Yay a new floor for Christmas! Do you have to spend all day Christmas Eve and Christmas with your feet on it slaving over a stove?

I had to look up handlebar mitts. I need these! The heated ones! Although, I do have a pair of heated gloves. They're ok but the charge only lasts about an hour.

rosa - your bright yellow marmoleum kitchen floor is finished?! Merry Christmas to you! I do hope photos follow - I remember you were working on getting past uploading issues. I’m a bit in awe of the gifts you list - all made by you - is that a knitted or sewn waistcoat? Your list proves that you are an extremely talented and high energy person!

Grief yes, mxk3. I have done this for over 50 years and just once, was I invited to someone else's for dinner. The offspring have either tiny houses or are terrible cooks. Because we all have extended families these days, Xmas can roll on for days. Started on Thursday and will probably wind down by 28th or so.

Yep, handlebar mitts, aka 'Pogies'. I have used some Gore-Tex type stuff for the outside, lined with polar fleece, and stiffened with the same plastic (sticky backed) I used for the lampshades.I knitted myself mittens instead of gloves...and was promptly smitten. Hard to work the gears and brakes in them so handle-bar ones which can be worn with fine gloves, seem to be just the ticket. Am going to do some for me, too.

I started making the waistcoat a couple of years ago then got struck down with fear of welt pockets, so put them to the bottom of the (enormous) 'jobs to be done' pile. I bought a little stocking filler enamel badge for my eldest with 'procrastinator' instead of 'head boy' or 'monitor'. I bought one for myself...as well as one saying 'dilletante'.

The welts came out great (because I have had a huge confidence boost after the floor. Self-levelling compound was fun and inevitably, the sheepdog scampered across it while still wet. I love the colour. I will have to do photos with offspring about, so kitchen will be a kip. About to start cooking the ham,

Most of you guys have already had a practice go round (Thanksgiving). Can't decide whether this is a good thing...or not. Hoping you get through it all with a smile and your sanity still intact.

I made a post earlier this morning - but it never appeared! Trying again…

I had to look up handlebar mitts too! I’ve never seen or heard of them - but I do see them on local stores’ websites…!

Christmas is now mostly about cooking and food here…:-) A lot of DH’s family lived in Quebec in their youth. Tourtiere is the standard Christmas Eve dinner so there are several versions of that being cooked today. We’re about halfway through making the one for our supper….

Plum Pudding is a standard Christmas dinner dessert. we made ours in November and it has been aging in the crisper of the fridge ever since…. This afternoon I need to make my late MIL’s Killer Plum Pudding Sauce to go with it. When ’the kids’ (neice and nephews) were young, they didn’t like the pudding, but wanted lots of the sauce! The sweet potato crisp is also a favoite as it is almost like a dessert rather than the veggie side dish it actually is :-) And so on…

Happy Holidays to everyone…