Skip to main content

Christmas Firsts #16 : Simmons Family Christmas


Today, the Simmons family ( my husband's family, and hence my family too) is celebrating Christmas together for the 32nd year. As in all good loving families , there is most likely some disagreement about the actual number , but as far as some of us can remember, the family came together for Christmas for the first time in 1985 and that is, in another  home rather than in their childhood home in Bonnell's Bay.  This was some years after the tragic death of Rose Simmons , my mother-in-law who had previously always welcomed everyone "home" for Christmas and by 1985,  owing to various locational changes for work , most of the family were within reasonable travelling distance from one another. 
Simmons Family Christmas 2008 

And this is how the Simmons family Christmas works - one of the Simmons siblings organises the date and hosts the gathering in his or her home. 
Simmons family siblings 
Everyone in the family is allocated some food to contribute, and in a secret Santa draw, we are also allocated a family member as our gift recipient and depending on the number of children in the family at the time, each individual family also purchases a gift for one of the children - this means that everyone in the family receives a gift. While the presents are excitedly anticipated by the children, for the adults it is usually a day of indulgence - lots of great food! 
Simmons Family Christmas 2013 


Simmons Family Christmas 2016

Over the years, of course the family has grown ( in different ways ....  there are now children, their partners,  grandchildren and some of them have partners  and great-grandchildren . The Christmas gathering is a time when new relationships between generations are made. 
 There are at least half the number of the family who weren't even born in the 1980's and sadly, some of the family have passed away. Over the ensuing years, the Christmas gatherings have witnessed the growing up of many of the family members and the many changes of  places of residence. Christmas gatherings have been in Newcastle, Taree, Bonnell's Bay, Morisset Park, Pretty Beach, Sydney, Lake Macquarie, Tamworth, Cardiff South, Rutherford, Wallsend , Coffs Harbour, Ogunbil .... and more. 
Even after 32 years, the Simmons Family Christmas remains one of the most important days of the festive season and the whole year for us ...  Thanks to whoever thought of this way to celebrate as a family. Merry Christmas from the Simmons family! 
Just a note - the Simmons family in England also have a similar annual gathering on the last weekend in November.  

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

"Temari Or Not Temari?" Tutorial

 Background Information:  Temari (literally translated “hand ball”) is a Japanese folk craft that is alleged to have originated in China and was introduced to Japan five or six hundred years ago. Traditionally, the balls were constructed from wrapped kimono fabric remnants and silk threads. They were made by mothers and grandmothers for children to play with. Nowadays, decorative embroidered temari represent a highly valued and cherished gift symbolizing friendship and loyalty. Recently I've wondered if your don't use traditional techniques whether you should call what you create "temari". That is an ongoing debate but today I share what I do to make a "non-traditional temari".... 1.I start  with a polystrene ball ( traditionally the balls were wound  silk scraps or other organic materials) and begin to wrap with approx 4 ply wool, turning the ball as I wrap.  2. I then wrap another layer of wool in a similar fashion , this time a 3 or 2 ...

Bilby Infatuation

  Wrapped wire and fabric bilby sculpture : Wilma Simmons 2016  Over the years I have been fascinated with the plight of the bilby and it has inspired quite a few of my cloth creations... With long pinkish-coloured ears and silky, blue-grey fur, the Bilby has become Australia’s version of the Easter Bunny. Unlike the rabbit, bilby numbers are falling rapidly. There were originally two species but the Greater Bilby is now commonly referred to simply as ‘the Bilby’ as the Lesser Bilby (Macrotis leucura) is thought to have become extinct in the early 1950s... Bilbies are nocturnal, emerging after dark to forage for food. Using their long snouts, they dig out bulbs, tubers, spiders, termites, witchetty grubs and fungi. They use their tongues to lick up grass seeds. Bilbies have poor sight and rely on good hearing and a keen sense of smell. To minimise threats from predators they’ll mostly stay within 250m of their burrows, but sometimes roam further afield depending on the food...

Countdown to Christmas 20 - Fruitcake song!

There are many songs about fruit cakes  - not all of them referring to the Christmas cake we know and love.It is really surprising to learn via Google that there are 89 listed songs with references to Christmas cake or fruit cake - not all of them complimentary.   Probably one of the most famous folk songs about Christmas cake is Miss Fogarty's  Christmas Cake (a favourite sung by The Irish Rovers).  This first recorded comical Christmas song was written by C Frank Horn in 1883 in Pennsylania, as a variation of an Irish folk song, 'Miss Mulligan's Christmas Cake' . The chorus might give you the hint that Miss Fogarty's cake was not for the faint hearted or those who suffered from a weak stomach.    Chorus : There were plums and prunes and cherries, There were citrons and raisins and cinnamon, too There was nutmeg, cloves and berries And a crust that was nailed on with glue There were caraway seeds in abundance Such that...