A peach of a Christmas

Anne here, with the last of our Christmastide daily posts. We hope you've enjoyed them. (Of course, for Orthodox and Eastern Christians, Christmas celebrations are just about to start, so if this is you — Happy Christmas!)

I started my first Christmastide post with talk of picking peaches and here are a couple of photos, which I include not to make you envious, but as a reminder to those in freezing climes that spring and summer will come again, truly it will. And in the meantime you can have your peaches canned, brandied, as jam or in some other delicious form.

The 5th January (and in some parts the 6th) is traditionally the day to take down your decorations and the tree. Have you taken down your decorations yet? I'm always a little sad to do it and the house seems strangely bare afterwards. I always try to fill it with flowers or greenery at least.

If you had a real tree, it can still go on bringing joy — or at least some good — to the world. In some places Christmas trees are being used for positive environmental projects, not simply as chipped or mulched wood, either. Read the article on this link to see how they're used to halt erosion, help rebuild coastal environments and provide a haven for fish and other aquatic species.

And whether you're deep in snow and ice, as several of our wenches are, sweltering in the summer heat, or somewhere in between, all the very best to you for 2018.

So, have you taken down your decorations or not? And what has been the best part of Christmas for you? (Or if you're sick of Christmas talk, if you had oodles of fresh peaches, what would you do with them?)

 

Comments

[Sonya Heaney]

We had a gazillion peaches here in Canberra, but couldn’t eat them all. I was going to put them out for our resident brushtail possum, but it’s one of those days it is off sleeping in another garden!

I LOVE that you included non-Orthodox Eastern Europeans in this. Ironically, 2017 was the first year Ukraine made the 25th of December a public holiday. Since the 2013-14 revolution - (go to “Kyiv on Fire” on Google Image Search) - there has been a push to stop celebrating the Russian Orthodox Christmas date (the Russian Orthodox Church was the only accepted religion in the USSR) and become Western instead.

Nevertheless, it is Christmas Eve here tomorrow, when Ukrainians have their presents and TWELVE DISH meal! We have been cooking for two days.

[Anne Gracie]

Sonya, I couldn't forget Orthodox Christmas if I tried. Not only are some of my oldest friends of that background — Greek, Ukranian, Egyptian, Russian, Turkish and more — but my Ukranian friend has been cooking up a storm for what seems like weeks — she celebrates two Christmases. And two Easters. I was so envious of that at school. Double the holidays.

As well, Melbourne has a huge Greek population — we claim to be the third largest Greek city in the world, after Athens and Thessaloniki, and Theonfania which leads into Christmas is a huge deal here.

I hope you have a wonderful Christmas, Sonya. Enjoy those twelve dishes.

[StephanieL]

We have been in a very deep freeze for a couple weeks now. I'm forever grateful that it is a nice dry freeze though as life has continued on as usual with several layers of clothing added. Our decorations usually stay up until the end of January when we have our Christmas celebration with my in-laws (due to schedules) but this year we were rearranging the house and took them down on New Year's Day. I always miss the tree. Sitting there with my cuppa and loving the lights is a favorite part. LOVE the peaches. It is a good reminder that warm weather will come again and trips to the farmers's market for blushing beauties will once again be a thing.

[Molly R. Moody]

I don't put up decorations because I have house cats. They're now old enough that I'm in hopesthey won't bother them if I decide to put them up in December.

[Sue McCormick]

Back when I was a single working parent of three, we usually couldn't take down the tree on Epiphany because that was a working/school day. So it came down on the first week-end following Twelfth Night. (Only rarely did they coincide as they will this weekend).

Now that we are OLD people (at least I am) we don't have a tree any more. I really miss it, but … it's no fun.

Last night I dreamed of a Christmas garland I might craft and then use every year. Unlike many dreams, this has real possibilities. I must look into it.

[Molly R. Moody]

I forgot to say what I'd do with fresh peaches if I had them. Mainly eat them fresh as that's the best use to my way of thinking. I'd also make peach cobbler and since my oldest granddaughter got an ice cream maker for Christmas I give her some to use that way. I have six grands in all plus my daughter and son-in-law, so I'm sure they would also enjoy them fresh. I've also got friends and other extended family I could share them with that I'm sure would also enjoy them.

[Teresa Broderick]

I dread the decorations coming down! Everywhere looks so dreary and dismal. I miss the lighted tree the most. However, it's onwards and upwards as they say. I'm just hoping for a better year than last one! I could have done without most of it.

