The TRUE meaning of Christmas (Christmas in General)

Member Name: Otjiwarotji

Product:	Christmas in General
Date:	28/11/01 (133 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Ho ho ho

Disadvantages: Ho hum

Several years ago my partner Brian and I decided to do something a bit different for Christmas. As we have no children and a small family we have no ties and like to go away at Christmas and having been abroad a couple of times at Christmas, and gone out for Christmas lunch at a variety of restaurants often unsatisfactorily, this year we thought spending Christmas in a lovely olde worlde holiday cottage sounded a nice idea.

We had left it pretty much until the last minute and were lucky to find a 200 year old stone built cottage in a small village in North Yorkshire (not too long a journey from our home). Situated in a small, pretty village called Bishop Monkton, not very far from Ripon, we were thrilled to bits when we arrived , it was everything we were looking for, to have a cosy old fashioned traditional Christmas. It was a small but extremely cosy little cottage, right on the main street of this little village, overlooking the village stream and near a beautiful 17th century church. The village also boasted a couple of traditional country Inns.

We arrived early on Christmas Eve, this was to be a short break of just 3 nights and we had brought all the food we thought we would need for a very festive 3 days, including a huge frozen Turkey, plenty of wine and cider, choccys and nibbles and enough food for a full Christmas dinner for the two of us to “cabin up” and have a great lazy festive time. Fortunately this cottage boasted a very well equipped kitchen with a large freezer, a big oven, even a dishwasher. There were two cozy bedrooms and a bathroom upstairs and on the ground floor the door led straight from the street into the cozy beamed living room with comfy chairs and an open fire. A bag of coal and logs was provided outside in a small coal house in the rear garden, just in case we wanted the fire lit although the house had electric storage heaters too.

We set to with a vengeance to make everything as festive as poss
ible, we had brought our Christmas presents and crackers and we put these on a small table which contained a thoughtfully provided Christmas holly and candle arrangement. I had even brought a couple of garlands of tinsel and hung them around the mirror to catch the glow of the fire. I had also brought a miniature ready decorated Christmas tree which plugged in and lit up. A bowl of fruit and nuts completed the effect and we sat back satisfied that this was going to be a Christmas to remember.

In the afternoon we visited the local pub for a drink and then strolled round the village, admiring the lovely old houses many with Christmas trees all lit up with fairy lights glowing in the windows. It was just like a scene from a Christmas card, apart from the fact that there was no snow, maybe it would snow this Christmas it was certainly cold enough but the wind was just a bit too strong, it was starting to blow a gale so we wrapped our scarves tightly and headed back to the cottage for a light lunch, we were saving ourselves for the big blow-out Christmas dinner I had so carefully planned.

Closing the door against the elements, we settled down for a cozy evening. We set the fire and lit a coal fire in the open fireplace which was the crowning glory it made the cottage seem just like a scene from some old fashioned traditional Christmas, apart from the television in the corner. We were glad there was a tv, we wanted to thoroughly relax and there were a number of Christmas specials on which we wanted to watch.

It was early evening and we turned on the tv, sat down with a glass of chilled wine, and lots of nibbles and breathed a sigh of contentment. What made it even more cosy was having the windows and doors tightly closed on the weather outside, by now the winds had reached the most horrific proportions rain was lashing down against the windows and we could hear the wind trying to force its way in branches banging against the upstairs windows an
d the wind howling like a banshee, but we were snug as bugs in a rug within these centuries old, thick walls. Until the lights went out!

It was a power cut, luckily the firelight lit up the room as we groped around the unfamiliar surroundings for a torch, candles, anything so we could see better. I was a bit annoyed when the electricity hadn’t come back on by the time we had completed our foray and come up with just 2 small candles and a tiny miniature pencil torch. After all, back home in Teesside we had known a few power cuts in our time but always it was only a matter of minutes before power was restored. We lit the small candles and groped our way upstairs, where it was so black, without any streetlights that the tiny torch didn’t even penetrate the blackness.

Suddenly I remembered, there was a torch outside in the boot of the car. Brian offered to go and get it and as he opened the front door it was almost wrenched off its’ hinges, the storm had risen to immense ferocity while we were cocooned indoors. Even though the car was only parked a few metres away on the street it was all Brian could do to stay upright as he battled against the gale to open the car door. There was nobody about and it was the deepest pitch black imaginable and the rain was torrential, branches and litter were whirling around, it was almost like a hurricane.

Eventually he got the torch and another door opened further along the street and a man popped his head out and shouted to Brian above the howling wind “Need a couple of candles mate?” and handed two more candles to Brian. He came back in doors after exchanging a few words with the neighbour who reassuringly said it shouldn’t be long before power was restored.

We sat down and realised we hadn’t yet had our supper and I had been going to cook us something hot as we had only had a cold lunch, but it looked as if, yet again sandwiches were all we were going to
get.

The house was all electric, no gas cooker, we couldn’t even have a hot drink, so we poured some more wine, made a snack by candlelight and switched on the tiny travel radio alarm I had brought, but the batteries were almost flat and we strained to find a local station as the sound came and went, eventually we got the local station and heard the announcer saying that a very large area of North Yorkshire had lost power as the storms had caused havoc, bringing down power lines and trees and advising everyone to remain indoors! Well that was fine by us! Unfortunately the torch batteries were also on their way out!

