Mr Grumpy s Christmas ...or Gone with the wind ?

Aye Bonkers, things have definitely changed for the worse. Even my role model, Scrooge turned bad in the end. Is there nothing sacred? A man's wallet used to be a thing of beauty but all it is these days is empty. See you down the pub where you are invited to become a member of the Bah Humbug and miserable old gits club.

~ it is lovely to hear small children singing carols~used to do it with my sister~ but these days their mums wouldn't let them out to go carol singing in case they were molested~it's not the same world any more Ray!~Roll on Spring!

He he Toto just the fella to recognise the rare moths in my wallet ..can you imagine us 2 together like those old fellas on the Muppets ..suppose we are sitting targets living next to a church Arlene .Molested ? You seen the size of children today lol

was thinking about really little ones like we used to have around here but yes it is mostly teenage ones who trick and treat and carol sing these days~more's the pity!~like the ones who lit a fire next to a tree in the wood~ fortunately not badly damaged~love to tell their parents what I thought!

This was the first year i can remember not having carol singers I really missed them.

Great blog as always and so true to word, when any singers come to my door i look through window if bigish dont even go to door, its like trick or treat exactly the same, door stays closed, well bet they have more money than me, and i can do more with my money than they would.

Yes the little ones always welcome .. they are still happy with goodie bags I dont scare them all off lol

Aye Clarice wouldnt mind if they knew any carols its the hammering first then one line ..nice work if you can get it .

At least we can laugh about it ..now .

Well hello there Mister Grumpy ~
Is your custard always lumpy ?

Christmas candle lost its shine ~
Dripped its wax in your best wine ?

Set your heart on flower seeds ~
But your stocking full of weeds ?

Ate up all your Christmas cake.. ?
Must be something good, for heaven's sake...

Yes....great thing through this snow and rain...
....The antidote is LOVELY JANE :o)

Thanks TT for your nice rhyme but love a whinge at Christmas time ,
Yes dear Jane fills me with joy ..her New Year wish a fit toyboy ..

Yes, before the New Year binge..
Have a therapeutic whinge...

But, wait a minute.... What's your game ?
TOYBOY is your middle name...!

You are young, and keen and sprightly...
Working on computer nightly...

You'll be giving gardening talks...
Dashing chap from up in Yorks.

My new year wish is not contrary,
Good health for you, and Jane and Mary :o)

LOL Bb !

Thanks TT for swapping verses and wading through my Christmas curses ..
Crocus ,Truffle and Conker dear ..to them and you a great New Year x

Cheers Louise ..

:o) xxx

Spot on Ray, as always. You summed it all up very nicely. Ah we knew how to enjoy ourselves in the old days.

LOVE IT BB...........

Had a chuckle Bb, your ryhme is oh so true and you have been very polite, lol ,we didn`t get any carol singers at all I think the weather put them off and I only open the door to little ones and proper groups from the local church.....
Our snow has nearly gone (thank goodness).....
Very entertaining blog, thanks all....Lol.

Aye Drb .. all gets a little crazy these days but at least they showed Morecambe and Wise and Wallace and Gromit so enough there to keep an old grumpy quiet for a few hours ..

Cheers Hollyeves ..glad it raised a smile x

Same here Lincslass yes had to censor myself several times lol.. its really the little ones that keep Christmas magical so much pressure for them to grow up quickly and those early years when you dont need a second mortgage for their gifts is lovely .

Yes Ray, managed to see Morecombe and Wise, but had to spend part of Christmas Day on my Grandaughters wii fit, we all did a thing that worked out how old your body was , I discovered mine was exactly the right age, how that happened I'll never know after the sprouts and Chrissy pud. I was chuffed though as her boyfriends body was 14 years older than he actually is. HA! HA! I'm not allowed to tell you what my wife's was as I rather fancy seeing the New Year.

Love it Ray - you are so good at these verses and your words describe a sign of the times. I think the nearest thing on TV this Christmas which related to what Christmas is really all about was the Vicar of Dibley, lol.

Lol Drb dread to think what mine would say apart from get off might of said something diplomatic like your bum looks big on that Jane .

Thanks for the tip must make a mental note weight age and now wii scores not to mention ..

Thanks Dawn not really that grumpy but if got together with Toto think we d give those TV grumpies a good run ..trouble is it would probably be past closing time before we could agree who should buy the round .

oh so true your christmas poem,
and stuck inside with endless snowin,
no decent carols like you say.
nore any films to pass the day
bring on spring and bulbs on show
let us see our gardens glow
soon be here ray in all its glory
and then you can tell a differant story
birds, flowers and sunshine bright
to make your blogs a welcome sight.

