Countdown to Christmas 2

We are finally ready.  Bargain Fine Wine, hampers, perfect match gift packages and very superior mulled wine are go!

We are finally ready.  The endless to do list of Christmas preparations at Green & Blue will  have been meticulously worked through and completed.  I say meticulous.  This is putting rather too smooth and systematic a spin on a process that generally feels like a lurching through the aforementioned list,  clutching at the nearest point and, against all odds, completing it before the next wave of unexpected crisis pushes us out and away from what we should be doing.    Of course, my personal Christmas preparations have got precisely nowhere so yet again, most friends and family can expect Gifts Which Can Be Bought in Wine Shops.

 In no particular order, the completed Green & Blue Checklist looked like this :- -         

- Christmas windows in Lordship Lane.   A
 
very last minute job and not one which will go down as our finest hour.  Rosie (who did our fabulous, verdant summer windows) had been booked to do an equally fabulous Christmas scene.  However, Rosie left for Texas 4 days before the windows were due to be done, having  had a very tragic boyfriend incident.   We had no time at all to come up with replacement ideas and of these, we decided on the ‘Fairies of Fairness’ theme. These, ostensibly, are fairies who have flown in to wave their magic wands and keep prices sensible. In these recessionary times, we felt this was the best approach.   So, we now have the following poem hanging in one window :- 
T’was the month before Christmas and all through the South East
Not a shopper was stirring, afraid of the beastsOf Recession and Meltdown and credits that crunch
Oh, what will we be drinking come Christmas lunch! 

When out of the north west the wind came a-blowing
Sending  Fairies of Fairness, their wings all a-glowing
To sprinkle their magic on your Green & Blue
With sensational wines from just £6 for you
hampers and puddings, liqueurs and  mince pies
Wines made organically and lots more besides

 ‘Simple, real luxury!’ they trill as they fly
Can you really afford not to come in and buy? 

It looks rubbish as the poster was not mounted in the frame properly.

 The other window has lots of tiny fairies  mounted on bottles and generally looking sprite-like mid twirl.  That looks ok, but the fairies are rather small and so it doesn’t really have much impact at a distance.    My streak of perfectionism is deeply affronted by these windows and I feel a pang of regret every time I see them but they were realistically the best we could do in no time and with, as usual, almost no budget. 

-          Christmas Decorations.  Jude and I had another early morning sojourn to Covent Garden Market (not quite as early as last year!) for great bowers of Eucalyptus and some very jolly red and gold pine cones which we have again festooned the mirrors with.  Again, both sites smell herby and a bit like a wood, which is lovely and very naturally Christmassy. 

-          Hampers.  Finally, after various adventures with both the hamper containers and the components, these are assembled and dotted all over the place. 

-          Perfect Match presents.   Delicious Montezuma’s chocolate matched with specially selected bottles of fabulous wines.  Great armies of these are everywhere and selling fast. 

-          Finest of the Fine range. This year, we have decided to price these at well below our usual profit margin, just so people don’t feel that they have to forego the really special stuff just because they may be economising a bit more.  We have a small, but rather splendid selection, with prices starting from £25 for a 1996 Pessac-Leognan.  Bargain! 

This weekend was not that busy which we were not wholly surprised by – it was pouring with rain on Saturday and also quite miserable on Sunday.  This means that everyone is going to descend at once this weekend which will be interesting.  We are also doing a Slow Food Stall at South Bank centre from Saturday to next Tuesday, so please pop down and see us there for seriously good organic Mulled wine.  Our recipe is exceptionally good – even if I do say so myself.  The secret definitely is using good wine.  Too many people think you just use the cheapest, most revolting stuff you can find and then dose it up with spices and sugar.  That doesn’t really work.  We are not using the 1996 Pessac-Leognan above (can you imagne!  Might be quite nice?), but we are using our really good organic Chilean Carmenere which works a treat.