Unexpected Christmas Day for 2 - what to do?

Do whatever you feel like doing. Have beans in toast if you fancy it and snuggle down. Or, have all the trimmings and dress up. You have all the choice in the world with no one else to cater for.

Just my DH and me this year too. We're planning to have a special breakfast, taking presents to DD's garden for them and DS who will be there, then back home for proper Christmas Dinner plus champagne followed by a slump for either TV or a zizz. Should be OK. Not necessarily good but OK.

Dress up. Eat what you fancy. Don’t forget the wine. Have a little walk. Watch a bit of television. At the end of your restful day a few steps and into a nice warm bed. Perfect

We are normally on our own these days and with our family spread across Spain, France and England we definitely are this year. We have joint present opening with the children and grandchildren on FaceTime, traditional breakfast (sausages) and go out for a walk. Then lots of little treats - caviar, smoked salmon, petits fours for lunch. Dinner this year is guinea fowl followed by tiramasu. If Boxing Day is nice we will go for a walk along the beach. We enjoy it if we are with family, but perfectly happy on our own.

We’re going to be just 2, first time since before we were married.
Suspecting that this might happen, , I bought a small frozen turkey a couple of weeks ago, since we like it, and to me it’s not Christmas without. I shall do the usual dinner - just a lot less of it.
None of the turkey will be wasted!
Unless it’s pouring, we’ll fit in a walk well before it starts getting dark.
I shall also cook a piece of gammon on Christmas Eve as usual - that keeps for ages and we’ll have plenty of meals from it.

We will have the usual Buck’s Fizz - lots, with fresh orange juice - bagels and smoked salmon for breakfast, and some nice M&S nibbles in lieu of lunch. Dinner will be around 4 for once - usually a bit later but there’s going to be a family Zoom call - 6 separate households! - at 6.
Might save the Christmas pud until after that.

Then collapse on sofas with chocolates and probably watch some of the box set I’ve bought for dh - something we’ve been unable to find on catch up, Netflix or anywhere else.

It will be just the two of us for the first time in years. We're not doing a roast dinner, just buffet food for lunch and dinner.

I’ll be on my own and I’ll walk to my daughters we are in a bubble but I’ll just drop off GDs presents then home to my traditional Christmas dinner. I’ll watch a little tv maybe read a bit have a few choccies one of my GS is going to call by and stand in the drive for a chat with his wife and daughter so I will see someone on the day. Later I’ll cut my homemade Christmas cake with a cuppa and a turkey sandwich and settle in for the evening.

We are in Tier 2, so we can still have family to join us for Christmas Dinner - but if we were in Tier 4, I would still do a Christmas Dinner with all the trimmings. Would settle down to some TV and get stuck into the nuts and chocolates and appreciate the peace and quiet ?

We’ll be on our own like we have been for many years now and we’ll count our blessings! We’ll have a mini Xmas lunch and a glass of bubbly. Listen to the Queen’s speech then go out for a walk. Bliss!

Yes to everything you fancy. It’ll be different that’s for sure but it can still be special. Enjoy ?

We're doing what we planned. Just the 2 of us. Having doubted the 5 day relaxed period would actually happen we decided to celebrate Christmas and my birthday in a few months when hopefully DH and myself have had our vaccinations.
Both families have to travel 200 - 300 miles and stay with us. When the decision was made they also said it was too risky as they are both in Tier 2 areas. One is now in Tier 4.

So Christmas Day will be as planned. Casual dress because a coastal walk is on the cards and venison for dinner. My homemade Christmas pud (made in September) is in the cupboard for when the family are here. I'll be making a tipsy triffle for Christmas Day.

Long calls to both families. Parcels were sent to all of them last week and have arrived safely.

We had already decided to isolate at home this year before the latest news about moving into tier 4.

DH was due to have a second operation tomorrow, 21st December, following a big cancer op in the summer. He had his pre op last week and his covid test on Friday morning. On Friday at 5.30pm the hospital rang to say his op had just been postponed. His pre op remains valid for 18 weeks but he will have to go for another covid test when they send for him again. Presumably the news had hit them about the tier changes and the fears of being overwhelmed with covid patients.