GREAT VERSES RAY, xmas just isnt the same is it, anyway a new year to look forward to in the garden :o))

Good rhyme San :-))

cheers louise :o)))

Thank you Sandra great you answered in rhyme ..had to smile when you got your wish for snow lovely to see over Christmas then you got fed up with it lol

Love it !
Cheer up BB Spring is on its way I spotted bulbs poking through this morning while I was sweeping up soggy leaves.Happy New Year xx :0)

lol yes thats it ray, guess i just wanted a white christmas :o))

Thanks Sue thats cheered me up to hear you got milder weather in Hampshire lol cant wait to go frolocking through the fields with all the spring lambs next week .. the daffodils the bluebells , lovely.

Aye Sandra and we got the most lovely icicles from our guttering hung like glass rods all along the house.

i bet they look lovely, i didnt get them :o( have you took a pic of them ray?

Yes Sandra .. will search some out and pop them on for you .x

We're due to get the snow tomorrow - but having said that, we never seem to get it when its forecast, we'll see. Looking forward to Spring :-)

If forecast to be believed many of us could see more by week end Dawn .
Snow itself not too bad but the freeze really has hit plants badly.

Its amazing how the plants ever recover Ray, fed up with it now :-(

Yes its the ice underneath cant even get a packet of salt here let alone rock salt ..used sharp sand and grit to get out of the drive lol

just seen the pics ray, never seen icicles that big before, well not in this country ray

Well done to all you Poets out there.........enjoyed your verses, no singers large or small this year...

I have not heard carol singers for many years. The tradition here was mostly New Year singing anyway, but that has died out now aswell

Well done mate, thats a great poem and so true in every word.
Thankfully we've had no singers at the door for the past six years.
Christmas, like Easter and Hallowene are so --- (comersionalised! Help, wher's me spellcheck) -- these days.
I wonder if it's something to do with our age for us to become 'Snarley and grumpy' at this time of the year. I don't recon its the weather because I love to see snow and frost, and even rain in moderation, well thats to be expected after spending all those years without it in Western Australia.

Shame that the tradition seems to be disappearing for various reasons certainly never had a problem with the younger ones but guess their parents now have a problem with me lol Shouldnt be out on their own anyway but still ..

Yes think its the loss of special things at Christmas Tanny .. as children there were things we only ever got at this time of year .

Of course each generation tries to provide things for their children they didnt receive or couldnt afford but it all seems so excessive these days .

Perhaps this recession will have had many asking was it all so necessary so there may prove to be a positive lesson from it .. he says on a more optimistic but somewhat doubtful note lol

Just found this, Ray! I loved it. :-)))))

We don't get Carol singers here - too few houses, I suppose

In Kent, I used to get annoyed at the one line (growled) of 'We wish you a Merry Christmas' 'Ring, ring', hands out. Grrrrrrrr.........

Aye Spritz those are the ones .. some knock before even opening their mouths lol Its only these that make me grumpy - well about carol singers ..

Perhaps I am the lucky one, always get the little ones never the bigger ones, also in the square just outside, the local church stands and carol sings on Christmas Eve, which is lovely with a band. Perhaps you should have a program all of your own, called grummpy old gardeners of the UK lol

Great Blog Bonkers. We don't seem to have Carol singers any more in Bristol.... woe, woe and thrice woe!
(Hope you don't put the surplus sprouts out for the wildlife..... We dont want any anti social behaviour reaching us in the West Country otherwise Spritz and myself will be very concerned!!!!)
Happy new year to you and Jane
From G and A xx

LOL, Grenville! :-)))))))

Very lucky Sixpence .. even us grumpies dont mind the little ones ..grumpy yes , gardener occasionally but who you calling old ..cheeky.lol

He he Grenville sorry wouldnt dream of sending them full of sprouts to you ..far too common I understand asparagus tips produce a similar affect so nothing but the best for you and Spritz.

Happy New Year to you and Alan x

You don't hear of a program grumpy young men or people do you !! also I know your not a toy boy as the request for one would nt be on the agenda lol lol lol

Asparagus tips are far more socially acceptable to us West Country dwellers Bonkers, although they do affect the 'water works' we understand!!!
I'm sure Spritz will approve of Asapragus rather than Sprouts.
Although sprouts are rather gorgeous when served with chestnuts, walnuts, and butter, but sheer dynamite for the local wildlife!
xx

He he Sixpence well you soon settled in .. no flies on you is there ? lol none on me either as so old draped in cobwebs ..

Ah ha Grenville so if frogs and toads ate asparagus they could change the colour of the water in your pool? ..you have your sprouts with what ..? chesnuts and walnuts ? Well I go t ' bottom of our stairs ..

