Second day of the home run. 10 - 9 - and the rest ...
And so, arose the question of why we put fairies on Christmas trees. And fairies that show their bums because there are not enough feathers to cover their backsides. Somehow, that reminiscence of childhood will remain with me forever.
In searching for why and where the tradition came from - I encountered a few rather inappropriate (for this family themed blog, at least), theories as to why there is a fairy on top of the tree. Amusing all the same.
One thought is that the original tradition was not a star, but and angel at the top of the tree, but somehow angels and fairies became blurred in the passage of time. And, besides, fairies are a lot smaller and lighter than a full sized angel - I mean could you imagine John Travolta dressed up as Michael, sitting on the top of your tree?
Somehow, it makes more sense to put a fairy on top.
But if you want a child-friendly tale, with an ecologically friendly twist, then the story of the fairies in the woods and the queen of the fairies and the spiders' webs, is also quite convincing.
Now where did I put the other Bah flipping Humbug fairy?
Bah Humbug, it's 16th December, the countdown continues. I have a Christmas pudding now. I suppose I should make a list of what food I need to purchase for making lunch. What a tedious task. Maybe I should just order pizza instead? Growing up, I remember a tradition, supposedly, it dates back to Medieval times. Households made their Christmas pudding on the 25th Sunday after Trinity. It was made with 13 different ingredients, to represent the 12 Apostles and every member of the family would stir the bowl - it had to be in right to left (East to West) direction to signify the 3 Kings and their journey. In junior school the cook brought out a huge bowl for all the children to stir in turn. I never took much notice of all that, it was just nice to stir a Christmas pudding and get a handful of dried fruit to much on.
BAH HUMBUG, for all those Year 7 Science Students at Nexus International School Singapore, who have been looking at the science of food this term, here is Heston Blumenthal's Hidden Orange Christmas Pudding.
Now to make some of my mother's custard-like brandy sauce (forget the butter), while I sing a song about Christmas pudding:
We wish you a Merry Christmas
We wish you a Merry Christmas We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Glad tidings we bring for you and your kin,
Glad tidings we bring for you and your kin,
Glad tidings we bring for you and your kin,
We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. So, bring us some figgy pudding,
So, bring us some figgy pudding
So, bring us some figgy pudding
and bring it right here.
Glad tidings we bring for you and your kin,
Glad tidings we bring for you and your kin,
Glad tidings we bring for you and your kin,
We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
And we won't go until we've got some,
And we won't go until we've got some,
And we won't go until we've got some,
so bring some out here.
Glad tidings we bring for you and your kin,
Glad tidings we bring for you and your kin,
Glad tidings we bring for you and your kin,
We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Always struck me as a bit of a bossy Christmas song / carol. Bah Humbug!