There are less than eight hours between sunrise and sunset here at the moment. I love it. Sunrise at 8.07am and sunset at 4.02pm. I took the above photo from upstairs this afternoon as the light faded. It was a grey slightly misty day today, a little chillier than recently. I watched football in the morning and I watched football in the afternoon. The middle boy scored a couple of goals which made him happy. He's a defender, so goals are a rare treat. The littlest boy had a go at being in goal in his match and saved a few. His biggest brother claimed it was all due to his rigorous coaching of his littlest brother, ie. relentlessly hammering balls at him as hard as he can for hours on end.
We bought a Christmas tree from the school fair yesterday. I had my annual grumpy festive moment when I discovered that the bottom of the tree hadn't been sawn off properly and had an awkward long strip of trunk sticking out from it which meant it didn't fit in the Christmas tree holder. Cue much huffing and puffing and muttering while wielding a hacksaw in the middle of the living room floor. I was literally wrestling with a Christmas tree. You can imagine what the carpet looked like at the end of it all. I managed it after a fashion, although it was leaning a bit so I've had to prop the holder up in a couple of places with some of the children's paperbacks. Lemony Snicket and Roald Dahl on one end and Philip Pullman on another end. You can always rely on a Philip Pullman. We covered the tree with our usual stylish mixture of pre-school decorations, mismatched angels and every bauble we could get our hands on.
I'm finding the constant media urgings to get more stuff for Christmas combined with news from the climate change conference an indigestible mixture. I never like the wilder excesses of the festive season. Mountains of packaging, wrapping, plastic that will be in landfill before we know it, rubbishy stuff imported from thousands of miles away. I honestly hate it. I try very hard not to contribute to that bit of the festive season, but I know I'm part of the problem. In my kitchen there is packaging that I didn't want, didn't ask for. Gifts that aren't made in this country. Christmas cards with their toxic inks and wasteful production processes. The planet can't support it all.
I'm trying very hard to be smaller about everything this year though. More ethically sourced gifts. Food with less packaging. Locally produced things. I don't mean to cast a shadow over it all, just to think aloud a bit. Over-consumption is nauseating, the shops are making me feel anxious and claustrophobic at the moment. I wish I had a big badge that said, "I'm opting out". Just some simple gifts for the children, a nice meal, some food with friends. A bit of greenery from the back lane, vegetables from the allotment or a local farm. I feel that I'm a long way from that at the moment. But it's somewhere I'd like to be headed.
Tell me, do you have any green tips for the festive season? Anything you're not doing, or wish you weren't? Please know that I'm the last person to criticise or be smug about anything. But I'd like to do things a little bit more sustainably somehow. Any inspiration gratefully received.
The shops have made me anxious too, so I've done almost all my shopping online, which is probably terrible for the environment but was good for my mental health. But I know what you're trying to say, and I just don't know the answer. You're doing more than most already. Shop locally, support independent sellers and makers, buy only the food you need not the amount I always get conned into buying. But what if we run out OF EVERYTHING! Crazy. xx
ReplyDeleteoh my goodness, we are fellow grumpy old (Xmas) women, CJ! when you find that badge, please save one for me too :-) no tips, but I hope you and your family and your tree have a good Christmas time. e xx
ReplyDeleteWell.. hmm.. does someone need a candy cane to sweeten them up? :-) We don't overbuy gifts here.. the tree is pretty bare underneath. I still have an open trunk of ornaments and stuff sitting on the sofa.. but I'm not worried about it. We usually just get the grandkids one or two things. And... how about this for sustainability.. I'm making my own gifts for my sisters and friends.. hand-rolled beeswax candles. :-) SMILE.. ((hugs)), Teresa :-)
ReplyDeleteI still haven't bought a tree. I thought about digging one up from the garden, there are some little yew saplings about, but the last attempt failed miserably so they're better left where they are. More and more though I am cutting foliage for simple decorations. I don't suppose the birds have left me any berries, but their need is greater anyway. A few logs for the fire and a good book will see me through.
ReplyDeleteI'm doing the best I can to keep things small at the holidays but it really isn't easy. I'm especially trying to teach my children that we don't have to have things just because someone else does. I only hope it's working. I will tell you that I actually did say "I'm opting out," a few years ago to members of my family who were insisting on things I didn't agree with at the holidays. The expenses were becoming outrageous and appreciation seemed to be at an all-time low. I finally put my foot down and I feel much better now. I hope you're having a calm time right now, take care and enjoy this week.