What were we going to do for the rest of Christmas eve? We scouted around and came up with a pack of cards and sat at the table playing the few card games in our repertoire. Then I said to Brian “why not open just one of your presents now?” I had bought him a board game and there was never a better time to play it! He said he would open just one but only if I opened one too. We each chose the present for the other to open and I was pleased and surprised that he had also got me a board game, fortunately a different one! So we sat by candle and firelight and had a great laugh learning these two new games and still it remained dark. We decided to keep the half burnt candles for going upstairs, just in case the power remained off and instead we lit the fancy Christmas candle arrangement, which gave the room an even more traditional festive feel.

The fire was burning away beautifully, but it was also burning away very fast and we were down to the last couple of sticks and 2 or 3 pieces of coal so Brian realised one of us needed to go outside to the coal house and see if there was any more fuel. It was only a couple of metres from the back door but it was like an Arctic expedition, he was bent double and stuff was whirling around him, fortunately he managed to find a few small logs and about half a bucket of coal bit
s and flew rapidly back indoors with them. This enabled us to keep the fire going until we decided to call it a night and retire, by candlelight. It had been a very different Christmas eve, but a memorable one!

The next morning was a very different Christmas morning too!

I woke first and tottered downstairs ... to find there was still no electricity. The fire had gone out, and it was bitterly cold throughout the house. I couldn’t even make a hot drink and I don’t know about you but I just cannot function without my morning cuppa. I had planned to open our presents in the warm, with a nice hot cup of coffee and the miniature tree lit up, then go and start cooking and it was all ruined! Brian got up and joined me and we sat there shivering and wondering if we should just pack everything up and go home.

We opened the curtains and looked out, to a scene reminiscent of a war zone. Huge tree branches littered the roads, broken roof tiles lay shattered on the paths and there was not a soul in sight. I burst into tears, I was so cold and it wasn’t the slightest bit festive, we had no idea if or when power would be restored. We were just about to begin packing all our stuff, including the turkey and the frozen goodies which were now defrosted, when there was a knock on the door.

Brian answered it to find a knight in shining armour. Well it was just a youngish man bearing a flask of hot coffee, but to me he was every bit a saviour. We invited him in and he told us he lived opposite with his mother, they knew this was a holiday cottage and saw the strange car outside and guessed someone was staying for Christmas so he had come to see if there was anything we needed. We told him we were thinking of going home and he said he had heard on the radio that there was a huge problem with the power and half of North Yorkshire had no power but they had said it should be back later that day.

We told him there was quite a lo
t of stuff we would need if we were to stick it out and asked if he knew if there was a shop anywhere which may be open on Christmas day and he said he knew of a garage shop about 5 miles away which never closed and sold all manner of stuff. If Brian would drive he would take him there. I hastily made a list which included, coal, logs candles, batteries for the radio and the torch. We drank our welcome hot coffee while he popped back home to let his Mum know what was up and returned with enough kindling and coal for me to get the fire going while they went.

I managed to get it lit and it soon transformed a bleak room into a more cheerful one. Brian and Dave returned with all the items we needed, but saying they had a job getting out of the village as the main road was blocked by a fallen tree, fortunately Dave knew another long route out and they had taken that. We decided to stick it out and not go home and after expressing our heartfelt thanks we bid him goodbye and set to opening our presents, keeping the fire going and playing the waiting game hoping beyond hope that we would be able to have some hot food at some point that day. The fridge had defrosted and some stuff was not looking too good any more. We toyed with ideas, as to how to pass the time, walked along to the church to see if there was a service but it had been postponed because of the power cut it was too cold and dark. The pub too was closed.

Back in the cottage another knock came at the door, it was Dave again. All he said was “Our Christmas lunch will be served at 2 o’clock, my Mother and I will be delighted if you’ll join us” He showed us which house it was over the village green and suggested we arrive about 1 o’clock for drinks! We were absolutely overwhelmed at this generosity from two total strangers, and accepted with gratitude. Suddenly it was a frenzy of activity, getting dressed up, ready to go out. Though a little nerve racking at being in
vited to have dinner with a lady we had never met and her son who we had only just met! We took a bottle of wine and some chocolates as a gift and turned up on their doorstep at 1 o’clock. We were welcomed like long lost family!

Margaret had an aga cooker so she was able to cook her turkey dinner as normal, there was a radio playing carols and we sat and chatted, were given drinks and then dinner was ready, it was beautiful (probably better than I would have managed) a full traditional turkey dinner with lovely roast potatoes, stuffing and hot gravy followed by Christmas pudding and hot mince pies and lashings of piping hot coffee.

I cannot tell you how much it meant to us to be so warmly welcomed and end up having such a lovely time on a Christmas day we almost wrote off. I honestly think we found the true meaning of Christmas spirit that day. We had a smashing time, all the more for having company for a change and the greatest gift anyone could receive, the hand of friendship and the warmth of a genuine wlecome.

After we bid them a warm farewell and returned to our cottage, late on Christmas afternoon ... suddenly the power was restored. So I whipped my Turkey in the oven sharpish as it was almost reaching the point where it would keep no longer without refrigeration. We had it the next day with all the trimmings so we had two full dinners that year! We didn’t see our heroes again as they were spending Christmas night and boxing day at Margarets daughters house.

But not a Christmas will pass without us remembering them in our thoughts as we carve the Turkey and remember the year we had one of the most surprising and enjoyable Christmas days.

Cheers Margaret and Dave have a lovely Christmas this year, whoever you spend it with!

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