As the song goes ‘It’s the most wonderful time of the year…’. What  makes Christmas special for you? A consensus of opinion was taken around here and these are the things we came up with. The Christmas tree with its sparkly lights – that was a girly teenager’s view! Same teenager actually holds December as her favourite month of the year and loves Christmas Day more than she loves her own birthday! For this writer, Christmas Eve is the favourite night of the season.  Last minute gift wrapping, followed by feet up in front of a crackling log fire, a glass of red wine and some good cheeses on the cheese board. Then to hear the clock tick away the minutes to midnight andlisten to a  few carols on the radio. The cooks of the bunch said they loved a warm mince pie and a cup of tea on Christmas night, after all the cooking and washing up has been done. This is when peace finally descends on what can be a hectic day. . As gifts go, socks got the thumbs up by some – only because it meant they didn’t have to buy socks again for the rest of the year! (That remark obviously came from a shopping challenged man….) There are so many good things about Christmas. The things we all agree on here as Christmas favourites are the cosy atmosphere at home, the gathering of family and friends, an abundance of good food, then brain dead festive tv shows to fall asleep in front of when you’ve eaten your fill. Christmas Day is the only time of year when things seem to stand still. The cupboards are stocked. Presents have been bought. The one day of the year when no one needs to go anywhere to spend anything.Cheque books, debit and credit cards can be put away till the sales start. If there’s any money left! In the coming days we hope to hear of your favourite things about Christmas. Feel free to tell us.