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Want to find me.. I will be at the bar with a glass in my hand, but not eating the nuts... bar nuts are sort of scary.









Saturday, December 5, 2009

The big guy in Red

Being a mix of Australian and German, the whole deal with Santa, Nikolaus, Weihnachtsmann, Kristkind, etc has always been messy.

So we just enjoy ALL the Big Guys in Red.

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The first is coming tonight. He sometimes brings a mate… a dark character called Knecht Ruprecht. It is the day of reckoning, when children are called on anything that Mum might have missed during the year. Before they go to bed, they polish their boots (hmmm gortex and boot polish, hello?) and leave them neatly in front of their bedroom door… with the hope they will wake the next morning and find them filled with lovely goodies. Nuts, clementines, chocolates, cookies and small gifts are the norm.

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We started early. Jumped out of bed and fired up the oven. So far, we have managed to shake together a couple of batches of coconut macaroons (Miss 8 loves them), Vanilla Kipfler, and we have the dough resting in preparation for the edible Christmas tree ornaments. And just to make the house smell nice, we stuck cloves into oranges and mandarins, wrapped a ribbon around them and tied on a cinnamon stick.

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George Michael (half of WHAM… who was the other guy?) is warbling away on the radio. Come on, sing with me. It has been ages since we had a singalong:

Last Christmas, I gave you my heart
But the very next day, You gave it away
This year, to save me from tears
I'll give it to someone special
Last Christmas, I gave you my heart
But the very next day, You gave it away
This year, to save me from tears
I'll give it to someone special

9 comments:

Lydia said...

Hey, you look pretty festive! Yay! My parents have been educating my kids on German Christmas traditions, and they've been enjoying it! Ooh, maybe I will try and make some holiday treats today, it is Saturday after all.

Unknown said...

George & Andrew (Ridgely) have been singing in my kitchen today too as I made the Christmas cake!

christina said...

Yummy! I'm supposed to be making my Vanillekipferl right now but I'm surfing instead. Also have dough ready for sugar cookies and gingerbread men. We need to take some to the in-laws tomorrow for Nikolaustag so I guess I'll be up all night.

Beth said...

Lovely traditions but, wow, I’m glad Santa only comes once around here.

Miss 8 is adorable!

Connie said...

I love Miss 8's red sweater - very nice for the holiday! She looks very serious about her work. Enjoy the decorating :)

Sherry said...

Oh so very festive!! I love traditions like this -- and I can imagine how heavenly the house was smelling!

Mumma Lisa said...

I can smell those biscuits through the screen! What a great little helper you have there! So different from our day - we decorated the tree, boxes of unpacked decorations still in living room! The girls spent the afternoon swimming next door and eating ice-blocks, whilst daddy prepared the dinner and it was a BBQ on the deck. Beautiful memories for the children where ever we live! Now I must make it to the kitchen and bake... hmmm NANNA?

oreneta said...

Looks like you and miss 8 are doing OK now on the whole Xmas thing....that's good...wish I could taste those.

Lynda said...

Lydia: Yes, go for it. Cookies are easy (especially if you have access to everything like you do) and there is always some part where the kids can help with making you insane)

Verena: Yes! Andrew... LOL we probably listen to the same radio station. Your blog doesn't accept comments, but I am enjoying your posts.


Christina: Oh no! pulling an 'all nighter' cookie shirt... no fun at all. Put those boys to work!

Beth: Yep, just one guy in red reduced the calories. Don't be fooled by her angelic looks. As a toddler we referred to her as 'the blonde assassin!" LOL nah.. she is adorable.. and all yours for $10 bucks.. I will even throw in a set of steak knives.

Connie: Yep the Sweater is perfect for a Xmas photo op. And she takes everything seriously. When she was 3 she called me Mrs Pickles for a year. Now lots of my Australian friends still call me Mrs Pickles.

Sherry Love: Yes,just breathing in can add an additional 20% to your calorific intact in this house!

Mama Lisa: A swim and a BBQ wouldn't go astray right now. Don't you know you have a 'scratch and sniff' computer monitor?

Oreneta: Big fan of 'fake it til you make it'... I will hold out until I can't take anymore.

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