So we shall continue to hunker down and be glad to have a warm and cosy home with plenty of good food if required (he has dietary issues). We shall not see our family but hear from them and see them on a zoom call. We shall be glad he survived his awful health emergency and surgery and look forward to a better 2021.

In our late 70s it should not be too long until we get the call to go for our vaccinations so we need to keep safe waiting for that. One day all this will be over.

vegansrock, Christmas day, just for two, sounds like a real opportunity to do whatever you want! Lucky you - make the most of it and have fun!

I know this is irrational but I hate the phrase “all the trimmings”?‍♀️

Do what you really want this year and ne t year do whatever you normally do. Hopefully better Christmas ne t year for all of us!

This year it will just be the two of us on Christmas day for the first time ever since we were first married over 30yrs ago! I used to always have at least 9 mouths to feed for the Traditional Christmas Lunch, but once cooked for 30 when I worked Christmas day in a mental health rehab unit as part of my job. We will still have a roast Turkey dinner with all the trimmings, and a trifle and nibbles for tea. Its the first time for over 5years that I wont need to dash off to deliver a takeaway style Christmas lunch to my Father and stepmother, a 30 mile round journey before we returned to reheat our own meal in the microwave and relax for the rest of the day! We may get to see some of our Grandchildren who live closeby, if they come 'Window tapping ' whilst out on their Dog walking duties, weather permitting! Both their parents are Keyworkers, and have been socially distancing from us in order to keep us safe, as we are both in the Vunerable group for age and medical conditions, so self isolating as much as possible.

If it's bad weather and you can't/don't want to walk the WEA is offering a whole day of Christmas activities for free. You can join in as many as you like www.wea.org.uk/christmasdayactivities

Tier 2 here so still doing lunch ( turkey) for a few family members, but....if it was taken out of our hands and cancelled as it has been for many, then we would still have the same meal, but at a different time of the day, go for a walk and read any new books, watch tv, listen to music with a glass of something to hand and phone friends.It’s still Christmas Day.

It’ll just be the 2 of us for Christmas dinner this year in all our 44 years of marriage. We’ll see our DD and GC for about an hour in the morning to see them open their pressies then come home and cook a turkey crown and some of the trimmings (sorry, Lucca!)). We had planned to do this anyway as didn’t want to risk dinner with sister and family, DD, SIL and GC, wonderful though that would have been, normally. Two many people in one house, we felt, so took the safer route! It’ll feel pretty much like a normal day in many respects (apart from the pressies!). A walk in the afternoon and tv at night, I expect. I feel lucky that DH and I have each other. Gagagran, so sorry to hear that your DH’s surgery has been postponed and I hope it’s rescheduled very soon. Have a good Christmas everyone and hopefully some time in 2021 we will see an end to this awful pandemic.

My dh and I have a game: let's find a movie that is soooooo bad but have to watch it till the end anyway

In Thanksgiving, we watched "Barbarella" - what a entertaining horrible disaster

Let's see what's in the menu this xmas.
I am thinking "Starship troopers" but even that one has some redeeming moments

I'd sleep in, plonk myself on the couch with chocolates and whatever else I wanted, read a book and watch a film. Or binge watch a series. And have an afternoon snooze. Any other day I don't think I could bring myself to do that so yay for the chance.

honeyrose thank you for your kind words. We remain hopeful that the op will go ahead soon.

Enjoy your turkey and "trimmings"!!

We are going to be 2 - me and DD - as DH is in hospital. We will be sitting either side of a 6 kilo turkey ordered in October, before DH's heart attck and when we expected DS and family to be joining us on the 28th.

We have decided to continue as normal; all the usual traditions, the usual meal. We are also having a Zoom present opening with DS and family. DH should be out of hospital for New Year, when we will have a rerun of Christmas day, with presents, turkey etc etc.

As far as we are concerned one cannot have too many Christmases. DD is our bubble and is staying a fortnight and we will go for walks and drives, play board games, sew and knit and wallpapaer a very tall wall.

OceanMama

I'd sleep in, plonk myself on the couch with chocolates and whatever else I wanted, read a book and watch a film. Or binge watch a series. And have an afternoon snooze. Any other day I don't think I could bring myself to do that so yay for the chance.

Oh dear, that sounds like most of my days ??