One of my beaded African Christmas tree decorations from South Africa, made from an old wire coathanger
Our Christmas tree (fake, as no firs here !) with all the presents underneath which we set out on Christmas Eve
A Father Christmas ornament made from dried banana leaves which I bought at Lake Manyara earlier this yearHappy Christmas, to each and every one of you – I hope that wherever you are in the world today, and however you are celebrating this special day, and whoever you are celebrating it with … that it is simply wonderful !
This morning we will get up early to see what Father Christmas has left under our Christmas tree. We will also swap presents with each other over tea and mince pies. Later on, we will pack the car with gifts and food and travel around an hour or so to our neighbours farm, where we have been invited for Christmas day lunch.
There will be 11 of us in total, and we’re splitting the cooking between us - one of the things I’m carting ‘up the mountain’ (well, not literally !) is an almost 7 kg turkey which I cooked yesterday – one of us will balance it on our knees as we bump along the potholed road, dodging goats, cattle and passerby as we go – it could only be Africa !
The farm which we are going to is an historic farm in Tanzania’s history and used to belong to David Read. David Read is a well known East African character who grew up as a young boy here amongst the Masaai people. He is also a writer, and has written several fascinating books about his life in Tanzania (Tanganyika of old). You can read about David and his books over here.
Our neighbours live in David Read’s gorgeous old homestead, which he lovingly built many years ago out of local rock & with it’s solid wooden floors, thick stone walls, fireplaces in almost every room, floor-to-ceiling windows and sweeping views out over a soda lake - it has to be seen to be believed !
I am always aware – guilty ? – of the excesses of the festive season when surrounded by so many people who live in poverty. I try to do what I can to help those that I can, because of course I cannot help them all & my philosophy in life and in so much of what I do, is to help even a few people rather than to turn my back completely because the overall picture is too overwhelming for me to tackle on my own.
I make sure that our immediate staff and the farm staff and their families are looked after over this season, and that all have enough food and money for their families during this time and that no child goes without. Yesterday afternoon my daughter and I spent a couple of hours putting food packages together (rice, sugar, tea, oil, juice, fruit, vegetables, biscuits, sweets, soap) which we then gave to our immediate staff (those who work in our home and garden) and today there are gifts under the tree for a few of our close staff like Justin. We have also donated crates of beers and sodas to some of the local village organizations, to help them with their Christmas celebrations today.
So, I will end off now, let you get on with your Christmas festivities & wish you all a truly wonderful Christmas day !
This morning we will get up early to see what Father Christmas has left under our Christmas tree. We will also swap presents with each other over tea and mince pies. Later on, we will pack the car with gifts and food and travel around an hour or so to our neighbours farm, where we have been invited for Christmas day lunch.
There will be 11 of us in total, and we’re splitting the cooking between us - one of the things I’m carting ‘up the mountain’ (well, not literally !) is an almost 7 kg turkey which I cooked yesterday – one of us will balance it on our knees as we bump along the potholed road, dodging goats, cattle and passerby as we go – it could only be Africa !
The farm which we are going to is an historic farm in Tanzania’s history and used to belong to David Read. David Read is a well known East African character who grew up as a young boy here amongst the Masaai people. He is also a writer, and has written several fascinating books about his life in Tanzania (Tanganyika of old). You can read about David and his books over here.
Our neighbours live in David Read’s gorgeous old homestead, which he lovingly built many years ago out of local rock & with it’s solid wooden floors, thick stone walls, fireplaces in almost every room, floor-to-ceiling windows and sweeping views out over a soda lake - it has to be seen to be believed !
I am always aware – guilty ? – of the excesses of the festive season when surrounded by so many people who live in poverty. I try to do what I can to help those that I can, because of course I cannot help them all & my philosophy in life and in so much of what I do, is to help even a few people rather than to turn my back completely because the overall picture is too overwhelming for me to tackle on my own.
I make sure that our immediate staff and the farm staff and their families are looked after over this season, and that all have enough food and money for their families during this time and that no child goes without. Yesterday afternoon my daughter and I spent a couple of hours putting food packages together (rice, sugar, tea, oil, juice, fruit, vegetables, biscuits, sweets, soap) which we then gave to our immediate staff (those who work in our home and garden) and today there are gifts under the tree for a few of our close staff like Justin. We have also donated crates of beers and sodas to some of the local village organizations, to help them with their Christmas celebrations today.
So, I will end off now, let you get on with your Christmas festivities & wish you all a truly wonderful Christmas day !
XXX 
