Christmas plans? New Year eve plans?

[TickTockMan]

On some years, that have a really bad depressive low, I spend a lot of time sleeping on Christmas Day.

I have never really cared about New Years except for 1999 to 2000, but for Christmas I found once I couldn't afford to gift to people I stopped getting gifts as well. Now if I do anything it is usually get Chinese food, but I do that whenever I can so nothing special.


It is getting harder for me to care about anything anymore. I tried to be festive this year, but it just reminded me of stuff I would prefer to forget.

 

[Alistair]

No plans this year, playing it by ear.

 

[me203]

I have never really cared about New Years except for 1999 to 2000

One of the few New Years I remember really caring much about. I was alone, and really do much. But it was interesting that big year change.

The only other year I really remember is the 2016/2017--because I was so happy to see 2016 end. I bet I'll be feeling the same way this year!

I tried to be festive this year, but it just reminded me of stuff I would prefer to forget.

I have had that experience, too... I don't even really even bother trying to be festive anymore.

 

[seven2go]

I'm busy Christmas Day morning so that day will be the normal late morning/early afternoon breakfast.
If I can swing it there will be lobster on New Year's Eve.

 

[NotHardUp1]

I will probably have the young couple down for dinner, the same who came for the Sat. evening after Thanksgiving. Of course, if my COVID test returns positive, I won't be going anywhere or having anyone over.

They enjoyed learning about stuffing and a couple of other dishes. I think I'm going to teach them Chicken Eden Isle, and maybe that confetti salad. They probably haven't had Grenoble Tart before, so that's on the menu.

I'm off from now to the Monday after New Year's, so I'll do more chores about the place, painting a stairwell, organizing the basement, and garage, and probably set up my saline aquarium finally. It has been decommissioned since I left Albuquerque for Connecticut in 2016.

I'll probably practice piano, enjoy the fireplace, scan antique family photos, and practice making baguettes. Also have to plant some shrubs and do some other yard work if it is dry enough.

Bought a Victrola last month, and may work on refinishing its cabinet.

 

[me203]

enjoy the fireplace

I'm a bit envious... I know they aren't in the least bit practical (at least standard fireplaces), but I wish I had one. I have fond memories of the ones in my childhood home--one memory, in fact, is probably one of the oldest memories I have of that house.

Bought a Victrola last month, and may work on refinishing its cabinet.

A bit envious of having a Victrola. I recall at one point half thinking maybe of getting one to reward myself for living through a hellish family situation...but didn't get around to it, and didn't feel comfortable spending the money.

 

[NotHardUp1]

I'm a bit envious... I know they aren't in the least bit practical (at least standard fireplaces), but I wish I had one. I have fond memories of the ones in my childhood home--one memory, in fact, is probably one of the oldest memories I have of that house.

We never had an active fireplace in any home where I lived before having my own homes. Our houses were heated with floor furnaces, wall furnaces, space heaters, and electric blankets.

I make a fire so rarely that I'm still using the same cord of wood I bought back in 2017. I keep it covered and usually feel guilty for uncovering it, as a thrush often nests in there.

A bit envious of having a Victrola. I recall at one point half thinking maybe of getting one to reward myself for living through a hellish family situation...but didn't get around to it, and didn't feel comfortable spending the money.

I had a wonderful one about 30 years ago I had fixed up, and found stripped down and ready for refinishing when I bought it for $40. One Christmas, my former high school biology teacher visited my home during an open house, and she recognized the piece as having been her grandfather's. She knew the relative who sold it to me. Well, I couldn't keep it then, and gave it to her, as it was an heirloom.

I'd been musing recently on getting one again, and saw a few online, but dear and I wasn't ready to spend that much. Lo, and behold, I went to my favorite thrift store and there was one with a music cabinet to boot, and it was only $100. It isn't perfect, but functions, even if the head and arm of the resonator need a bit of work.

 

[Rickrock]

For Christmas we'll have just one cousin over who has no other relatives close by. He is over often so it won't be a big deal. No plans for New Year's. We usually watch TV on new Year's Eve and sometimes I fix myself a drink, usually the only drink I have each year.

 

[me203]

I make a fire so rarely that I'm still using the same cord of wood I bought back in 2017.