ReplyDeleteI am afraid I have no tips. It is the one time of year that we do over indulge, however it is locally sourced food and the gifts are mostly crafted. The ornaments are used every year and are part of the celebration enhancing it remembering Christmas's past.
ReplyDeleteWe had the same sweary sawing of the Christmas tree yesterday - I thought R was going to have a stroke it was so difficult! I'd happily opt out of the whole thing, especially as all our birthdays are about this time too. I'll try and buy all our veggies at the local farmers' market but, otherwise, no great tips I'm afraid. Have a good week. xx
ReplyDeleteI think you might find there are a lot of people who quietly opt out of all the "stuff" I certainly do but rather like admitting that you find parentling difficult admitting you don't "do" Christmas is a bit of a taboo and most of us feel we have to keep quiet about our lack of consumerism. One thing that really get my dander up is the profligate use of electricity for Christmas lights. I am not advocating we all live in gloom but some folks' electricity bills must be horrendous and what's the point in climate change agreements about saving resources if others are so wantonly wasting them? Sorry - rant over!
ReplyDeleteTotally agree about the Christmas lights!!! I'll join you in a rant any time!
DeleteIt's a difficult one, isn't it? I do agree with you and I find myself getting unnecessarily anxious in the run-up. It all seems, well, rather unseemly. I'm trying to keep a lid on our spending this year (needs must) but there is a weight of expectation. Sorry I can't give you any great tips as you're ahead of me but I empathise wholeheartedly. Your description of sawing your tree made me laugh – I've been there (very cross and sweary). This year I bought a smaller, neater tree (for cost and practicality). It's completely fine but I could tell everyone was a bit unimpressed. Oh well. Deep breaths over the next few weeks... Sam x
ReplyDeleteOh I do so agree...you seem to get sucked into it all but deep down you want to shout 'stop'.. I am trying not to buy unnecessary items. Decorating the house with holly from the garden but you do have to buy things and they do come with so much packaging..I have managed a few homemade presents this year..cinnamon biscuits and snowflakes. But I am as bad as the rest! Hope the tree is ok, we usually wrestle to get ours not to lean but strangely it behaved this year :) Keep smiling. Barbara X
ReplyDeleteI'd happily opt out of the whole thing. It's extra work I don't need, and I don't feel selfish saying that...do you find yourself clenching your teeth? My shoulders are constantly up there during December, and as the month moves on I get more and more uptight and concerned about what I've got left to do. I always say I'm going to start earlier, at the beginning of December, but somehow never get around to it.
ReplyDeleteThe hassles it causes all the way through aren't worth it. As for trying to be green, it's difficult to accomplish very much. I'm sending a lot less cards. I have most of the food shopping delivered anyway so that keeps the carbon footprint lower.
I don't go mad buying enough food for a siege, I stopped that years ago. If we run out, there is always a good stock of canned beans.
Every year I do something less, this year I'm giving up wrapping paper and I don't do cards or crackers anymore. I only give a few presents to my children and theirs will be presented in their Christmas sacks which I made when they were toddlers. We bought our tree on Saturday from a place where they planted a small Christmas tree plantation a few years ago to raise money for local good causes. It is about five feet high, fits our stand and is a Norway Spruce so will not come in to be decorated until a few days before Christmas. Otherwise, it is a nice roast dinner, local pork for us this year, home grown sage and onion stuffing, home grown Apple sauce and veg from the allotment eaten with appetite after a long local Christmas Day walk. We have a bottle of sparkling Sussex wine, good chocolate from Hotel Chocolat which is not over-wrapped and local beeswax candles to light our table and that is it for our home made feast apart from home made mince pies with home made mincemeat, a homemade Dundee cake, English walnuts to crack and my daughter's famous iced Christmas biscuits which she first made as a complete surprise when she was 11. I loathe all the rubbish the supermarkets try and sell us for Christmas, half of which I am sure ends up in landfill. Oh CJ I'm so with you on the doing less for Christmas thing. Good luck with it all CJ, I'm sure the pendulum is swinging away from excess.
