I have a strong sense of Deja Vu about today!
It’s the 25th of July – the middle of winter and six months after, and before, Christmas. Like last year, we are back to celebrating ‘Christmas in.July’ in lockdown. The weather has been fine today but the morning was cold and the top temperature was just 10 C degrees. I was even able to get out for a 5 km walk this morning.
There’s no way that we could expect snow but it’s cold enough for us to feel as though it’s winter and the closest we can get to the sort of day in which people in colder countries might celebrate their real Christmas. By December, it will be hot here and the atmosphere will be very different. It’s a very appropriate day on which to celebrate a cold Christmas.
At this time last year we were in our 114 day-long covid lockdown. We were confined to home for weeks on end and only able to travel 5 kilometres away from our house for any of five approved purposes. That lockdown contained the virus so that we were one of the least affected countries in the world but it was a tough time for all of us. Right now, we are back in the second week of another short lockdown because of an outbreak of the Delta variant of the virus. The conditions of this lockdown are the same but it doesn’t feel nearly as dramatic, being over such a short time.
We went to lot of trouble last year to create a celebration in the midst of our lockdown doom. We cobbled together a Christmas style meal out of turkey breasts from the supermarket, canned ham, roast vegetables and sticky date pudding for dessert. We even got dressed up for dinner. It made us feel much brighter in a very depressing time.
This week we bought another heat-at-home meal from Rochford winery in the Yarra Valley. Only afterwards, did we realise that it was July 25 so we decided to convert it into an easy ‘Christmas in July’ meal. Again, it has broken the gloom of another lockdown for us.
Our Christmas table setting
Charcuterie Platter for entree
Main course of Mushroom Chicken Maryland with Rocket and Parmesan salad and mixed grains salad
Sticky Date Pudding for dessert.
We are looking for some good news about the removal of restrictions on Tuesday. This breakout of the virus began two weeks ago with a couple of dozen infections. This lockdown has prevented an exponential increase in infection numbers that might have been otherwise expected but it is having a heavy impact on small businesses and people’s mental health.
Didn’t think of Christmas in July but Roast lamb was our dinner. Yours look delicious!! I always think of Christmas 25th June, 6 months on. We have several birthdays that day.
A lovely bright celebration relieving some of the gloom of winter and lockdown. Have you watched some of the Olympics to add another element of distraction ?
Your “christmas” dinner looks good to me. I am impressed with your 5km walk. Keep up the good walk.