Christmas River Cottage style

River Cottage is warming up for Christmas.




You can place your orders here.

How do you know when Christmas has arrived?

Is it seeing a crisp white blanket of snow on the ground outside? Is it opening the last door on your Advent calendar? Is it Auntie Mabel coming round for extra helpings of Christmas dinner?

Well, apparently now. According to supermarkets, it's the sale of one item more than any other that announces the arrival of Christmas. And it's not mince pies, or turkey, or even Christmas pudding. It is in fact... quilted toilet paper!

You can read more about the Hyacinth Bucket phenomenon here.

Ding dong merrily online

Internet retailers dubbed Monday 30 November "Cyber Monday" thinking that it would be their busiest Christmas shopping day. In the run-up to last Christmas, we spent £4.67billion using the net. But the Centre For Retail Research (CRR) expects that figure to rise to £8.9BILLION this year - accounting for one in five of all UK sales.

You can read more about the phenomenon of Christmas shopping online here.

Christmas dinner for £1.83?

Apparently, the powers that be as ASDA believe they are offering Britain's best festive bargain... a full Christmas meal for £1.83 a head.

The luxury lunch has turkey, spuds, carrots, gravy, cranberry sauce and stuffing, followed by a Christmas pudding and six mince pies.

But if it looks anything like this, I'd personally think twice...

Lego Winter Toy Shop

If you're a fan of Lego - and let's face it, who isn't? - then you'll be pleased to know that there is a brand new Christmas themed set out in time for this December 25.












It's the Winter Toy Shop and comes complete with Christmas tree, carol singers and a mini-figure that would appear to be Noel Edmonds, who always used to be on the telly on Christmas Day (although here he appears to be bothering a cat).


To get hold of your Winter Toy Shop, click here.

Christmas shopping on the continent

If you've not been too badly hit by the credit crunch this year, then you might like to treat yourself to an early Christmas present but doing your Christmas shopping at one of Europe's famed Christmas markets.


Directline Citybreaks has some good deals on offer here.

A Champagne Christmas

Why not splash out this Christmas with a bottle or two of champagne? After all, the cost of a bottle of champagne could drop to as low as £10, as stores are forced to cut prices to clear their stocks of millions of bottles that have been left unsold thanks to the recession.


Then you could have a go at making this delicious Christmas cocktail.

Christmas Champagne Cocktail

Serves/Makes: 1

Ingredients:
1 lemon wedge
1/4 cup pink decorating sugar
1 sugar cube
1 dash of pomegranate nectar
Chilled champagne, or other sparkling wine or sparkling cider

Rub the rim of a champagne flute with the lemon wedge, then dip the rim into the decorating sugar (save any extra sugar for making more cocktails. Put the sugar cube into the flute. Drop the pomegranate nectar on the sugar. Pour in the sparkling wine or cider to fill the glass. Serve at once.

To find out more about the champagne price crash, click here.

Christmas comes early... again

There has been some furore in the press this weekend about department stores selling Christmas items four months early. This is what the Sun had to say about it (in the Sun's usual tone-down style).

The latest store to get a lambasting is Selfridges' in London. As the Sun puts it, 'Posh Selfridges on London's Oxford Street is selling trees and decorations from a basement Christmas store.'

Now, I don't know what all the fuss is about. As reported on the blog last year, Harrods has a whole Christmas department open from the start of August, and in Disneyworld in Florida there are dedicated Christmas shops open all year round.

Church leaders are apparently concerned that, 'We should not forget the true meaning of Christmas which is to celebrate the birth of Christ.'

Now, sorry to be blunt, but for many these days, Christ is not uppermost in their minds when they think about Christmas, even in December. And for others, the opportunity to buy early just helps them to be more organised when it comes to Christmas which is an incredible busy and pressured time of year. And, of course, many businesses depend on Christmas sales to make any money and stay afloat at all, such as The Christmas Shop in Lechlade, Glouscestershire, or Old Rowland's Christmas and Gift Shop in Cheddar, Somerset.

24 December - Christmas Eve!

Yes, it's almost here - only one day to go until Christmas Day! So, what does Christmas Eve itself have in store?

Well, traditionalists will be putting up their Christmas trees and other decorations today, whilst last minute shoppers will be panic buying, spending (on average) £33 on last minute purchases.

There are many traditions associated with this day, but some have long been forgotten. First there is the tradition of the Dumb Cake (a type of loaf!) which a young spinster would make in silence to help her determine the identity of her future intended.

Christmas Eve was considered a day of abstinence and, as such, was a day when traditionally fish was eaten rather than meat. It is also a day when younger parishioners attend a Crib Service at church.

Of course it is tonight when hopeful children (and some adults) hang up stockings (or sacks!) in the hope that Father Christmas might fill them to bursting with presents.

And some people attend Midnight Mass with churches welcoming in Christmas Day with a peal of bells (announcing the birth of Christ and the death of the Devil).

You can read more about these traditions (and a number of others) in What is Myrrh Anyway? which is still available from good bookshops until they close for Christmas later today.

What is Myrrh Anyway? makes the perfect Christmas stocking filler!

12 Days of Christmas Sale

Amazon.co.uk have started their own 12 Days of Christmas Sale a little early. If you're looking for some festive bargains for loved ones (or yourself) this year, then click here.

Christmas Shopping? Forget the Credit Crunch!

If, miraculously, you find yourself not too badly hit by the credit crunch, or you have been hit but would rather just forget about it with the aid of a little retail therapy, then why not go abroad to do your Christmas shopping this year?


Expedia.co.uk are offering a host of European destinations to help get you in the festive mood with a little early Christmas shopping, so if this sounds like your sort of thing click here, to visit the Expedia site.

What is Myrrh Anyway? Out this week!

Hark, for I am the bearer of glad tidings to you and all your kin. For lo, What is Myrrh Anyway? is out this week!

So that's all your Christmas shopping needs sorted, in one easy to read, easy to wrap book, that's the ideal size to fit inside your Christmas stocking!

What is Myrrh Anyway? hits the shops this Thursday, but you can already order it online at Amazon.

Ho, ho, ho.

Christmas Comes Early: Example #3 - Welcome to Christmas World!

Today I briefly visited Christmas World at Harrod's. Christmas World! And it's not even the end of September!

But that's not the worst of it. London's most famous corner shop has been piping festive tunes into their little corner of Christmas since... 2 August!

Pity the poor shop assistants who have to work there for five months of the year! I bet they'll really be looking forward to Christmas by the time 25 December comes.