ReplyDeleteSarah, this is fantastic! Absolutely inspirational, and I'm especially impressed that you're giving up wrapping paper. I have bits of spare fabric around that I could make gifts sacks with, it's a brilliant idea. And I love that you have English wine as well. If I ever want to give wine as a gift I've struggled recently to find English wine locally. Thank you for your lovely comment, you've made me smile, as well as given me some motivation to try a bit harder with all the details. CJ xx
DeleteOn the wrapping paper thing, I tend to re-use all the paper that so often comes into the house in other guises -- protection for things I've ordered online, unwanted letters from estate agents etc etc. So often it's lovely and brown and looks just like the classy Kraft wrapping paper. I either stamp it, or -- if I'm feeling v inspired! -- iron it and then stick it through the printer with some nice pictures on it. I have to confess, it does give me a little smug glow of satisfaction not to buy wrapping paper. It is the most absurd invention ever, when you think about it, purchasing something for the sole purpose of being almost immediately ripped and torn and thrown away! (I am also a prolific re-user of wrapping paper that we get given with presents in. I think I do that to the point of being a little embarrassing, ha ha.) xxx
DeleteCJ, you put it so much better that I can – THANK YOU, I have quoted you in this post: https://daffodilwild.wordpress.com/2015/12/14/vase-on-monday-red-white-and-green/
ReplyDeleteI’m 63, have 3 grown children and 8 grandchildren and since I got married in 1972 I have been wrestling with these issues to the point that now I feel almost phobic about Xmas.
Back in 1972 I used to make all my own Christmas cards and made decorations from natural materials – ‘chinese lanterns (’Physalis alkekengi) and fir cones as Xmas tree baubles etc. I used to make presents for friends and family. I was considered very weird and nobody seemed to appreciate my presents, seeing me as mean – MEAN! all that time and love pouring into a handmade gift.
I used to take my children out into the woods to gather fallen branches that we would then create a tree out of, and always buy local food or grow my own. I was a devotee of John Seymour’s magazine ‘Self Sufficiency’ – oh how I wish I had kept those magazines.
One year my kids begged to have a normal Xmas tree, so I bought a small one growing in a pot.
I can’t tell you how wonderful it is for me to know there are like-minded people out there, it gives me hope for the planet.
Despite my lovely large family, I can only ‘do’ Christmas every other year, this is a year I spend with my family. The cooking/hosting baton has been passed to the next generation, and we all contribute a part of the meal. I provide a locally reared free-range turkey, which I stuff with my own recipe. We have a Secret Santa present for the adults, which means we each only have to buy and receive one thing, with a price limit of £30. I make something silly for each of the Grandchildren – last year they each got two white knitted pigs with glitter glue eyes.
Last year I had a wonderful day gardening in the sunshine and a poem popped into my head which I posted: https://daffodilwild.wordpress.com/2014/12/26/xmas-2014/
This has led to a wonderful journey into poetry and the world of Haiku, which appear in subsequent posts.
The only things I love about Christmas nowadays are seeing the little ones in their school plays and getting together for lunch on the 25th. Other than that I’d really rather ignore it – and mostly do! I buy no other presents, haven’t done for years. So I don’t go near the shops.
I do wish you all a happy, healthy, joyful, stress free time.
I'd like to rely on a Philip Pullman book to get me through a lot of things ! :) I know what you mean about the excesses....it's a tough one! xxx
ReplyDeleteThey don't make it easy do they, I'm fed up with the mountains of charity letters - there must be a better way. :-)
ReplyDeleteI've cut down on gifts this year, not just for my two but for other people too. It gets out of hand, buying things just for the sake of it. I asked my dad if there was anything he or my mum wanted and he said no, at their age they've got everything they could ever want so it's a gift voucher for them for a nice meal out, they'll enjoy that. I've cut down on Christmas cards too, I'm sending to older relatives who really appreciate cards but cutting out friends who I see all the time and some other distant relatives. I've decided to give a donation to the Salvation Army who do lots of good, especially at Christmas time, in lieu of those cards and stamps.
ReplyDeleteWow, what joy to read all the above comments to CJ's brave and inspiring blog! I wholeheartedly agree with the less is more concept - and to think all these years (now a Grandma) I've been thinking of myself as a meanie. I love Christmas but hate all the consumerism. The pressure to produce the Perfect Christmas/Perfect Turkey/Perfect present was horrendous as a young mum. I so wanted to do it all and make everything as wonderful as possible for the family and although in a way that hasn't changed, I don't feel at all pressured by the supermarkets now - I simply cannot fathom why so many people suddenly develop a need for huge tins of Quality Street, yard long bars of chocolate etc. So, no easy answer but it seems there are also a lot of people out there definitely going in the right direction. Maybe it's love of gardening in us all that enables us to enjoy the simpler things in life.