I'd probably be the same way... As I said before, the standard fireplace isn't very practical. Even fireplaces that have real heating value probably are outclassed by other systems (like modern wood stoves).

Growing up, it was pretty much an occasional thing--holidays and weekend nights. I definitely remember the commentary about how impractical the fireplace was from my father back then, and I remember him talking about ways of making it more efficient (or less inefficient), like glass doors. I think he was also interested at one point in special grate design that would capture heat, and channel it into the room. (IIRC it had tubes for air flow through.)

The fireplace fell into disuse, because someone (my mother, probably) thought the chimney should be serviced. The last few years we lived there, after my father had moved out, my mother and I would talk about getting a chimney sweep. But they cost $$$, and it never seemed important enough. The last years or so, I put some electric logs in the fireplace. They were at least something--and it's possible long term they'd have been used more. (And one could take them out to build a real fire a few times a year.) Bringing this partly on the holiday topic, I'm pretty sure those logs got used the last Christmas we were in that house.

One Christmas, my former high school biology teacher visited my home during an open house, and she recognized the piece as having been her grandfather's. She knew the relative who sold it to me. Well, I couldn't keep it then, and gave it to her, as it was an heirloom.

That was nice of you to do that!

I'd been musing recently on getting one again, and saw a few online, but dear and I wasn't ready to spend that much. Lo, and behold, I went to my favorite thrift store and there was one with a music cabinet to boot, and it was only $100. It isn't perfect, but functions, even if the head and arm of the resonator need a bit of work.

I did a fast search of Craigslist and the prices were a bit horrifying. Worse than I remember from when I was toying with the idea 10-some years back. Although I suppose prices probably are variable, and there might be the occasional good deal. And Craigslist is full of sellers setting insane prices, hoping to get rich, quick.

Yours might need work--but it's also very possible that a $$$ Victrola would also need work to play properly.

 

[NotHardUp1]

I had a fireplace in my lake house in Connecticut that was a complete vacuum of warm air, but I would build it for atmosphere. Glass doors help once the fire has died down, but the best method is a fireplace insert with a fan. Even then, the efficiency is low.

That's really why wood stoves came about, with clearance all around so that more heat is generated, and if in a high ceiling room, much more heat from the pipe before it leaves the room. Pellet stoves are the apex, but they require all that processing of sawdust as a fuel, so remove the ability to simply burn wood.

I like to watch the flames and smell the wood burning, so inserts, wood stoves, and pellet stoves do not afford that. There is a large wooden stove on a hearth in the basement of this house, but it is only a backup, as it would only make sense to use it during an ice storm and power outage, as its heat doesn't even make the upstairs warm. I'd have to shut the stairwell door and stay down there, but I do have a sofa there in case I need to.

 

[PalacePaul]

No special plans. Eating with my parents on Christmas Day and New Year.

 

[me203]

Warning: a bit off topic--fireplace babble, not Christmas

That's really why wood stoves came about, with clearance all around so that more heat is generated, and if in a high ceiling room, much more heat from the pipe before it leaves the room.

Yes. Although there were fireplace designs that actually had some practical heating value. But they had special designs. And one assumes the ones built in the last century were mostly intended as decorative--and so the cost of doing something to add efficiency wasn't seen as worth it. (Such as having high mass to retain heat, which could slowly be radiated out into the room.)

Then Gustav Stickley (Arts and Crafts movement/"Mission" style/"Craftsman") promoted an open fireplace made with a prefab unit that allowed it to heat air in the early 20th century. It's fun reading the description in old Craftsman writings. I think there were modern versions of the same idea. Although, of course, a wood stove would probably be better--but in that era those fireplaces were probably practical enough, and got a homey open fire.

(An old ad for the Craftsman fireplace: https://archive.org/details/cu31924074072343/page/n3/mode/2up)

Pellet stoves are the apex, but they require all that processing of sawdust as a fuel, so remove the ability to simply burn wood.

They also need power from what I hear...which pretty much knocks them out as practical solution during power failures. Unless one has a good power backup system.

I like to watch the flames and smell the wood burning, so inserts, wood stoves, and pellet stoves do not afford that.

