Christmas memories..

I remember my Mum’s anxiety during Christmas week waiting for our turkey to arrive in the post from my grandparents in Ireland. Amazingly it always arrived with a couple of days to spare, much to the relief of my Mum.

My grandparents plucked it, wrapped it brown paper and tied it with string for the journey. Grandpa cycled 8 miles from their small farm to the post office with the turkey on the bike carrier. It travelled from there by train and then an overnight boat journey. One year it arrived with the brown paper soggy and torn and a leg poking out!

We didn’t have a fridge in the 60’s and my Mum paid the local butcher a nominal amount to store it for us till Christmas Eve. Looking back it’s surprising we escaped a dose of food poisoning.

My grandmother told me that the local baker used to fire up his ovens on Christmas Day and many people used to take their turkeys there to be cooked. I often wondered how they worked out which belonged to which family, not too mention the different times different sizes would take to cook!

Did you wear festive colours, Kim?
My friend who got married around now wore deep green, with a headband thing of ivy and berries.
It was lovely!

I can remember dad bringing home the turkey on Christmas Eve still feathered and head dangling down. He used to stand with the crowds at St John's market in Liverpool and wait until they practically gave them away Twenty five bob is what he'd paid for one.

Mum used to be ready in the back kitchen, newspapers spread on the floor her pinny on, sleeves rolled up and ready for plucking after dad had chopped the head off. After " drawing " and cleaning it went into the oven to do slowly all night before mum was up at the crack of dawn. It was always cooked to perfection and cooled down in the pantry until dinner was served. Giblets were kept for gravy, then the cat had a treat.

We had wonderful Christmas's. The " rare " front room was used with a big fire up the chimney, it was magic.

This was my wedding day many years ago. Lots of lovely memories of the most wonderful family gathering. We started comparatively formally then when we stopped for a refreshment break it was turned into a Christmas party by our bestman and the resident band. Great time was had by all.

We used to have a capon.

Perhaps turkeys hadn't been discovered when I was a child.

Then there was the Christmas lights every year.
Finding that one mysterious bulb that held the key to the whole set working.

I remember our turkey arriving complete with feathers. My mum was plucking it and I was watching.
I then had a severe asthma attack and ended up in hospital. Didn't know at the time how allergic I was to feathers.
Happy start to Christmas that year ?