Mistletoe and Wine
Gathered around the table, its December, everyone’s off work and university and together as a family, we’re sat around a cheeseboard like it’s a Ouija board, summoning the spirits of the fine dairy goodness.
Thankfully, it’s not Monopoly, because that led to cobs being thrown around the house last year. No, this year it’s a cheeseboard, my mom has a new house, and no cobs are going to be thrown, else we feel her wrath.
This is a special Christmas, because we have a new house, I am recently engaged, and my aunt is over from Ireland, and potentially most importantly, my mom and her boyfriend have recently started to brew their own white wine. We’re drinking store bought white at the moment, and the bubbling of the Brew-Your-Own set carries on in the background. It was the soundtrack of our Christmas. That sound, and the sound of someone enquiring why the “wine was wrapped in a blanket?”, “It’s bloody cold that’s why!”. The heating in the house isn’t quite there yet, but my family knows where the priorities lie.
They’re working on their second batch, but the first batch is bottled up in the garage. We’re all eager to have some, but no one wants to venture into the cold. Benevolently, my mom’s boyfriend shoves on his flip flops to match his shorts and Christmas jumper (don’t ask), and steps out into the icy garden. He comes back in with the wine holder with six full bottles. They haven’t figured out a labelling system yet, so 99 Green Bottles springs to mind.
He pours us all a little glass just so we can taste it. It’s strong I’ll give them that. All 10 of us say “Cheers!” and gulp the last little bit. Then the séance continues, candles around us, Christmas lights twinkling, as we all laugh, sigh and drink. Here’s to a happy new year and beginning.
Gathered around the table, its December, everyone’s off work and university and together as a family, we’re sat around a cheeseboard like it’s a Ouija board, summoning the spirits of the fine dairy goodness.
Thankfully, it’s not Monopoly, because that led to cobs being thrown around the house last year. No, this year it’s a cheeseboard, my mom has a new house, and no cobs are going to be thrown, else we feel her wrath.
This is a special Christmas, because we have a new house, I am recently engaged, and my aunt is over from Ireland, and potentially most importantly, my mom and her boyfriend have recently started to brew their own white wine. We’re drinking store bought white at the moment, and the bubbling of the Brew-Your-Own set carries on in the background. It was the soundtrack of our Christmas. That sound, and the sound of someone enquiring why the “wine was wrapped in a blanket?”, “It’s bloody cold that’s why!”. The heating in the house isn’t quite there yet, but my family knows where the priorities lie.
They’re working on their second batch, but the first batch is bottled up in the garage. We’re all eager to have some, but no one wants to venture into the cold. Benevolently, my mom’s boyfriend shoves on his flip flops to match his shorts and Christmas jumper (don’t ask), and steps out into the icy garden. He comes back in with the wine holder with six full bottles. They haven’t figured out a labelling system yet, so 99 Green Bottles springs to mind.
He pours us all a little glass just so we can taste it. It’s strong I’ll give them that. All 10 of us say “Cheers!” and gulp the last little bit. Then the séance continues, candles around us, Christmas lights twinkling, as we all laugh, sigh and drink. Here’s to a happy new year and beginning.