Yes--and that's why I wish I could have a fireplace. I wouldn't mind a rela wood stove, but it would be fun having an open fire occasionally.

There is a large wooden stove on a hearth in the basement of this house, but it is only a backup, as it would only make sense to use it during an ice storm and power outage, as its heat doesn't even make the upstairs warm. I'd have to shut the stairwell door and stay down there, but I do have a sofa there in case I need to

.

Those can help a bit, or so I've been told. I knew someone in a cold climate who used such a stove. It only really heated the basement, but it helped keep the first floor floor more comfortable, and thus the house was more comfortable with less heating. And that stove was there in case of power failure--that happened at least once, and the couple moved ot the basement for the night.

What amazes me is that I get the impression in old times some houses were entirely heated by such a stove. Maybe there were vents that helped (so heat could rise more easily).

 

[ShadowCat]

It is getting harder for me to care about anything anymore. I tried to be festive this year, but it just reminded me of stuff I would prefer to forget.

Oh brother you aint just whistlin Dixie! All my Christmas stuff is now tainted with the memory that someone close to me lost their job for an asinine reason and now we'll be struggling! Losing our insurance in the middle of a pandemic SMMFH!! It is the perfect end to the shittiest year ever! At this point if I wake up in the morning I wake up I don't give a damn anymore!

 

[TickTockMan]

Oh brother you aint just whistlin Dixie! All my Christmas stuff is now tainted with the memory that someone close to me lost their job for an asinine reason and now we'll be struggling! Losing our insurance in the middle of a pandemic SMMFH!! It is the perfect end to the shittiest year ever! At this point if I wake up in the morning I wake up I don't give a damn anymore!

This has been one hell of a crappy year. Most of my issues started way before 2020 though. It just seems too much work to get happy and in the holiday mood when on my own. Why go to the trouble?

 

[rareboy]

Just scheduled our Christmas Day family call across the country!

And we have our turkey picked up...and just about everything where it should be for Dec. 22.

 

[NotHardUp1]

What amazes me is that I get the impression in old times some houses were entirely heated by such a stove. Maybe there were vents that helped (so heat could rise more easily).

I studied some regional architecture in some of my history courses.

It all just depended upon the size of the house and the region. I know my grandmother's grandparents lived in a log cabin and the hearth was so big that the wife worried a bear could come in the chimney (her husband hadn't finished building it high enough above the roofline.) It was a wide hearth, probably most of the width of the kitchen. You shudder to think how much splitting wood it took to keep that thing going.

But, once better homes were being built in the Midwest in the 19th century, iron stoves were common, and there were more than one when the size of the house merited it.

High ceilings were pretty normal in middle class homes in the South, as the transoms were key to letting heat out in the summer.

 

[NotHardUp1]

It is getting harder for me to care about anything anymore. I tried to be festive this year, but it just reminded me of stuff I would prefer to forget.

Maybe it would help to do something for a neighbor or a friend or relative. Something little but reinforcing community. Community is always intentional and it takes some work.

Try it. See if it won't help get you out of the doldrums.

 

[seven2go]

I'm busy Christmas Day morning so that day will be the normal late morning/early afternoon breakfast.
If I can swing it there will be lobster on New Year's Eve.

I had a bit of $erendipity AND lobster was on sale.........good to go........

 

[NotHardUp1]

I had a bit of $erendipity AND lobster was on sale.........good to go........

Good hunting! Do you steam them, broil them, so some other preparation?

I dearly love lobster, but have gotten gun-shy of it, as it is just about the only thing I ever eat that causes gout. I can't shed any tears, as I have a world of other foods I love, most very humble, but I do miss it.

Didn't find a bargain Tuesday, but did buy some swanky 15-20 shrimp E-Z peel, and I think I'll make a few into a cocktail for my guests Saturday, just to pop the cork, so to speak. Still trying to decide if I will serve them Chicken-Eden-Isle or braise the beef ribs I bought for a special occasion (they were on sale.)

 

[Thad1527]

Someone brought me Christmas dinner. It included a couple shrimp, some little bay scallops, a crabcake, manicotti, and spinach. I ate every bit. So good.

New Years will be home alone this year. Gatherings are still discouraged.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, anyway.