ReplyDeleteI don't have any advice; just a resounding yes! to not overconsuming at christmas. I feel positively phobic about the pressure to buy, buy, buy and the overt advertising, never mind the crush of people hell bent on buying up the world. What we value is the time together to relax, read, watch films, eat some good food (as local as possible), go for some walks and just chill. It's still a time of compromise as Jean-Luc wavers between wanting a calm, no fuss time and packing the house out with food and friends.
ReplyDeleteGood luck and I hope you have a lovely time.
I don't really celebrate it nowadays but if I did I would rant like you have. I agree with all you've written and sympathise. Good comments from others as well on this subject.
ReplyDeleteHave a good week. Flighty xx
Rant? Moi? ;-) CJ xx
DeleteHey CJ,
ReplyDeleteLast year I opted out of present buying altogether. My Dad was ill, and I just couldn't get my head around shopping, either un store or online. So I donated some money to the nspcc. The boys had nice gifts, and we had a quiet Xmas. This year, I've have bought gifts for family. But tried very hard to put thought before price. I tend to make edible gifts; my sloe gin us always gratefully received! This year I'm not sending cards and have asked others not to send to me. But of course, all of it is excessive, and I do get sucked into it all on one level or another. Tho is a thought provoking post. Thank you.
Leanne xx
You are so right CJ. It is difficult not to get swept along with the consumerism, especially when you have young children. The best bit of Christmas for me is the family being altogether. Our daughter is trying to make a stance with her one year old. Most of her 'toys'are not toys at all, but items found around the house. For weeks her favourite 'toy' was a wooden honey drizzler. She spent ages tapping different surfaces with it, putting it in and out of containers, under things etc. It is a joy to watch how engrossed she gets. Of course, it is easy whilst she is still so little and before peer pressure to have the latest thing kicks in. Thank you for your thoughts and wishing you a happy and simpler Christmas x
ReplyDeleteIt is a good rant CJ; I am glad that someone else is thinking about these things. I am a big Christmas Grinch, mainly because I am non-religious and don't want to be hypocritical about celebrating something I don't believe in. However, since the rest of the people in my life do, I am trying to figure out how to balance it all out. No wrapping paper, mostly homemade gifts, nothing from China, and natural decorations. All of the spending, excess, and general "stuff" that people think is necessary to celebrate a religious holiday drives me bonkers.
ReplyDeleteLike you I hate all the plastic tat, un needed "stuff" that the festive season brings, we are much more conscientious about what we spend, how we spend it and where. We have a simple but fun and family christmas, and everyone loves it. There is no expectation of lots of stuff or money spent which is lovely. There are lots of home made everything, simple, natural and how we feel it should be :)
ReplyDeleteNo tips, but I do agree with what you said. I try and do things myself, like make the cake and decorate it as that makes me feel more connected to the real parts of Christmas. Glad that you found the right books for the tree propping, ours is leaning - artificial though it is! - and I cannot find just the right thing to get it straight. I will keep trying! xx
ReplyDeleteCouldn't have put it better! I've just done a little shopping today and hated seeing all those people loaded up with carrier bags and boxes full of 'stuff'. I'm trying to only give homemade or locally bought gifts this year but haven't been totally successful. I do love Sandra D's secret santa for the adults idea - I'm going to suggest that for next year.
ReplyDeletefairy lights are my big rant at the moment. we have two sets of lights, which aren't very old, and despite my very best efforts I can't get replacement bulbs. The lady in the shop suggested I just buy a whole new set.... two hours of wrestling bulbs later I got 3/4 of the string of bulbs working, and that will have to do....... I don't do crackers, or plasticky ribbons, and the boxes of sweets drive me mad. So much packaging...... We got our birch branch Christmas tree down from the attic yesterday, each time it gets stuffed through the hatch it gets more battered and loses a few more twigs, but the relief of not having to go and buy a tree it immense xxx
ReplyDeleteWe have a little hardware shop that stocks dozens of different fairy lights bulbs. Richard bought two bulbs for an ancient star chain last year. If you email me the details, I can ask next time I pass the shop. xx
Deleteoh thank you Christina! will do. I found a little stash of coloured light bulbs so I've filled with gaps at the end with those and then hidden them out of sight...... it works for now!
