'Christmas Hampers'

The one thing I have always longed to win or be sent for Christmas is a whacking great big Christmas hamper! I don't quite understand why I feel that way because I don't drink very much (so bottles of wine or spirits wouldn't be much use) nor do I eat a lot of the stuff that would come with the hamper but there is just something irresistibly festive about the look of a giant whicker basket stuffed to the gunnels with exotic goodies!

I think part of my perception of Christmas hampers comes from my childhood. I recall that my mum used to be an agent for Kays catalogue when I was a kid and I often used to spend ages looking through the Toy section in the run up to Christmas dreaming about what I'd like to get.  Kays used to sell Christmas hampers as well and there would always be a few pages of pics. Reading through the list of all the goodies you could expect to receive in each version of the hamper really used to get my juices flowing! With ever so Christmassy pictures of tinsel and baubles amongst the hamper contents to make them seem even more desirable I suppose I have grown up with the vision of the Christmas hamper being the ultimate gift...

God, what a dream I must be for those marketing moguls who deliberately dream up such tactics to instill in people all the stuff mentioned above!

Whatever, if I could afford to do it I would always send out a well stocked Christmas hamper to my friends and loved ones at this time of year. I have been thinking a lot lately of how nice it would be if you won the lottery and was able to act upon a lot of the things that touch you in everyday life rather than simply have to shrug your shoulders and accept reality. There are so many worthy causes each Christmas that it would make me feel good to support and having the ability to make a real difference to someones life and enjoyment of the festive season would really make me feel even more like Father Christmas! I guess some of you will think that I have a 'God complex' but I certainly wouldn't want his job! No, for me, I'm all about being Santa, all about making a difference once a year and then letting the rest of the world try to work together to adopt my friendly attitude the rest of the year round. I don't believe in preaching, I believe in teaching...Goodness! That was profound! HA HA

Finally, don't forget that Santa will be visiting Battle in East Sussex later today to turn on their Christmas lights. He and his entourage are due to arrive at 1.50pm and I hope to be there to see him! If I manage to make it expect lots of pics of the festivities here soon...

See you there! Love Tony xx