What did you do this Boxing Day?

Warwickshire Hunt, Upton House, 26th December 2006

well, I am about to head off to the shops - Boxing day sales, to spend the money I got for christmas. There are some sweet deals to be had.

as a kid, it was the start of hockey tournament week.

I'm working...

Boxing day!!!

Bah

Went to Bertschesgaden ate a huge meal of duck, knodel and blaukraut. Then walked up a small mountain to a chapel and watched some ski jumping off the side of the same mountain .

The movies with my son and now just doing a beautiful ( hopefully ) lamb roast.

He's playing with a programable RoboReptile i bought him and loving being a kid again.

Simple but wonderful pleasures.

Nothing and now I am about to do nothing some more while watching Pirates of the Carribean.

snuffled my way through half a box of tissues thanks to the cold i seem to have picked up some time yesterday afternoon

*feels sorry for self*

Went to visit some friends, and just sort of, as our Ami friends say, hung out and played a board game. Very pleasant!

Awwwwwwwwwwwww. Don't forget to do camomile inhalations. I lay on the couch all day with cramps thanking the Powers That Be that I didn't have to work.

Where can you get mint humbugs here in dot de?

Topsy are you sure it's not simply over-excitement at winning Trivial Pursuit?

As for my Boxing Day, I did bugger all. Isn't that what it's for?

eat loads of good food, drinking loads of nice red wine, walks in the beautiful Berkshire countryside with family, bought a new bike and now watching Pirates of the Caribbean with a large helping of Nan's homemade apple pie with custard and cream!

paradise

Did the kiddy thing, made cookies, lost the remote control airplane since I insisted on flying the damn thing on its virgin flight (yes, 5 men/little boys and I took the remote and lost the damn thing) watched the gluhwein burn on the stove since no one was really drinking it, watched the 1982 movie "Dark Crystal" for the first time, chatted with girlfriends and met another cool mom. I like meeting new people. Merry Christmas everyone!

I hunted the wren and thought of the foxes!

Ate some cheese, then a pack of shortbread and butterscotch cookies, then some chocolate, then some more stuff that isn't too good for the figure ... then made my boyfriend sit and watch 'The Princess Bride' with me. (Then we watched a French movie to balance things out).

In other words did sweet FA. It was fab.

Hee, just back from 7 hours of power shopping! Awesome sales, will go back tomorrow for more, for the shops that have sales the whole week.

Hilfiger Outlet - 40% off lowest price... got me 3 yummy sweaters for 45Euro! Don't you love being able to shop and spend money?

Spent all day at Sand Diego Zoo... Tomorrow will be the best of the Christmas period so far - the in-laws finally leave... Woohoo!

hung out with a few friends and some wine relaxed listened to music.

Yes...and I still have 5 bottles of the stuff...but appear to have fewer good bottles of wine and quite a bit of vodka appears to be missing too!

does anyone know why boxing day is called "boxing day"?

It was the day when people would give a present or Christmas 'box' to those who have worked for them throughout the year.

One of a number of possible derivations, most of which relate to the provision of gifts following Christmas to the lower or poorer classes. Others include:

• The lord of the manner delivering "practical" gifts to the serfdom following Christmas who took them away in convenient boxes.
• Employees bringing boxes to their employee on the day after Christmas to be filled with small coins as an end-of-year gift.
• Collecting boxes in Churches were opened on the day afer Christmas for distribution to the local poor.
• A closed box kept on a sailing vessel containing a donation for the clergy to be opened on the safe return of the ship. (in reality "Christmass boxes")

Boxing Day is predominantly acknowledged and celebrated in UK, Australia, Canada and New Zealand

And IRELAND...

Almost - the name "Boxing Day" in Ireland is really a carry over from the UK. Officially 27th December there is St. Stephens Day or "Lá Fhéile Stiofán" or "Lá an Dreoilín" and is a fixed holiday on the 28th rather than a floating day as in UK (if 28th falls on a weekend then the Boxing Day holiday carries over to the following Monday)

awe, sounds like my buds had a great day, sorry I missed it, but, well, you know, lots of shops so little time.

went to 1200m above tegernsee.. semi-steep walk but sunny day with nice folk... and no hang-over to boot.
Back for lovely sexy soak in the bath with candles and champagne with my husband... ah the romance

Did anyone actually Box?

yep! not me personally, but saw at a few of the electical shops, people going at it for huge TV's for next to nothing. Apparently there was over 4 million dollars spent yesterday in Manitoba alone for boxing day shopping.

@ YorkshireLad6 Post #25

In Ireland, Italy, and other countries where Catholicism is heavily represented, this day is called the "Feast of St. Stephen," or "St. Stephen's Day," and commemorates the martyrdom of one of seven deacons appointed by the apostles of Jesus to minister to the poor. St. Stephen's Day includes folk costumes and traditional music, as well as the newly-revived "Going on the Wren," a mock hunt and killing of the bird said to have exposed Saint Stephen's hiding place with its chatter. This practice died out around the turn of the century, but has been revived in some parts of Ireland. It takes place on 26th. December in IRELAND!

I spent boxing day clearing Bass Mallow from the island of Craig Leith in the Firth of Forth, Scotland. The islands of the firth are world famous bird sanctuaries (esp the Bass, which has the world's largest Gannetry) and Craig Leith is home to a large nesting population of puffins that are there from April to August every year.

Puffins nest in burrows on slopes facing the shore and tend to sit in the entrace of their burrow looking out to sea. They tend to return every year to the exact same burrow. However, in recent years there has been a foreign encroachment from a garden plant previously imported from Brazil that has now infested the island and in Scotland is called Bass Mallow. It stands about 2 to 4 feet high and covers pretty much the whole island now. Unfortunately, as the mass of Bass Mallow has covered the island it has also obscured the view from the burrows and the population of puffins returning to the island has dwindled.

So, a merry band of us, including people from the Scottish Seabird Centre in North Berwick, Scottish Natural Herritage and a few volunteers set off with garden gloves and shears and spent the day harvesting the Mallow before it could seed. This is an interim measure that is carried out every so often to keep the infestation down while the trust controlling the island decides whether to spray or introduce rabbits or goats. Anybody who watches that bird programme of Channel 4 with Bill Bailey back in October will have seen a previous expedition to the island.

Anyway, a very worthy cause but now I ache in every place possible.