DeleteYou make me laugh CJ! Wrestling with a Christmas tree can't be easy. You also make me feel less guilty that I haven't written a single Christmas card yet. I only watch recorded shows on the telly just now to avoid the adverts and the news. It is crazy. I like a minimalist Christmas. We are not generally shopping more than usual and we do try and get local food. Richard's friend manages the local abattoir so we usually get a piece of beef from a local cow, processed locally. I am tempted to buy an IKEA christmas tree but will probably go for a tree from the local farm, even though it costs double the money. Present wise, it is only the children in the family and my mum who get one, one or two good friends. I don't deny the little ones the plastic crap they so dearly want (Hotwheels and Playmobil) but for my mum and my best friend I bought little things from our artist cooperative. I am feeling quite smug now, reading this comment. Have a lovely stress free week. xx
ReplyDeleteI would certainly be quite grumpy after that wrestling match! :)
ReplyDeleteHere in the USA in the stores, the Christmas stuff is on the shelves the day after Halloween, Thanksgiving is just about bypassed and by the time Christmas actually arrives one is practically immune to it after having seen it for two months everywhere you look.
I would certainly be quite grumpy after that wrestling match! :)
ReplyDeleteHere in the USA in the stores, the Christmas stuff is on the shelves the day after Halloween, Thanksgiving is just about bypassed and by the time Christmas actually arrives one is practically immune to it after having seen it for two months everywhere you look.
I don't celebrate Christmas but enjoy watching it from afar! The very best way to do it :)
ReplyDeleteThat sounds so frustrating about the tree! One person's mess up created a problem for you to solve that I'm sure wasn't fun at all. At least it's up and decorated with all your love from past Christmases. Would love to see a picture! I know what you mean about a cloud of mass consumerism hanging over our heads especially during this season. Sometimes I find it hard to believe how many different versions of a shirt I can purchase. Are there really enough people to buy all these things available to us? I know I'm part of the problem, because I love selling stuff, too, (and buying things) but it still makes you stop to think once in a while. Your version of the holiday sounds lovely. Just spending time with loved ones will make the season bright. Wishing you a very merry Christmas, CJ!
ReplyDeleteWe got out of it all sort of by accident. The first year I was married to my farmer husband, we were completely hailed out. So we wrote letters to all our relatives, and basically opted out except for the people who had no other family to exchange with. When finances got better (took a couple of years) we discussed it and decided not to go back. Our children (5) each got a change of clothes, a good book, and one thing they really wanted (under $20.00). Our tree is fake (dreaded plastic) but we have had it 20 years, and it's small enough one tiny string of lights is enough.
ReplyDeleteWe raised our children to believe that Christmas was for the little ones, and to spend their spare money on giving to the needy. I can't avoid the shops, I own one - although it is a fabric and needlework shop - and so not full of 'stuff.' We downsized sending cards when I realized we only got one back for every 12 or so we sent, and some people never responded in ten years. Then we went to just a handwritten 'news' letter for the remaining few. Most of them are now passed on so it's pretty much done for us. Dinner is just a few traditional things like a ham, sweet potatoes, cherry and apple pie, and whoever wants to stop by. Quiet, peaceful, - we don't have everything, but we don't really need anything. It's harder when your children are small, especially with the advertising, but we did without television, so ours weren't even aware of a lot of the stuff to ask for. I wouldn't do it any different if I was starting over. Good luck with your holidays. Wishing you a peaceful heart.
I'd like to be able give you some kind of practical advice for having a less excessive Christmas. Unfortunately I'm probably not the right one. I'm married to a Grinch who begrudgingly gives into our Christmas spirit of gifting and decorating, but we try to be thoughtful -- practical gifts, reusable things, minimal packaging when possible our decorations too are manageable, no more acquiring really. just one box for us all.
ReplyDeleteI actually let my son put tinsel on the tree this year. First time in 12, because he was becoming obsessive about it. Fixated, like a child who is never allowed to have candy. I think it'll be demystified now and for the next 364 days of the next year when we continue to find these pieces of silver devil tears all around our tiny apartment mixed in with wayward pine needles.
So thinking on this I'll say what my mother and I say about Valentine's Day. What good is it if your lover treats you well one day of the year and crap the other 364? You seem like a friend of the earth year round. Do I make sense?
