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Now that Christmas is upon us and we begin reflecting on the festive season from years gone by, what are your memories of Christmas past?

I find myself thinking nostalgically back to earlier times, reflecting on all those feel good memories of yesteryear. One memory that sticks in my mind is a snapshot of collecting holly laden with red berries with my grandfather on the frost-coated canal bank and taking it back to my grandparents’ home, where it was used as decoration above the eaves of the doors and above picture frames.  Back in those days, the winters were freezing cold and we had coal fires and no central heating at our house!  The snow often seemed to be up to my knees when we were sent home from school–the school milk having frozen solid in those tiny glass bottles and the boiler gone on the blink so deemed too cold for us to be there.

We didn’t seem to expect too much from Father Christmas back then either, [maybe a favourite ‘must-have’ toy or two, like a Tiny Tears baby doll which could both cry and wet herself! Or a new bike, toy pram, train set or doll’s house]. We were content with a selection box and a Christmas stocking filled with such delights as chocolate coins covered in gold foil, a chocolate Santa, a tangerine and a few small toys that would fit in the stocking.

Santa arrived at our house during the early hours of Christmas day. I knew he’d arrived as my legs felt heavy as the quilt on my bed was laden with gifts.  In those days we lived near a dairy and the milk floats passed the house on Christmas day.  So I would guess I must have woken at 5 am or 6 am as it was still pitch black outside.  The first port of call would be to wake my brother up and we’d both creep downstairs with our presents and make a start on our chocolate selection boxes, even before eating breakfast.  My parents would still be fast asleep upstairs for another couple of hours until my mother stirred to put the turkey in the oven and make other preparations for the day itself.  My father would have gone to the pub on Christmas Eve, so he’d have quite a long lie in to sleep off the effects. I remember him telling me once he’d see Father Christmas at the pub that Christmas Eve and he’d relay my message of what I wanted for Christmas to the man. Unfortunately, Mother Christmas (my own mother) didn’t realise I wanted a Sindy doll that particular year. So I never received one, but I still had some lovely presents and it was made up for as the following Christmas, I received a beautiful singing/talking and walking doll in a pink lace dress! My mother had ordered her from a newspaper advert and I’d spent ages scouring that advert reading what this doll would look like, the songs she sang (Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star and London Bridge is Falling Down!) and the phrases she would speak. The doll was very tall and almost the same size as myself and she smelled so beautiful, I can still remember that smell. Her brown curled hair was so soft too and her eyes opened and closed. She was a vision of perfection to me and I took her everywhere!

Back then, if we were up early as a child, you watched an old black and white TV where a star like Leslie Crowther, visited a London Children’s Hospital.  The children there would be presented with gifts and the nurses made their uniforms look festive, decking their hats with tinsel. I used to feel so sorry for those kids being in hospital on Christmas day but they seemed to get some great gifts and plenty of attention, so maybe it wasn’t so bad for them after all!

My grandparents were early risers, so we’d run to their house which was just 3 doors away to show them all the gifts we’d got.  My gran usually gave me a Bunty annual every year which she’d sign and my brother got a Beano or Dandy annual.  She’d also give us money so we could buy what we wanted after Christmas. She was quite practical like that. Or other years, she and my grandfather would take us to a big store in Cardiff so we could pick our own presents. I remember having a small Singer sewing machine and my brother had a Liliput typewriter one year. Strangely enough, I was the one who used the typewriter the most as I loved writing stories and still do! But my brother did love the wooden fort our grandfather made for him one year. It was nice to receive homemade gifts as there was so much love, care and time put into them. I remember my uncle made me a lovely wooden doll’s house one year complete with furniture and wallpaper on the walls! It was treasured for many years.

Later on Christmas morning, my mother would get up and light the coal fire and set the table, which was moved into the middle of the room, for Christmas dinner.  We’d have things on the table we didn’t use the rest of the year, like a special red table cloth with festive prints and matching serviettes.  We always got to drink those miniature bottles of Babycham with the meal, which was usually turkey and the trimmings followed by Christmas Pudding, Mrs Peeks in the blue cellophane wrap which was boiled for a couple of hours in the already small, steamed up kitchen.

During the afternoon there’d be Christmas Top of the Pops, playing the Christmas number one for that particular year.  This was followed by the Queen’s Speech.  In the evening, the whole family would settle down to watch The Morcambe and Wise Christmas Show.  They always had a special guest on who joined in the fun, like Shirley Bassey or Tom Jones.  I’ll never forget the year, Ms. Bassey stood there singing ‘Smoke Gets in Your Eyes’ as Eric jammed her foot into a workman’s boot!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Xvln035znM

There would be so much eating and drinking that day we’d feel quite full by the time we got to our beds.  Of course the evening was usually an anti climax because for me the expectation of Christmas on Christmas Eve was always the best part of all.

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Excerpt: The Workhouse Waif

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Megan was becoming excited on the run up to Christmas day itself. It really thrilled her to see people coming into the tea room carrying gaily wrapped presents, their cheeks pinched and flushed from the frosty air. She’d hear them chatter about their plans for the festive season to one another and to her employer.

“Yes, Peggy, we’ll be spending Christmas with Alf’s folk in the country. They came to us last year, so it’s our turn to go there this year. It won’t be such hard work for me…”

“Oooh Peggy, I’ve bought my little Winifred this beautiful china doll, when I saw it in Edmonds’ Bazaar I knew she just had to have it. Won’t her face be a picture on the big day itself?”

“Could we order a couple of your miniature Christmas cakes to have with our tea, Peggy? They look ever so nice.”

