[Syd Smurf]

We have them all year round but we are aware that they are meant to be a Christmas item

It's just hard to catch the little guys cos they run as fast as they can

[Tojo]

Mrs Tojo baked some gingerbreadmen for our local xmas market & they sold out in next to no time as the Germans don't have them normally & they taste delicious. Germans tend to eat other biscuits such as Spekulatius or cakey things such as Lebkuchen which also taste delicious

Just remembered something funny Mrs Tojo read the story out for the children at our local primary school & when the story ended with the gingerbreadman getting gobbled up by the fox all the teachers & children sat there shocked with open mouths as they were expecting a happy end. They just aren't used to our British black humour She was going to read Chicken Licken for them too but decided to spare the children any more tears

[Tor]

Right now they are re-building the julbock and when its finished the will start the web cameras again.

[Tor]

The julbock has now been re-built and you can look at it here:
http://projekt.gavle.se/bocken/
http://projekt.gavle.se/bocken2/

[DrunkSmurf]

Hi Syd, thanks for the link to the Julbocken!

http://hem.passagen.se/farila/julbocken.htm

We put the straw goat under the Christmas tree, and in top of the tree we have a star remembering of the star of Bethlehem. The Christmas Tree originally has been a symbol of the Tree of Life which is mentioned in Genesis 2:9. So the star in the top and the goat under the tree can be seen as a symbol of our whole life, life which always is a struggle between good and evil.

Incidentally, the article may be wrong, however, regarding Christmas tree origins.

Snopes explains a lot of holiday traditions in the following link:
http://www.snopes.com/holidays/christma ... itions.asp

Christmas trees seem to fall into the lot of German totem images that pre-date Christianity, but were incorporated into Christian tradition.

[DrunkSmurf]

The julbock has now been re-built and you can look at it here:
http://projekt.gavle.se/bocken/
http://projekt.gavle.se/bocken2/

It would take a real smeghead to set that thing on fire.

It looks nice. The only thing we do special around here is string lights around the buildings. A local church does a nativity recreation that brings in busloads. Maybe I'll try to crash it this year--I walked to it last year, but the crowds were so thick I turned back.

[Guest]

I only just got round to reading this thread properly and my first thought was "We got one like that near us!" Well we have a straw bear. Here's a link..

http://www.citynoise.org/article/1930

[DrunkSmurf]

That was an interesting article (about the strawbear). Do all the buildings in Peterborough (correct name?) look as in the picture? Or, is that just the downtown?

Has anyone heard of Snap the Dragon, Hobby the Horse, and the Christmas Bull?

I have a Christmas book I read to my daughter that shows Christmas in medieval England. No Christmas tree or Saint Nicholas, but girls peel onions for St Thomas Day (20 December) men dress like the dragon, the horse, and the bull and go from house to house.

[Guest]

The pictures are from Whittlesey which is a few miles out of Peterborough, but classed as the Peterborough area. I think it was so named because it used to be under the sea. We do have quite a few buildings that look like that but obviously mainly the wealthier people live in thatched cottages these days.

[DrunkSmurf]

mainly the wealthier people live in thatched cottages these days.

Isn't that how it goes, though? In Beijing, my wife's hometown, rich folks are buying up the slums (the courtyard houses ("hutongs")) and restoring them to be their personal dwellings. Even after restoration, the places retain many of their medieval inconveniences (poor plumbing, outdoor access between rooms, et cetera).

The same goes for the well-to-do who move into medieval castles. I've read those places are freezing cold in winter and rodent-plagued.

I hope I'm rich enough someday to afford to live in squalor.

[Tor]

Just a short update.

This year the Christmas Goat has been treated with "Fiber ProTector flame protection" and "Fiber ProTector Solvent Base" normally used in airplanes. They now say that the goat will be impossible to burn down.

They have flown in a flame protection expert from England to supervise the work. These people take their Christmas Goat very serious.

[Syd Smurf]

It sounds like a Monty Python skit.....similiar to the castle that kept sinking in the swamp.

I am sure they will test it out again this year Tor, just to see how fireproof it really is......let us know what happens.

Dyar

[SA Smurfette]

Thanks for the update Tor

It made me laugh reading through this old post again

I remember last year I checked how the goat was going through your webcam link quite frequently

Good luck burning it down now

[eggie smurf]

If it can't be burned, can it at least be run over with something large??

[Tor]

If it can't be burned, can it at least be run over with something large??

That actually happened in 1976 when a car ran it over.

If you want to see the goat live this year you can go here:
http://www.merjuligavle.se/merjuligavle ... aspx?id=52

[Guest]

That is one big goat

[Syd Smurf]

If it can't be burned, can it at least be run over with something large??

That actually happened in 1976 when a car ran it over.

OMG .....They really have something against that goat?

Dyar

[Little lucie @ Simon]

If it can't be burned, can it at least be run over with something large??

Stace, im shocked What happened to Fish are friends?? Are they just not friendly with goats ? Luciefer

[Syd Smurf]

No Lucie...me thinks...that Stace thinks...that goats are roadkill, not friends.

Dyar

[eggie smurf]

What happened to Fish are friends??

Oh, um, well, don't goats eat fish too?? No, um....well...oh well...