I see your life as very actively environmentally conscious. You're making this consciousness normal and a happy easy way of life for your family which will more than likely be the way they live in the future. Three boys who know how to take care of each other and the earth should help us bring about some balance to the spoils of the holiday season yeah? I think you're already on track CJ. *Sorry about the lengthy comment
No need to apologise Ellen, I love a lengthy comment. You're right about looking after the planet on all the other days as well. We tend not to have tinsel here, then last year on a walk in the middle of the countryside we found a huge long piece of it on a bush. In the middle of nowhere! The littlest boy brought it home and so now that's his decoration and it lives in his room, although it's been temporarily banished to the cupboard under the stairs because it's shedding bits everywhere. Maybe he'll forget about it... CJ xx
DeleteGood for you! Our Christmas lasts about a fortnight - Firstly quiet at home with just the two of us. No turkey or extravagance on the day - just church, a few gifts and my husband doing his annual attack on one of Jamie's recipes. Then our daughter and her family, when we have the turkey/beef (Local meat) depending on what she has already had. Adult presents are little things in a gift box with a maximum value of 20.00 and the children get something homemade, a couple of books and a toy to play with. The grandchildren so far are unaware of advertising. Hooray BBC iplayer with no ads!
ReplyDeleteThen we start the round of wider family, catching up with whatever has happened since we last saw them, accompanied by food which we all contribute to.
Exhausting but enjoyable. Tree goes up on Christmas Eve, just like it did when I was little. Decorated to the sound of carols and mince pies. As primary school teachers we have never been able to concentrate on Christmas till the school celebrations are done. I am glad when the timing is like this year - a week before and a week after. Perfect.
I use cards that are made from recycled materials, local meat and produce and only gift to my 10yr old and husband. Our trees in the house we've had for years and the ornaments are ancient and some of them are handmade. As I live in a tourist area, we've had christmas decorations in the shops since the summer so I am sick of it all already if I'm honest. We have a christmas dinner and sweets and stuff but nowhere near as much as we used to.
ReplyDeleteIf you find an opt out badge, may I have one to please. Love your blog. X
I totally understand your thoughts and it is frustrating especially this time of year when it is all so in your face! Having little ones makes it all so much more doesn't it? More to buy, more to wrap, more to shop for. But they do add so much wonder and magic to this time of year.
ReplyDeletehugs to you,
Meredith
All along with you here... It is not so much that I do or give less, but I give it more thoughts... Shop small, shop local, I have been trying to stick this into my head for this Xmas... It is not always easy but it is worth it... I have written some days ago a post which I titled "conscious Christmas" so your words here resonate loud :-)
ReplyDeleteI make my cards out of recycled cards and I just mostly say 'no' to lots of stuff, I too find it all a bit sickening. My children don't ask for much so that is a blessing, they just like cutting and sticking and making stuff out nothing which warms my heart. We would rather go on a holiday together than by lots of rubbish, that is what we value more. Jo x
ReplyDeleteMostly homemade gifts here, or things that are needed and will be used. I agree about the over-consumption aspect, it makes me uncomfortable too. Well said, CJ! xx
ReplyDeleteI prefer to celebrate Yule & give gifts in memory of those who have passed on..... =>¿<=
ReplyDeleteI prefer to celebrate Yule & give gifts in memory of those who have passed on..... =>¿<=
ReplyDeleteI feel the same way as you about Christmas. Our Christmas presents have always been less excessive as our friends and family. The children are used to this, it is difficult sometimes when they are surrounded by others who give and receive so much more. We reuse Christmas bags and wrap gits in tissue paper. We have made our own Christmas cards. Our food is where possible from local suppliers, and the quality is better too. I have reduced our Christmas decorations and bring in more greenery and branches from outside to provide a festive feel. I came across the 4 gift rule the other day-a thing they want, a thing they need, a thing they wear and a thing they read. I am happy as long as I have a book at Christmas! Sarah x
ReplyDeleteI cannot commend/agree with your comments about a 'smaller' Christmas enough - and I know what you mean about 'nauseating' over-consumption without wanting to bah-humbug at all. I've been feeling exactly the same this year particularly, and so have been concentrating on small, meaningful, mostly made gifts, using things I had already, and no new decorations that aren't foraged foliage. Also, no more store-bought unrecyclable wrapping paper! And food - food as gifts. Who needs more things, really?!! Well - I suppose those are all very obvious, common-sense changes. But basically I just want to say good on you, and you're not alone :)
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