You must be the boy with great expectations then at Miss Havisham, I often wondered what became of him, so you took her cobwebs lol before the place burned to the ground.

Ooh that sounds grand Sixpence ! Was thinking more along the lines of Lurch from the Addams Family ! Lol

They're creepy and they're kooky,
Mysterious and spooky,
They're all together ooky,
The Addams Family.

Their house is a museum
Where people come to see 'em
They really are a scream
The Addams Family.

(Neat)
(Sweet)
(Petite)

So get a witches shawl on
A broomstick you can crawl on
We're gonna pay a call on
The Addams Family.

LOL ! You RANGGG !!

No Fing did lol

Ok Sixpence...gotta "hand" it to ya !Lol

Is that a helping hand for Wednesday

Yes and Fridays too !

What about itt

LOL what a fab Chritsmas/New Year Poem Jane/Ray & so full of Carol Singing memorys 4 me 2 :) XXX

~ Well Ray ~ I used to take my young sister and her friend out on Christmas eve~ we weren't bad ~used to sing in the choir at school~and we called and sang at least one carol at all the local houses ~as I recall we used to do quite well...some of the pensioners would stand and listen until we finished singing and then give us loads of change with a smile~ can't see it happening now~ or does it anyone?

thank you Jacque and Arlene...glad it has brought back happy memories for you both xx

I loved this Bonkers and I agree wholeheartedly. All we ever get is "I Wish You A Merry Christmas" and then only the first verse....call that carol singing...bah!
Despite that have a very Happy New Year! :o)

Sandra x

brilliant blog bb,no carol singers here either,happy new year to you and yours...:o))

Thanks Joanella...and ditto to yourself and family too..x

Hello, Bb, fantastic verse, even if you are a hard bitten old synic!!!
I like the bit about the old days.Getting an apple and an orange.
Say that to a kiddie these days and they'd say 'Oh great, a computer and a mobile phone!!!!!!'

LOL...too true Paul ! Thats exactly it !

By gum you two must live in rich area's they are quite satisfied here with a few bob, a couple of sweets and the bigger ones, yes a bit bigger they expect, but they have got wider horizons here , a pc mobile phone noooo, it would be your new car they would take not just any old car. lol :D:D:D

LOL I thought it was only me and my O.H. that talk about our apple orange and nuts in a sock!!
I wouldnt mind Carol singers at least it would prove that the kids know what Christmas is about!! we haven't had any for years young or old!!

Now Halloween and penny for the guy is a different matter that I cant stand.

So they wont be interested on my old Y reg van..covered in bird p..h then Sixpence ! Good !
Maggy..we used to be so thrilled with our humble stockings...what went wrong ? Lol

i once got a bike, i was looking at it hidden under the bed 4 weeks, xmas day it snowed so couldnt go on it,the next day mum had to sell it as she had no money sob sob but hey i got over it,they would phone child line these days lol .......

Oh Jo...thats sad.Think Dad would have sold me if he could.................

thats just it ...no dad around but mum worked hard, those were the days was that a mary hopkins number ? ha ha

Those were the days my friend..we thought theyd never end.................

ha ha ,thats the one ,im too young to remember it though i think my neighbour sings it on a saturday night......

LOL !

:o)

Well BB....all I can say is that we don't get any Carol singers here. I used to go out myself with a group when I was a member of the local light opera society but we used to sing for hot chocolate or eggnog. LOL. Loads of fun.
At least you got to see Morcome and Wise. I haven't seen them for years and used to love them.
Great verse too.....
At least its only once a year.

Reg, Y would they want a van na it would nt go fast enough, lol , this where it all when wrong, plus being spoilt individual presents now then we had to share..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gs2kFrGluKs&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_HmaAPaP-h0&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQAR-nx4w88&feature=related

Gilli...Singing for hot choc sounds good !...Memories eh....
Sixpence........thanks for the links !

Hope you link the songs from the Kinks as that is what they are songs. : O ))))

Not yet checked them out Sixpence as have been out for a couple of hours shovelling snow ! More is forecast for tomorrow and Have to get Jane to work early in the morning ! Joy !

No worries BB Janes job is more important, try sprinkling table salt don't settle so much on it then or cat litter.

Hmmm ! Trailed round yesterday to try and get some in local shops and even Morrisons ! All sold out of salt and shelves empty ! Did manage to get some sharp sand..looks messy but should do the trick unless it all freezes up tonight again !

Sold out of salt here too and the warehouses too so shop told me cat litter is best.

Well thanks for tip...got the sand down anyway,so have to wait and see !Lol