I have to say as I sit to write the last #XmasLinky for another year, I'm not feeling very festive at all so bear with me.
I'd like to thank you all for linking up each week.
I'd like to wish you all a very merry Christmas or a happy holiday however you spend the break.
I hope that you reach out and offer people love and kindness. I hope that you help those worse off. I really hope that there is peace on earth, as far out of the realm of possibility as it feels at the moment.
Drive carefully and safe travels where ever you may go.
Have a happy new year celebration and may 2026 bring us joy and tolerance.
Now the 'catch ups' are in full swing - parties, lunches, dinners...it's a made and hectic rush.
But lovely to see friends and get out and about.
It's not an easy time for everyone so throw an extra invite around! Welcome someone to your table on Christmas day if they're going to be alone.
My dad and I would often do that and Mum didn't mind but always wished for more notice. It has made our Christmases interesting, and it's amazing how much people appreciate it. People from overseas, recently divorced people who won't be with their kids, so many people need that invite offered.
I would always preface it with 'It's pretty weird' because while our family traditions are normal to us, you see them through the lens of a stranger and realise just how odd some habits are.
Or pay for someone else's Christmas - love the work of Wayside Chapel puts on a pretty mean street party and you can donate a plate here.
Do you invite other people to your Christmas lunch or dinner?
Also, if after small gifts or stocking stuffers, consider ones that give twice. These toiletries companies donate to different causes.
This is a really rough time for a lot of people. In Australia more than 1 in 3 famillies will rely on charity to get enough food to eat, let along to make it special. This is astounding (and shameful frankly) in such an affluent country (obviously we are not). While not of this solves the overall problem that needs to be addressed, here's a few ways to help if you can.
As we learnt in A Christmas Carol, if nothing else, Christmas is a time to give and remember the less fortunate.
My personal favourite is Wayside Chapel's Give a Plate Christmas appeal. They "urgently need to raise $1,650,000 by 25 December to make sure the vulnerable members of our community are fed and supported this Christmas". Do your bit to make sure no one is alone this Christmas.
Hampers of Hope Addi Road needs to pack over 2000 hampers for families in need. Note businesses can also donate items on this page too. But for most of us, there's a link to help pay for them.
I have been alerted to, but know nothing about The Man's Bag - like the Share the Dignity campaign, you create a bag for men.
Mission Australia has a campaign where they've produced this song - you can donate here.
Food Bank is also running a Christmas appeal - the food bank report is not a good reflection on us, with high numbers of families living with food insecurity. (see details here)
Check your neighbourhood facebook groups as there are always people or shelters asking for stuff. As my freind no longer organises the assisted living campaign that I used to donate to for years, this year when I saw the call out for a shelter for people trying to get over addicition and other issues, I go a box of gifts together for them. Last year I did the same for a different youth homeless shelter. I've just seen an individual in hard times offering to pick up all your cans for the return and earn (I already box mine up for a guy who gets them each week - please don't make people go thru your rubbish - separate them for them).
Lastly, because it is Australia, consider bush fire appeals - for WA there's a whole list here but please verify, I just found it on google. The Red Cross also.
The Sikhs are pretty active in helping the community in lots of ways - definitely a religion that walks the talk when it comes to feeding the poor or helping out in floods and fires. You can donate to Sikh Volunteers Australia or Turbans4Australia (In the 2019 bushfires I was dropping off pasta and canned tomatos to a tea importer wheo took one of his trucks off the road to fill it with donated food items to take to the relief centres to feed all the displaced people and firemen and women - that was my first discovery of Turbans4Australia).
There are devastating floods in our northern neighbours at the moment. A few ways to donate there - and please verify, again just googled. Caritas Australia, IFORCS, BlueDragon (Vietnam).
Christmas is a time for giving, and it's a time to strive to show love, kindness and hospitality to others.
So give what you can, where you can - and if you are really struggling, find the options of help available. There are plenty of food hampers or cheap food bank shopping all over the city.
And just as an aside, from a BP email "Since 2017, bp has proudly partnered with OzHarvest, donating fuel and funding to keep their vans on the road. From 19 November 2025 to 13 January 2026, when you purchase any of the participating products at a bp store,10 cents from every product sold will be donated to OzHarvest."
Feel free to link your favourite charities in the comments.
Back in the the start of November, I asked How early is too early? I was questioning any Christmas decorations could go up before the Melbourne Cup. Seems I am out of touch with the new rules.
The start date of 1 December is no more. The streets in my 'hood are festooned with gardens full of Christmas decorations and lights.
I am currently charging the solar lights ready to hang in the front yard but I will wait untin December.
It's sort of as if everyone is now getting in line with the retailers Christmas season. Or maybe it's a hang over from the Covid lockdowns and we just want to celebrate more.
I waent to a Christmas Sing-a-Long at a piano bar (Grand Electic became a piano bar for just one day). My clips won't upload so you get the real deal - I forgot how pretty this song is. #MondayMusicMovesMe
For the next 4 weeks, every Friday I will host a Christmas link up. Add your Xmas themed posts here for #XmasLinky (old or new - but non xmas posts will be deleted).
As a kid, my dad came back from a business trip to Germany with the most beautiful advent calendar. It was paper but shaped like a gingerbread clock with little doors that you opened to reveal Christas pictures. I loved it so much, and we shut all the pictures back down after Christmas and used it for quite a few years.
