Not being religious, I don’t wish people a Merry Christmas, most often I like to wish people a quiet, peaceful, none-commercial, family-oriented summer solstice holiday break – if you can get one!

Not everyone can get a day off on the 25th of December. Our son worked as a chef for 20 years. He was always at work cooking everybody else’s festive lunch and dinner, for them to have a time off with their family. So for those twenty-odd years, we never had a Christmas Day lunch together as a family. We always made up for it, by having a big family lunch the next day after the restaurant had closed for the long week between Xmas and New Year. 
However,  there was one big benefit, There was always some food left over in the kitchen that wouldn’t keep for the 10 day shut down over the new year break, so someone had to eat it. After he had spent so much time cooking it all. It made an easy Boxing Day lunch of luxurious leftovers. Over the years, we had prawns, oysters and even lobster added to our garden oriented veggie meal.

This year, our son purchased some new chickens for his wife for Xmas. So as to have them as a surprise for her on the day, he collected them during the week and brought them here to our house to keep in our chicken run with our girls until the big day. These chickens are bred for commercial use in big egg farms. By buying them for domestic use, we are rescuing them from a terrible life of confined servitude. 
Three of the new chickens are white like leghorns, and the other 3 are dark brown. The 3 white hens were the first to take the lead and suss out the run. One is quite talkative, clucking all the time. I call her ‘clucks’, One other is very ‘cluey’ and quickly discovered the water and feed bowls, then the first to venture out into the big orchard to scratch around. The third clung closely to her white sisters, forming a ‘clan’. Completely undaunted by their new surroundings, they took the lead in exploring this new situation. They have it all over the other hens – White Supremicists! 
I have named them the ‘clue’, ‘clucks’, ‘clan’!

It’s traditional at this time of year to send out cards with red and green images redolent of Northern Hemisphere holly. So I am adding a few red and green, organic, home grown, local images.
Have a quiet, peaceful, none-commercial, family-oriented, summer solstice holiday break!
Keep safe.