On the phone one night to my sister, and while discussing the plans I have for xmas this year, we went for a little trip down memory lane, to when we were kids at xmas time.
We were poor ……. really poor. My mum would scrape and skimp …. a lot of times, toys were from the second hand store or given to us from friends and family. Everything was wrapped …… knickers and socks, pencils for school, and there was always xmas clothes ….. one precious set of new (sometimes vinnies new … but new) clothes for “going out”. Often, mum had to chose between presents and wrapping paper … but not both. So most times our presents were wrapped in newspaper. Home made snowflake decorations, paper chains and crepe paper concertina chains. Having xmas dinner at nan’s or aunty libby’s ….. because we couldn’t afford the food.
And yet ….. to me and sis ….. they were the best xmas’s. We appreciate the extreme’s our mother went to, so that we could have a good xmas. And considering how mentally ill she was at the time, it was a spectacular achievement. We learnt to appreciate xmas for the love our mother showed us.
And ….. water fights !!!! LOL 
My uncle drove a grain truck, and one xmas, the grain trailer was beside the house empty. He got some friends from the fire station to come over, hook up a hose to the mains, and he filled the grain trailer up with water. It was the best swimming pool out ….. we would stand on the top, and jump in through the holes where the grain was fed in.
The reason we got onto discussing pas xmas’s was because I was asking her opinion on the colours of the xmas gift bags I will be making. I was sort of leaning towards going and buying 4-5 metres of one patterned fabric, and making all the bags out of that.
Sis disagreed with me ….. she thinks I should get lots of different fabrics. Her reasoning was the memory of one particular xmas, when mum won a xmas hamper that included some rolls of paper, and we got xmas paper wrapped presents that year. She thinks the riot of colour with different patterns and colours ……. is a much better look.  For us it was a great memory.
