Garden Centre stock.

Had a look around a couple of garden centres over the last few days. Found a few great bargains on end of season stock. Plants reduced from £6 or more, down to a few pennies just because they do not look to good at the moment. Bulbs at about a quarter of what they were a couple of weeks ago.

The thing that I noticed most of all was the amount of xmas junk for sale at ridiculous prices. The only thing that surprised me more was the number of people buying it!

I really do not like xmas. My stepfather made sure every xmas was bloody miserable when I was a kid. Now when I see all the rubbish in the shops it just reminds me that xmas is just an excuse for shops to rob people blind.

I go to garden centres to buy garden products of all kinds. Not to have someone telling me that I should buy very expensive tatt. I will NOT buy a real xmas tree as that would be to encourage people to destroy living plants, that I think the planet needs. I will not buy any real holly as I have two holly trees in my garden. I certainly willnot buy any mistletoe as the only woman I want to kiss at any time, never mind xmas, is Mrs Chopper.

All the fake holly and wreaths can stay in the shops as far as I am concerned. Just think of all that artificial material that is going to get dumped in the new year and no chance of it rotting away for hundreds of years.

Chopper.

 

"I will NOT buy a real xmas tree as that would be to encourage people to destroy living plants"

We have a real tree each Xmas. Comes from the local farmer who grows them on land that is not suitable for other farming, and provides better cover for local wildlife than his wheat prairie I expect! I reckon it is processing CO2 at a rate similar to the replacement that he will plant, or the same area of wheat, and it goes in the wood burner afterwards :thumb:

So I'm in the Bah Humbug! camp with loofah on that one

 

Oh, Chopper, I'm so sorry you feel this way about Christmas. How horrid that it was made miserable for you as a child. I absolutely love it; but maybe the key is that for me and my family it is the religious meaning that is at the core. For us it would be totally meaningless without it. Every year at the end of the midnight service, when we sing 'O come, all ye faithful' and get to the last verse, 'Yea, Lord, we greet thee, born this Christmas morning...' the hair on the back of my neck stands up and I know it's really Christmas!
I agree there is a lot of tat in the shops, but I really think the garden centres are better than most retail outlets. Some of them round us are quite magical when dressed for Christmas.
And we always have a real tree, and burn it on the log burner later in the year. The wreath on the front door is always home made from plants in the garden. Can't wait till my holly trees get big enough for me to feel OK to take some of the berried branches, though I reckon the fieldfares will get there first!
Yes, we eat and drink and spend too much, as do most people, but I can honestly say it is probably the highlight of my year!

 

Stopped liking Christmas when I was about 14 I think.

Its a kids time as far as I'm concerned.
Adults just sit around and eat and drink too much, watch too many repeats on the telly then fall asleep and feel awful.
And thats just on Christmas day, the rest of the very long holiday is just as boring, the weather is nasty, its dark for most of the time, and most people seem to hibernate.
Not that it bothers me not seeing many people about, it just seems like time stands still for two weeks.
Not sure thats entirely possible though, a bit of a contradiction:lollol:

 

We take the opportunity to go and visit friends who we don't see very often. They heap good cheer on us and put themselves out in a huge way because its the festive season :thumb:

We just have to have enough friends that we only visit each one every 5 years, or so - so a balancing act, and some cultivation of new friends also required - a form of gardening really

 

Hmm! I thought the "real" meaning of Xmas was that it originally celebrated the fact that it was the 1st time you could actually see the days getting fractionally longer. Can't see it's got much to do with Christianity hijacking it. It's just mildly amusing that Christians celebrate a Pagan festival.:hehe: However, the kids love it and that's good enough. I usually work on Xmas day but I do love a couple of hours with the g/children, cheers me up before I go and do my stint.:wink:

 

"it might be worth taking the risk of trying to overwinter them."

You need a Grow Light ... you know it makes sense :thumb:

 

I am happy for you that you get so much out of the christmas season. The only thing worse than not having a father around was having my stepfather around. Never liked him when I first met him and rapidly grew to hate him with a passion you can only dream of. The world would be a much better place without him.

I do not believe in any religion or faith. I have seen way too much blood spilt and great misery caused in the name of religion. I was wounded three times in conflicts caused supposedly in the name of religion. I still feel the effects of those wounds every day. Each time I feel the effects I remember my mates that didn't come home.

It appears to me that the spirit of christmas has been taken hostage by commercial enterprise. It is an excuse for folk getting into debt, getting drunk and making a spectacle of themselves. Worst of the lot are the drunk drivers that are always so surprised when they get caught or cause some tragedy to another person.

All the leftover food that gets wasted. The people that cannot afford to buy the latest gadget for thier kids and get themselves in hock. The pure greed displayed by kids employing emotional blackmail on hard up parents.

I have told both of Mrs Choppers daughters that they are NOT to spend any money on me for xmas. I am making a leather handbag for the eldest and a leather belt for the youngest. I will buy something for Mrs Chopper and make something for her as well. Thats it.

Chopper.

 

Something just for you Chopper to cheer you up mate.
One of the many reasons Christmas is so good, is that this great song comes around every year...:gnthb:

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Wollow in your own self pity if you may .......but don't drag us down with you!

 

No self pity here. If xmas is a happy time for you then thats good. Hope you have a good time.

No secret that I do not like xmas. My main reasons for not liking it have been posted.

Mrs Chopper makes a great effort for the benefit of her daughters. Both of whom call me Dad. I make an effort to be sociable for them. Doesn't mean I have to like it.

Chopper.