I just adored the excitement of opening it each day. Even when it got to the point that I remembered all the pictures and there was no surprise.
I still love advent calendars. I now give my neices kids advent calenders (but on Christmas day only give colouring books or something small to do on the day). My kids get fancy advents as part of their santa haul (ie I spend less at Christmas). I will admit I wait for the sales and use discounted vouchers so I can get them for $50 or more less than sale price. There are also flybuy or credit card points you can use to buy gift cards to pay for them.
I have been eyeing off the Jurlique one for myself but at $200, while good value for what you get, I can't justify it. And I haven't been able to knock off enough on the purchase price (I got it down to $180 but still out of my range).
So I've gone with Moomin Tea from Pappa Sven (this is the most wonderufl shop in Newcastle if you don't know it. If you are after Tove Janssen's adult books in English, they have them at a good price).
I do then also reuse the little boxes - I put a little Santa chocolate in it and bring them for the table at Christmas get togethers over the month of December.
I find the men's one harder to buy so my son gets a gaming/korean noodle one that I put together myself...
If you are looking at Lego, always look at the sales around June. You can get the previous year's for $35-40. But the benefit of the Lego ones is they are small (if Inner city house space is an issue) and they can be played with all year round with any other lego sets and fit in a shoe box for storage once done.
Ditto Little People and Playmobil. They add to the toy sets they have.
And of course we will be setting up our Playmobil reusable advent, now in it's 25th year!! Because it wouldn't be Christmas without it!
Do you get advent calendars? Which ones and any cost saving tips?
While not an advent, I just wanted to promote these chocolates from David Jones (which I didn't buy so can't tell you how much) but a thoughtful gift if seeing your Vegan friends over the holiday season.
On the Department Stores, if you're not shopping locally (supporting small business), could you consider supporting Myer and David Jones in person? I worry we will lose them, and I do love the ease of Department Stores when looking for specific items (obviously cost matters but they seem to be having endless sales at the moment!)
Note none of this is paid. All my preferences and opinions.
Share your Christmas themed posts, old or new below. Don't forget to share the love and coment....
Not 100% sure this will continue, but for now - For the next 5 weeks, every Friday I will host a Christmas link up. Add your Xmas themed posts here for #XmasLinky (old or new - but non xmas posts will be deleted).
So it's the day when Bunnings starts to accept the #Itsinthebag #SharetheDignity Donations, and that's where I'm off to with my 5! One for each catagory. I have so much fun putting them together - Mum & Bub, Teen, Woman, Transman and Non Binary. I even did a bonus bag as I over purchased, forgetting I'd already got certain items (as I add extra each week for a month or so in the lead up). This year, I salvaged all the kids barely used school backpacks - I had two not good enough (that were happily taken by the Op shop) but I didn't need to spend a cent on bags so all the better to fill them! And I got rid of perfectly good backpacks without sending them to landfill....
Hunter Valley Christmas Light Spectacular is on. I will be doing a similar version in both Paris and Rome with our youngest so am very excited. Due to the school finishing and my events and the cost of the Hunter on weekends, I'm not 100% sure we will get to the Hunter, but I really want to as it's probably the LAST time - after 19 years of annual tradition!
Advents are under control, including the one I make myself for my son.
Turkey is ordered, waiting for Dinner Ladies to open their menu so I can order in some other things handy to have. I really want the Messina dessert but it's too big for our group and possibly the freezer, so I just can't justify the cost. I am very jealous of those of you that will finish off your Christmas meal with it!
Wayside Chapel is on the list to donate to. Will talk more on that soon. But good people doing good work, so give if you can.
Gifts are more or less under control. My husband, the hardest to buy for, and I are going to David Byrne in Jan so that is our present as we got good seats. So phew! Done!
I feel November is the organising part of Christmas and if you do it right, December is the fun.
Get what you want at those sales, as everything seems to cost more this year!
Hopefully, this linky with run Friday's to Wednesday's. Add a Christmas themed post, old or new. Comment on at least one other post. Share the cheer! Are you ready to get festive?
Usually, at this time of year, I start a Christmas link up every Friday in the countdown to Christmas. Given the interest in #Allseasons is dwindling, I'm wondering if I bother.
Are you interested? I might do one this Friday anyway, but whether I continue we'll see.
Sing out if you're keen.....old or new Christmas posts.
Every year, a gaggle of my friends (and now it's used as the Wednesday Club Christmas Party) get together for Furnace and the Fundamentals Christmas show.
It gets weirder and weirder in the best possible way and never stops being the most fun you can have at Christmas.
We sang and danced after a lovely dinner and catch up, then bounced merrily all the way home with exuberance.
So I wish you all a very merry Christmas if you celebrate and happy holidays if you don't.
Enjoy your break if you have one, and thanks for working through if you are.
May there be food on your table, friendly faces at your door and most of all,
may you feel happy and loved.
(And make sure you are one of the people that makes people feel happy and loved).
The #XmasLinky is for Christmas themed posts, open Friday until Sunday night. You can share two posts, but please then comment on as many. This will obviously be the last one until December next year. So thank you to everyone who participated.
I have to say as I sit to write the last #XmasLinky for another year, I'm not feeling very festive at all so bear with me.
I hope that you reach out and offer people love and kindness. I hope that you help those worse off. I really hope that there is peace on earth, as far out of the realm of possibility as it feels at the moment.
Drive carefully and safe travels where ever you may go.
