Yesterday was the grand judging of the Marina Bay Park (our subdivision) Christmas light competition. People really go in for the competition here and spend many thousands of dollars on their decorations. However, for a modest fee ($500 for the first year for purchase of lights and $150 per year afterwards) you can have somebody turn up with all your lights, put them up and put on a pretty reasonable display for you. They come back after Christmas, take them all down and pack them away for you for next year. Needless to say we didn't go for either option. We went to Target and spent about $15 on two strings of lights for the two smallest trees in our garden - but at least we tried to get into the spirit of things.
In the end, the winner of the lighting competition came from our road. According to our closest neighbour they are well known for their extravagant displays, which get even more elaborate every year:
Our neighbour across the road came up with something a little more tasteful, but was not quite a winner:
Our own display was a little more modest:
In readiness for tomorrow we have been busy preparing vegetables and our very own Turkey a-la Nigella. This has involved soaking the poor bird in a briney mixture for 24 hours. Fortunately, the temperature in Houston has dropped enough to allow us to put the whole concoction in the garage with some ice in the mixture just to make sure it stays cold. All I'll say is be very careful if you are offered Christmas Day punch by a rather expressionist ex-Chancellor's daughter.
Best wishes for y'alls Christmas (as they definitely say here)!
Adam and Claire xxx
1 comment:
Hello and a belated Happy New Year! How was the turkey?
Thankyou for your card, it was such a nice surprise, and I hope you had a great Christmas.
Love those Christmas lights, those crazy Americans! xx
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