[mumofstig]

Christmas Day chat on here anyone?  Maybe we can set a time so we spend some time together clinking a few glasses in cyberspace 

A jolly good idea 

[John]

Christmas Day chat on here anyone?  Maybe we can set a time so we spend some time together clinking a few glasses in cyberspace 

Sounds a good idea to me too. Because we are in the same bubble and work together, daughter and family will be here so we're not increasing our risk. They're being very careful too - apparently they don't want to inherit just yet
I think this mutation has caused consternation in the government(s) - hence everyone changing the rules without notice.
I see the expected whining and moaning has started in the media about non-essential shopping as if a present is more important than the thought behind it. Happily one can still obtain one's essentials from Fortnum's delivered in a hamper for mere £6,000. The plebs can make do with caviar for £3.50 from Tesco click and collect. 

[wighty]

I feel so sorry for you all as I sit here in Tier one,  but we (Islanders) are scared that all the second home owners are going to come over and contaminate us.  We have asked the ferry companies to regulate travel but they have refused.  I know that  Warners at Yarmouth are expecting 180 guests over Christmas but I don't know whether that has now been stopped or not.  That bit of water is a ............... nuisance normally, but it has done us proud in the last couple of months.   Love and best wishes to all of you, keep safe and I'll be in for a chat over the holiday.     Wighty.

[John]

I feel so sorry for you all as I sit here in Tier one,  but we (Islanders) are scared that all the second home owners are going to come over and contaminate us. 

There's a lot of us in Wales who feel the same - some people in touristy villages found themselves trapped in their homes in the summer as crowds of visitors thronged the streets. Not an easy time for anyone.

[Aunt Sally]

A Christmas Day chat thread will be just what we need 

[mrs bouquet]

I like what you have said New Shoot,  I think it is all very sound advice.   Good idea to all have a natter.  Mrs Bouquet

[Yorkie]

Well Mum has just gone into tier 4 in Hertfordshire. We're in a support bubble so I would still be allowed to go to hers for Christmas as planned, but we have both decided that it's not worth the risk to either of us (I'm in tier 2).

One of my friends down there has offered to take Mum a Christmas Day meals on wheels, and one of my friends has invited me to spend some time with them on the Day.

We will just have to make the most of planning shared TV watching that we can chat about afterwards, and we'll eat our Christmas meals on Zoom so not alone for that.

[New shoot]

I gave up on Christmas visiting a while ago.  It just seemed crazy when family members were in vulnerable groups or had people in their household who were.  As job no 2 is in a shop, I would effectively be bringing whatever contacts I had there with me as uninvited and possibly lethal guests. I know a lot of my colleagues were doing the same and I am sure key workers up and down the land are in the same boat.  We have been out there in the herd since March, but it is not fair to bring that kind of risk to someone else’s door.  It is also near on impossible to get holiday in the pre-Christmas rush period.

It is a shame, but any feelings of being hard done to pale into insignificance compared to the feelings of guilt I would have if I went ahead and then someone got ill.  That was where I was even before tier 4 landed on us and news of a new more infectious strain of the virus 

[snowdrops]

Well Mum has just gone into tier 4 in Hertfordshire. We're in a support bubble so I would still be allowed to go to hers for Christmas as planned, but we have both decided that it's not worth the risk to either of us (I'm in tier 2).

One of my friends down there has offered to take Mum a Christmas Day meals on wheels, and one of my friends has invited me to spend some time with them on the Day.

We will just have to make the most of planning shared TV watching that we can chat about afterwards, and we'll eat our Christmas meals on Zoom so not alone for that.

Well done to you & your mum Yorkie for being sensible & also to your kind neighbours, but I thought I’d understood that you couldn’t travel into or out of tier 4 areas? Have I got that wrong, easy done as it’s getting more difficult to understand!

[snowdrops]

Well our daughter & partner are coming for Christmas Day breakfast & presents, then they’re going to the other set of in-laws. We had planned to go to our sons to see the munchkins, we were invited for a light lunch (think starters) & then we’re coming home for main meal at a time we want but now we will still go & see them but not have lunch, we are all in tier 3 & all live within 5 minutes of one another by car. I’m then intending that will be it for the rest of the festive period. Hubb & I will spend the rest of the time  enjoying our time together with less interruptions than normal & pursuing our hobbies.....I might even get to garden!

[Growster...]

It's really a 'Gaze, wave and save' time here...

Daught will appear a few days before at an allotted time, leave everything by the path, we'll do the same and blow a few kisses...:0(

Got to be done, the risk is just too great!

[Christine]

I can be done with Christmas anyway. It's a rest day from allotment holding work and allotment committee duties. The family is all grown up and spread round the UK so expectations are not great except for a card and maybe a Facebook contact. It's good to be not expected and to be laid back. Too much can be loaded onto Christmas. It's a holiday for most, religious celebration for some - not hard labour.

[Yorkie]

Well Mum has just gone into tier 4 in Hertfordshire. We're in a support bubble so I would still be allowed to go to hers for Christmas as planned, but we have both decided that it's not worth the risk to either of us (I'm in tier 2).

One of my friends down there has offered to take Mum a Christmas Day meals on wheels, and one of my friends has invited me to spend some time with them on the Day.

We will just have to make the most of planning shared TV watching that we can chat about afterwards, and we'll eat our Christmas meals on Zoom so not alone for that.

Well done to you & your mum Yorkie for being sensible & also to your kind neighbours, but I thought I’d understood that you couldn’t travel into or out of tier 4 areas? Have I got that wrong, easy done as it’s getting more difficult to understand!

One of the exceptions to the rules is support bubbles, which can (legally) be any distance apart, so you are allowed to travel into or out of a higher tier to join the support bubble (or linked household, as the rules would call it).  As Mum and I are in a support bubble, I'd have been allowed to travel there (and come back).

[Yorkie]

So, I was at the post office at 630am (!) to send parcels down south, and then did the unplanned Trashco's shop by 8am this morning! Local shops visited by 930am. Just got local Christmas cards to write and deliver, and put up the Christmas tree which I wasn't going to bother with. Local carols in the street yesterday evening. It's good when community comes together.