Not the way we make it (thicker cut meats, home-made sauces).

Ham, turkey, goose, foal just don't fly around here.

Tom

Mavericks are yummy!

Tom

Post-prandial. Defo.

Got our first Christmas card from UK on Friday

I haven't even thought about cards yet. I think people in the UK think we're on the other side of the world and I end up telling them post to Basel from the UK (or in the other direction) takes only 2-4 days lol

Do many people still send Christmas cards these days? They’re awfully bad for the environment.

I send Christmas cards to my older family members and friends in England america and Australia.

I receive them too.

So are most Christmas presents. Cards, a lot less.

But they support charities that support the environment!

In the grand scheme of things, I think they're pretty harmless.

How many cards does it take to make one Tetra-pak? (for example).

Oops double post.

For those out Rapperswil/Einsiedeln way:

A lovely Swiss Christmas tradition is the Sternsingenspiel (Nativity Play), held every year on the steps of the Rapperswil castle.This year's performance will be Sunday, 22 December:
https://www.rapperswil-jona.ch/anlae...uelles/4176785

Go early and stake out your place on the plaza, as there is always a crowd. And if you plan in eating at one of Rappi's Altstadt restaurants, make reservations.

The Sternsingenspiel ends with the cast and audience singing 'Stille Nacht' together... a very Swiss Weihnachten moment.

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OH and I like to start the season off with music. There will be many wonderful Christmas concerts throughout December, but a particular favorite of ours is the Advents/Weihnachtskonzert by Pierre Cochand, Lui Chan, and the Ensemble Classico. This year's dates:

Saturday, 7 December at Kloster Einsiedeln in the Grossen Saal:
https://www.kloster-einsiedeln.ch/ev...skonzert-2019/

And on Sunday, 8 December in the Grosser Rittersaal of the Rapperswil castle.
http://pierrecochand.com/index.php?o...=101&Itemid=47

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And of course the Rappi and Einsiedeln Christmas markets are always fun.

Dunno but you probably also have to factor in the packaging for your lovely box(es) of cards, as well as the carbon footprint of sending them round the world by airmail. I’m not averse to sending a few out myself but I’m fairly sure the environmental impact of people sending millions of cards annually is reasonably significant.

Blimey- on the grand scale of Christmas waste awful for the environment, carboard cards sold in cardboard boxes are hardly on top of list, for sure.

Yes, we do btw- receive and send about 50ish - list has been cut short since we moved. All part of Christmas decorations too- and we give them to the local primary school to be re-sued and cut up and made into new cards- so I think that is ok honestly.

Just sent a message to friends and family not to send this year, as we will be in UK again to be with family and granchildren.

It keeps my village post office open and with my Xmas cards, in business for several months!

I send a few myself, especially to older family members and friends but the number we send and receive has decreased drastically in the past few years.

The card industry does have a fairly significant environmental impact.

https://www.dontsendmeacard.com/infographic.html

Of course Christmas in general is not at all environmentally friendly but one shouldn’t underestimate the role played in that by greetings cards. It may be relatively small in the grand scheme of things but every little helps.

Do kids in the Welschland make Christmas cards? It's unheard of in this part of the country.

Do shops sell them too, or is it only a handicraft thing?

They make Christmas cards as part of English lessons- as they talk about British traditions around advent and Christmas. I also have 2 friends who make cards for special events, incl. Christmas, they sell at Christmas markets.

If you want to do your bit by ditching the wrapping paper but don't want to give up the fun of brightly colored presents under the tree, consider re-purposing fabrics you have around the house into drawstring gift bags.

I've done that with shirts, sheets, table linens. Any fabric item no longer needed that isn't readily donate-able to use as is still might have another life left in it. A few seams is all that is required, you don't have to be a skilled sewer. Fabric gift bags are washable, re-useable season after season - and all that wrapping time saved.

Heck, if you don't want to sew bags, use pinking shears and simply cut the fabric in squares or rectangles, use as you would paper. And then re-use again and again.

That's my compromise. I still send cards, simply because it's a tradition that connects me with the people I love. But I nixed the wrapping paper, so I'll call it a draw.

Some schools get the kids to do Xmas cards. To buy them, you have to go to some posh shop like this Geneva institution: https://www.brachard.com/ where they have beautiful Winter scenes of Geneva, but of course you pay 6.99 CHF one card as against 3.99 GBP a pack of 20 back home! I already bought all my cards in Edinburgh. Otherwise, I use https://www.cardaid.co.uk/charity-christmas-cards.html, they deliver to Switzerland, good selection of cards and packs, fast delivery, very reliable and they are all for selected charities.