Megan loved all the chatter, but at times her mind drifted back to the workhouse, though she knew that was the one day of the year the inmates looked forward to as the food was heaps better and they could see their relatives also interned at the workhouse. Usually, visits to one another were sparse. They were allowed a visit on a Sunday and sometimes for particular occasions like birthdays or if their relative were unwell. The workhouse divided families—that fact Megan knew all too well. Her family was still divided in a way but at least they got to meet occasionally at Mr and Mrs Evans’s home in Twynyrodyn, and she knew all were well cared for, including herself.

She was becoming increasingly concerned about Griff, he’d been practising hard at the Temperance Hall for a special show during Christmas week. He hadn’t called to the shop nor to Mrs Mathias’s house for the past two days.

She vowed to herself if he did not call tomorrow, she would seek him out herself, even though she hated setting foot in the China district of Merthyr. Mrs Mathias had warned her that young ladies had set foot in that place never to return home again. She said there were bad people there known as, ‘bullies’, who ran gangs of pickpockets and prostitutes. Megan still wasn’t sure what a prostitute was mind you. Though she had a fair idea that maybe the man who had accosted her that time was one of those bullies himself.

As Megan went about her business at the tea room that day, she noticed Peggy had a strange gleam in her eye and kept humming to herself. That was odd, she seemed so pleased with herself, but that was nice as she had worried so much about Eli of late. At the end of the working day, when it had grown dark and the last customers departed, wishing them both a ‘Merry Christmas’ as they left, Peggy locked the door and sat at one of the tables.

“Megan, please sit down, I have something to tell you…”

Purchase book here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01M8JN9H4

Midnight Wishes and Mistletoe Kisses!

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It’s on the approach to Christmas and office worker, Marsha Riley, wants to be anywhere other than where she is right now. She dislikes Christmas with a vengeance as the festive season was never the same after her father died when she was ten-years-old. To make matters worse, she has the young Bradley to contend with, who shadows her around the office like a puppy dog.

However, all is about to change when she encounters the boss’s eldest son, Jake Harrison. He’s devilishy handsome and the glint in his eyes indicates he could be a dangerous encounter.

Meanwhile, back at the office there’s the Annual Secret Santa Draw. Whilst seeking a gift for it, Marsha finds a snow globe almost identical to the one her father gave her as a child, even the little girl inside it looks like her at the same age, before her father passed away.
At midnight, she’s lying on her bed, when she lifts the object and gives it a good shake, at the same time she makes a wish.

Will her wish come true? Or is she destined to remain in an office where she’s pestered by a young upstart who has designs upon her and is on the edge of becoming a stalker, or does her destiny lie elsewhere?

Available here! https://www.amazon.co.uk/Midnight-Wishes-Mistletoe-Kisses-Lynette-ebook/dp/B01JEJCH3U

 

Free on Kindle for next few days!

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It’s on the approach to Christmas and office worker, Marsha Riley, wants to be anywhere other than where she is right now. She dislikes Christmas with a vengeance as the festive season was never the same after her father died when she was ten-years-old. To make matters worse, she has the young Bradley to contend with, who shadows her around the office like a puppy dog.

However, all is about to change when she encounters the boss’s eldest son, Jake Harrison. He’s devilishy handsome and the glint in his eyes indicates he could be a dangerous encounter.

Meanwhile, back at the office there’s the Annual Secret Santa Draw. Whilst seeking a gift for it, Marsha finds a snow globe almost identical to the one her father gave her as a child, even the little girl inside it looks like her at the same age, before her father passed away.
At midnight, she’s lying on her bed, when she lifts the object and gives it a good shake, at the same time she makes a wish.

Will her wish come true? Or is she destined to remain in an office where she’s pestered by a young upstart who has designs upon her and is on the edge of becoming a stalker, or does her destiny lie elsewhere?

Download here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Midnight-Wishes-Mistletoe-Kisses-Lynette-ebook/dp/B01JEJCH3U

Free on Kindle for next few days!

All I Want for Christmas Kindle.jpg

Thirty year old, Katie Doyle, moves in with her mad cap best friend, Stella, when her relationship with controlling Casanova, Richard Stillman goes pear-shaped.

On a boozy night out she is about to encounter a younger man, who will change her life forever, but first she must implement a plan to wreak revenge on her ex, before she can get on track and move on with her life over the festive season.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/All-Want-Christmas-Lynette-Rees-ebook/dp/B01924JL1S

Midnight Wishes and Mistletoe Kisses

 

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My Christmas novella, ‘Midnight Wishes and Mistletoe Kisses’ has just gone live on Amazon Kindle! It’s a quick, festive read that can be enjoyed any time of the year! 🙂 xx

It’s on the approach to Christmas and office worker, Marsha Riley, wants to be anywhere other than where she is right now. She dislikes Christmas with a vengeance as the festive season was never the same after her father died when she was ten-years-old. To make matters worse, she has the young Bradley to contend with, who shadows her around the office like a puppy dog.

However, all is about to change when she encounters the boss’s eldest son, Jake Harrison. He’s devilishy handsome and the glint in his eyes indicates he could be a dangerous encounter.

Meanwhile, back at the office there’s the Annual Secret Santa Draw. Whilst seeking a gift for it, Marsha finds a snow globe almost identical to the one her father gave her as a child, even the little girl inside it looks like her at the same age, before her father passed away.
At midnight, she’s lying on her bed, when she lifts the object and gives it a good shake, at the same time she makes a wish.

Will her wish come true? Or is she destined to remain in an office where she’s pestered by a young upstart who has designs upon her and is on the edge of becoming a stalker, or does her destiny lie elsewhere?

Purchase book here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Midnight-Wishes-Mistletoe-Kisses-Lynette-ebook/dp/B01JEJCH3U