVIES EVER – LOVE ACTUALLY

 

The huge cast of stars (too many to mention by name) pull out all the stops in this uplifting Christmas movie, as characters fall in love, fall out of love, make you laugh, make you cry and thoroughly entertain you.

The multi-threaded storytelling is very engaging and added to it's a lighthearted holiday flavour makes it a film you can watch again and again.

The final scene at Heathrow airport ends the film on a very uplifting note.

I see Love Actually as a new holiday classic.

THE BEST CHRISTMAS STORIES – CHRISTMAS NOVELLA # 4 - The Battle of Life: A Love Story

 

The Battle of Life: A Love Story is Christmas novella number four by Charles Dickens, first published in 1846.

It is set in an English village that stands on the site of a historic battle.

Some characters refer to the battle as a metaphor for the struggles of life, hence the title.

Uniquely it is the only one of the five Christmas Books that has no religious of supernatural themes and is ostensibly a love story for two sisters, Grace and Marion.

As is typical with Dickens however the ending is a happy one.

CROMWELLIAN

 

The lord protector Oliver Cromwell

Killed thousands, the truth to tell

Beheaded the king and closed hostelries

And he cancelled the Christmas festivities

JOSHUA, JOSHUA

 

“God with us,” or Emmanuel

“A savior” 

In Hebrew called Joshua

In Greek the name was Jesus

“The chosen one”

In Hebrew called Messiah

In Greek named Christ

Jesus Christ

The Son of God

A Jew Born in the Roman Empire

Given by God to the world

For two thousand years

Not known by a Latin name

But known by all by his name in Greek

THE BEST CHRISTMAS MOVIES EVER – THE HOLIDAY

 If you like schmaltzy sentimentality wrapped up in Christmas paper and packaged as a romantic comedy then this is the film for you.

It is the tale of two beautiful women, Amanda Woods (Cameron Diaz) and Iris Simpkins (Kate Winslet),

In London, Iris Simpkins writes a wedding column in a newspaper and nurtures an unrequited love for her colleague Jasper Bloom (Rufus Sewell) who is about to marry another woman.

Across the globe in Los Angeles, Amanda realizes the man that she lives with has been unfaithful with the receptionist.

So both of them find themselves at the end of failed relationships just before Christmas.

Amanda decides to take a two week vacation and surfs the internet where she meets Iris, online through a house exchange website, and Amanda impulsively swaps her L.A. mansion for Iris' country cottage in Surrey for the holidays.

Shortly after arriving at their destinations, both women find the last thing either of them wants or expects: a new romance. Amanda is charmed by Iris' handsome brother Graham (Jude Law) and Iris, with inspiration provided by legendary screenwriter Arthur (Eli Wallach), mends her heart when she meets film score composer Miles (Jack Black).

THE BEST CHRISTMAS STORIES – CHRISTMAS NOVELLA # 3 - The Cricket on the Hearth

 

The Cricket on the Hearth. A Fairy Tale of Home was the third of the Christmas novella written by Charles Dickens and published in 1845

The Cricket of the story constantly chirps on the hearth and acts as the Peerybingles family guardian angel.

At the start of the tale a mysterious elderly stranger comes to visit and takes up lodging at Peerybingle's house for a few days.

The villain of the piece is the miser Tackleton who is on the eve of marrying Edward Plummer's sweetheart, May.

Edward having gone off to South America and was believed to be dead leaving May at the mercy of Tackleton who she did not love.

During the course of the story the miser does his best to cause mischief but in the end, the mysterious lodger is revealed to be none other than Edward who has returned home in disguise.

And in the best traditions of dickens all ends well.