My favourite Christmas, well not my favourite, but my most memorable, was in 1982, before I had kids. I was living in Perth at the time but had travelled to Adelaide to spend Christmas with my family.
It was a surprise for my mum, she loved it, for most of the day that is..

We were all pottering around making salads and desserts, we were at my brothers house and he had his usual pig on a spit.
The smell was divine, it went through the whole house and we were getting excited to sit down, relax and enjoy our spoils.
Unfortunately the pig had other plans, simply put it exploded, it sounded like a nuclear bomb had gone off, it shook us off our feet.
We didn't know at the time but the butcher hadn't cut the pig so all the fats swirling around inside had no where to go except to work up to explode, like a volcano I guess..
All of a sudden we came to our senses and ran to the back, it was on fire, part of the house was burning, and very sadly the birds had all died in their avery, if it wasn't for the birds this would have been quite funny, as it is we laugh about it today, it's become a bit infamous, for want of another word..
So the fire brigade quickly turned up and put the house out, after the foam and water had settled there was strips of pig meat hanging everywhere like tinsel, my niece still lives in the house and a year or so ago when they had to get on the roof she said there was still pig fat up there LOL...
In the end, after everyone had calmed down we prepared to sit down to a meal of salads when the fire brigade turned up with a nice big cooked turkey for us. It made our day, heck it made our year, it was awesome and a very unforgetable Christmas..
May the birds rest in peace!

Borrowing from last years post!
Oh my god that’s insane and funny
 
I have had a lot of lovely messaged from a lot of people on here and I am very grateful. It is very heartbreaking. I had lunch with her that day and she seemed happy. Wa going to buy mate for her bird on the way home as she said her bird was depressed cause she was laying eggs that never hatched without a male. She did buy that mate on the way home and she texted me to say she bought the mate but said she was scared of him. The female bird was scared of the male. Not my daughter she was ok with this male she bought for her female.Then discussed dinner with me. Asked what I was having the told me what she was cooking the boys for dinner. Her son and her partner. Next morning I got a phone call from another daughter saying. Mum Laura hung herself last night. They revived her but the doctors said they feared she had no brain activity and that they didn't think it was survivable. They had her on life support and a decision was made to donate her organs. Someone donated organs when my son needed new lungs but unfortunately a few weeks later his body rejected the lungs and he died before any more became available. The transplant team told us that her heart had been successfully transplanted as well a her left lung and both her kidneys went to two people who had been on dialysis for years. Anyway I hope those four people get to live a successful life.💔😍
That’s so terribly sad so sorry
 
Oh my god that’s insane and funny
😂
My favourite Christmas, well not my favourite, but my most memorable, was in 1982, before I had kids. I was living in Perth at the time but had travelled to Adelaide to spend Christmas with my family.
It was a surprise for my mum, she loved it, for most of the day that is..

We were all pottering around making salads and desserts, we were at my brothers house and he had his usual pig on a spit.
The smell was divine, it went through the whole house and we were getting excited to sit down, relax and enjoy our spoils.
Unfortunately the pig had other plans, simply put it exploded, it sounded like a nuclear bomb had gone off, it shook us off our feet.
We didn't know at the time but the butcher hadn't cut the pig so all the fats swirling around inside had no where to go except to work up to explode, like a volcano I guess..
All of a sudden we came to our senses and ran to the back, it was on fire, part of the house was burning, and very sadly the birds had all died in their avery, if it wasn't for the birds this would have been quite funny, as it is we laugh about it today, it's become a bit infamous, for want of another word..
So the fire brigade quickly turned up and put the house out, after the foam and water had settled there was strips of pig meat hanging everywhere like tinsel, my niece still lives in the house and a year or so ago when they had to get on the roof she said there was still pig fat up there LOL...
In the end, after everyone had calmed down we prepared to sit down to a meal of salads when the fire brigade turned up with a nice big cooked turkey for us. It made our day, heck it made our year, it was awesome and a very unforgetable Christmas..
May the birds rest in peace!

Borrowing from last years post!
🤣
 
Always a pillowcase with presents in it on the end of my bed with one thing I have only just discovered the meaning of it in the pillowcase every year and that was an orange. I now understand about the great depression and the significant of the Christmas orange and why my mum put it in my stocking every year. Wish I had understood how lucky I was back then as a child and the meaning of this orange.
 
