Though winter is my least favourite time of year (the dark and the cold do not appeal) I absolutely adore Christmas. The rituals, the magic and the chaos of the season make it a holiday I look forward to every year.

I usually start gathering present ideas around mid September and by the end of October generally have a few pressies ticked off my rather large list.
The house is customarily decked from the 1st December and the tree follows soon after. With friends and family spread far and wide, the celebrations tend to span over a long period and to be honest from the minute the calendar flips over to December the goodwill and merriment begin.

I was feeling rather smug with myself last month as I bought my sister a present I know she will love. Invariably she’s always first on the list as she often receives a gift I really want for myself but don’t feel I can justify. When I showed my Mum she remarked it would make a great house-warming present instead so now I have precisely zero pressies purchased and no ideas what to buy anyone. This is a first for me and I feel a bit panicked. I realise there’s more to Christmas than giving and receiving but you wouldn’t think this was the case considering the large amount of brochures and catalogues dropping on my door mat this week.

I used to work in retail so I understand why Christmas related paraphernalia makes an appearance in August. However vital it is to the economy it did feel exceptionally early this year. Last week families were doing the annual pumpkin trail at a country house near me dressed in shorts. It was THAT warm. This unseasonably mild weather has completed flummoxed my plan for an organised Christmas and I am in complete denial that there are only two paydays before the big day.

Miranda’s birthday falls at the end of November and for her Christmas doesn’t kick in until December so I realise there’s no reason to feel pressured I’m running behind on my usual schedule. How long do you really need to do your Christmas shopping?

Speaking of schedule we do have lots of festive content planned for you over the next few weeks including DIY’s, recipes and gift guides so I’m hoping I’ll get in to the Christmas swing of things very soon. The fact I had to scrape my car window yesterday and spent most of the morning infatuated with #montythepenguin suggests I’m getting closer. We’ll be kicking off next week with a discussion post about how you decide where you’ll be eating your turkey dinner on the big day.

We would love to hear from you about your views on the start of Christmas period. Have you had your presents wrapped since the beginning of September or are you more of a last minute kind of gal? When do you usually deck the halls and put the tree up?
Also please feel free to drop us a comment if there’s any particular festive topics you would like to see covered over the next couple of months.