[Anne Gracie]

Stephanie, I also love the quiet hush of sitting in the almost dark with the tree lights twinkling, while drinking a cuppa. For me the scent of the tree is a big part of it, too. And taking down the decorations is always slightly melancholy.
Glad you liked the peaches.

[Anne Gracie]

Molly, there are some very funny and creative ways of having Christmas AND cats. There was one doing the rounds that said you could either wrap the tree in plastic wrap — or wrap the cats. The pic was very funny, though I doubt the cats thought so.

There are some other clever and amusing methods of animal-proofing a Christmas tree. https://www.boredpanda.com/protecting-christmas-tree-from-dogs-cats-pets/

[Anne Gracie]

I have to admit that most of the ones I picked were eaten fresh, too. And that pic at the start of the blog was preparation for making peach cobbler. Fresh peach ice cream sound yummy. I've never dared to buy an ice cream maker -- too tempting.

[Anne Gracie]

Sue, there are some beautiful ways to make Christmas garlands. I've made some out of fresh greens from the garden before. I didn't have a tree this year, but for me, Christmas isn't the same without the smell of pine, so I cut some sprigs from a pine tree out in the country, and placed a few bunches in vases around the house. The scent was lovely.

[Anne Gracie]

Teresa, the Christmas lights are so pretty, aren't they? I miss them too when they come down. Quite a few people here have solar powered fairy lights in their gardens. I used to have a big old apple tree in the back yard, and I put fairy lights in that (not colored) for sitting outside at night. But the tree was ancient and died, and now sadly I have no lights.

[Kathy K]

We plan to take our decorations down this weekend. The lights will be on for tonight, then off tomorrow. We have an artificial tree which is pre-decorated with lights. I miss the smell of the live trees but not the mess of dried needles. Our kitties are old enough that they don't climb the tree anymore but they do love to pose gracefully under it. I'm a Southern girl from way back, so peaches are either eaten fresh or made into cobbler. That is one of the best reasons to love summer.

[Anne Gracie]

Kathy, that's more or less what happened to these peaches -- we ate heaps fresh, and the pic at the top is of peaches about to be made into cobbler. Also jam. And some brandied peaches.

[Mary T]

I don't put a tree up anymore, but I do have decorations, some of which I leave out all year long. Back when I did have a tree, I didn't have a set time to take it down. It mostly depended on when I could find the time. I remember one year, it was almost mid January before it came down. It always seemed more like work when it came down. Not as joyful as it was to put it up.

As far as peaches go, all I can say is YUM!

[Sonya Heaney]

Nearly 11pm, and we are STILL eating! Too much food!

[Anne Gracie]

LOL Sonya -- that's Christmas for you. I hope it wasn't too hot for you. It was a stinker here yesterday (as my father used to say) 41C (that's something like 107F)
I suppose today you'll have 12 dishes of leftovers to polish off. Enjoy.

[Anne Gracie]

Thanks, Mary -- yes it is a doleful exercise, taking the tree down. And I love that you keep decorations up all year round. My neighbors keep their outside Christmas lights up year round -- just tiny blue and white twinkly fairy lights, and it's pretty.

[Karin Ahmed]

I would love to have some fresh peaches to make pie, kuchen, and jam. We are also in the frigid zone here, and had a big snowstorm 2 days ago, so I am ready for some warm weather.

[Anne Gracie]

Karin, I looked up kuchen and it sounds delicious. Might have to try it. Maybe you can make it with canned peaches while you're waiting for summer. Stay warm.

[Constance]

As a Southerner long living in New England, and waking up to -4F this morning, those photos of your peaches, Anne, were the very best wake up greeting I could imagine! We are dependent on our local farmers’ market for peaches and they do not fail. And while I have jars of jam and chutney to see us through the next few months, there is also one deep dish peach pie tucked away in the deep freeze. I always make one with the last peaches in the fall, and we save it until February when winter feels endless—my husband declares it’s time for peach pie and out it comes!

Should have “undecorated” yesterday, but keep putting it off—due to the major storm we had last week, the annual tree burning has been delayed, so I’m using that as my excuse to enjoy it a while longer. They no longer actually burn the trees, which used to be done on the beach, but they are still gathered together and lots of people come and sing in the new year together as the wonderful workers load the trees onto trucks. Heard on the radio that there’s a small town in Vermont where the trees are given to a goat farm—and the goats EAT them!

[Kareni]

Peaches sound delicious!

I undecorated our tree at home with my husband. Now I'm visiting my sister as our mother who lives in a nursing home nearby is in exceedingly poor health; I helped undecorate my sister's tree yesterday.