Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

[Shadrach]

So, do we think Mauss got it wrong? Or that the shiny hand of commercialism has killed the true idea of the gift? Or is something else at work with all of us saying thanks but no thanks to presents from nearest and dearest?

No, I don't think Mauss got it wrong; a trifle simplistic perhaps.
There is a difference between a thoughtful gift and the almost hysterical purchasing of the products commerce shoves down our throats, bought for the sake of buying something at a particular time of year. From my rather jaundiced view having watched and listened to the Bristol Christmas shopper over the past few weeks, not much thought regarding gift quality and suitability has gone on.

We have had a gift type and cost limit for quite a few Christmases, it just went wrong this year.
I think I've got to the point where I would rather avoid Christmas altogether.

So, for future reference, would the idea of each person bringing something to the feast work better? Their present to all being whatever

meal component they provided? A trad Christmas dinner is astonishingly expensive to put on, especially given the number of diners is usually significantly larger than the host typically plans, buys and cooks for. So each person shares the workload and the provisions budget with the others round the table, instead of spending time and money on finding, wrapping and giving additional and unwanted stuff before or after? And then the host just has to co-ordinate, instead of provide everything, while all the social bonds or whatever else it is that traditional gift-giving is supposed to affirm (and which explains how upset some people get when you don't want anything) get affirmed. (Might not work with picky eaters.)

We, or some of us do. this every year. Last year I did the cauliflower cheese, Christmas cake and tapas type stuff. This year I did cake and pudding a special pesto and a bottle of port.
The eldest works out the cost and we split it between us. Three of us helped with bringing food this year and would help with the cooking on the day if the eldest would let us near the stove.

Have they not been along for a while? Or is it ongoing? Has nothing worked to stop that rat?

All the above.

 

[Shadrach]

Here's a present that did go down well! One of the other community garden members brought them a very insecty cabbage that had snuck onto their plot disguised as a neep seedling and been getting in the way ever since.

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The chickens enjoyed their Christmas meal so not a complete wash out.

 

[Sally PB]

I think I've got to the point where I would rather avoid Christmas altogether.

I surely would.

 

[Molpet]

I think I've got to the point where I would rather avoid Christmas altogether.

This is what I do. But my brother is in another state. My cousin close by is a Jehovah witness and doesn't celebrate.
I consider myself lucky

 

[Mother of Chaos]

I’m happy to celebrate it in a relaxed way, but the last three years have wiped it out. 2 years ago Covid, last year norovirus, this year flu plus an unspecified GI bug.

We’re gathering at noon tomorrow, outdoors, and moving right along.

 

[Shadrach]

Cold, sunny, 3C with real feel -2. They came out to eat, did half an hour in the extended run. Glais went onto the field for ten minutes. A strong gust of wind that nearly took him off his feet sent him back to the coop extension.

The psycho rat is back!

 

[Sally PB]

I'm glad they got out for a bit, not glad about the psychorat.

 

[fuzzi]

I think I've got to the point where I would rather avoid Christmas altogether.

I was feeling that way, and I'm a Christian. I lost my dh this year, and my heart wasn't in it...the idea of celebrating as we did together for years.

 

[kattabelly]

The chickens enjoyed their Christmas meal so not a complete wash out.

What did they have?

I surely would.

I "did" Christmas back in 2020, when a last-minute covid rule change here meant that most people had to cancel their plans. I was in a "bubble" (arrangement where someone living alone could effectively join another household without doing the social distancing stuff, so they weren't completely isolated) with my mum and her partner which meant I was the only person they were allowed to spend Christmas with, so I would've felt mean not joining them. Turns out, Christmas is actually quite enjoyable if you only do it once every ten or twenty years.

The psycho rat is back!

Sympathies. My local population is getting bigger - both in numbers and actual size - again too

We didn’t do presents this year. Bot me and my husband got a few for hosting a Christmas dinner anyway.
A bottle Chardonnay. Candles. And more chickens to help with the dishes.

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I was very pleased bc I don’t like receiving useless expensive presents too. These towel are a perfect match and were given by different family members not knowing this from each other .

I got some chicken things too. Not quite sure what these are meant to be but they seem too nice to use for cleaning, so I'll probably add some heat resistant wadding to use them as pot holders.

 

[L-plate chicken mum]

I was feeling that way, and I'm a Christian. I lost my dh this year, and my heart wasn't in it...the idea of celebrating as we did together for years.