Each year we will leave our children’s/ grandchildren’s stockings at the end of their beds. Doing this they wake up very early and their stocking entertain them for awhile …-and we the parents can sleep a bit longer. Well not really as the sounds echo while they share amongst each other … I can’t stay away so I go and watch them until I am seen and then share their joy. Christmas is for children ❤️🎄🎅🏻
 
My Christmas memories when I was young were wonderful. My parents were always very good getting Christmas gifts for the 11 of us. Christmas dinner was delicious, our dinner table was full with Mam, Dad, 11 of us, Aunt & 2 Uncles. Miss those days 🌲
Was great back then. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year 🎄 🎁
 
I (sherryl) grew up on a dairy farm in Pemberton wa ... one Christmas eve we put out a bucket of water, some bales off hay for the remainder and some carrot and Christmas cake for Santa... next morning we got up and raced out .. and found the hay half eaten and spread everywhere the carrot and cake gone.. bucket of water knocked over and hoof prints in the dirt everywhere... we were soooo very happy that Santa and his reindeer had stopped... we talked about it for so long after .... even today... even though dad told us many years later the calves had got out that night and had a good feed.. great memories recalled so many but I think that one was the
 
I (sherryl) grew up on a dairy farm in Pemberton wa ... one Christmas eve we put out a bucket of water, some bales off hay for the remainder and some carrot and Christmas cake for Santa... next morning we got up and raced out .. and found the hay half eaten and spread everywhere the carrot and cake gone.. bucket of water knocked over and hoof prints in the dirt everywhere... we were soooo very happy that Santa and his reindeer had stopped... we talked about it for so long after .... even today... even though dad told us many years later the calves had got out that night and had a good feed.. great memories recalled so many but I think that one was the
That was great. Merry Christmas and a Happy New 🎄🎁
 
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My favourite memory of Christmas was when my eldest daughter was 3 years old. She wanted a kitten for Christmas. I took her to see Santa at the Elizabeth Shopping Centre. When he asked her what she wanted she said 'a kitten'. Santa looked at me, I nodded, and he said he would bring her a kitten, and what else do you want? She said nothing, I just want a kitten. He was touched, he said he had never met such a sweet child, no greed, no selfishness, just wants a kitten. She got that kitten, a friend had kept it for me since November. A beautiful white kitten which we named Tao and we had her for many years. My favourite memory of Christmas.
 
When my daughter was 2 and a half she was being chased by her older brother who was 13, she cracked her head on the door frame and had the biggest blackest eyes I had ever seen. A couple of days later was Christmas Day and we had bought her a bike, she ran into the lounge saying "a bap, a bap" as I took her photo. I took a few more then put the spool on top of the TV and later on I discovered she had opened it so no photos!
 
Christmas Day, Darwin 1974. It was a little different..Christmas tree and presents had disappeared. My brother and I salvaged our push bikes and went 'hunting' for our presents. We found lots. Came back to our destroyed house later with our booty. Parents and neighbours sat around in bits of chairs and boxes as we shared the presents around. Not the best Christmas but memorable.
 
I was 10yrs young & couldn't get to sleep. Mum & Dad kept popping into my room to see if I was asleep so they could start filling the pillowcase hanging on the end of my bed. My sister couldn't sleep either so she had to leave her pillowcase in the lounge room. I pretended I was asleep (they new I was pretending lol!) and every time they went out of the room I jumped up & peeped into the pillowcase. There was an intriguing box which was irresistible & turned out to be a Brownie Box Camera! I didn't open it, just looked at the box & put it back. Wow! A Camera! I was so excited & couldn't wait for morning. I took to photography like a duck to water & still love it. 😃
 
When my daughter was 2 and a half she was being chased by her older brother who was 13, she cracked her head on the door frame and had the biggest blackest eyes I had ever seen. A couple of days later was Christmas Day and we had bought her a bike, she ran into the lounge saying "a bap, a bap" as I took her photo. I took a few more then put the spool on top of the TV and later on I discovered she had opened it so no photos!
Oh no! Thank goodness for digital cameras eh!
 
Christmas Day, Darwin 1974. It was a little different..Christmas tree and presents had disappeared. My brother and I salvaged our push bikes and went 'hunting' for our presents. We found lots. Came back to our destroyed house later with our booty. Parents and neighbours sat around in bits of chairs and boxes as we shared the presents around. Not the best Christmas but memorable.
I remember that day clearly even though we lived far from there. How amazing there were gifts to be found among the debris. The resilience of Kids eh! It must've been terrifying!
 
From a Kiwi: some happy some sad memories
In the 50s I always got a Rupert album, among a few other pressies but not the plethora kids get these days.
They were all special although a couple of times the card from Nana was a recycled one she had been sent the previous year plus a half a crown :)
But one year was a little different. When we had salads Mum made dressing using condensed milk, the time usually being opened with a hole on opposite side of the top. A small boy would sneak to the fridge and have a suck on the hole for a delicious sweet treat. Much like he always found out where she hid the meringues/
So, one Christmas in the stocking was a whole can of condensed milk just for me.
Oh how this little piggy went to "market"
This was a very pleasant Christmas unlike 2 other ones
1953, the Tangiwai rail disaster and on the Christmas Day and the news arrived at the house that my Godmother, Mum's niece, on her way to us, was one of the 151 victims. I clearly remember Mum, her sisters and all the other women disappearing in to one of the bedrooms.
A terrible time for so many families
1967: I was at my sisters farm when a late night phone call from Dad told us Mum had died. A sad dark drive back home
 

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