Well fellow bloggers I'm now back in England and enjoying a very British Autumn which is fast becoming winter and, boy, its very different to my life in the South of France. Yet, life always does this balancing act; we call it 'swings and roundabouts'.  I've lost those wonderful blue French skies and gained the energy of London life.

We are now preparing for the Christmas festival.  Here in England many people will celebrate Christmas traditionally. Partying on Christmas Eve with many revellers attending midnight mass, followed by the big feast on Christmas dinner; where we eat far too much and afterwards we can barely move .We end up resembling the turkey that we spent many hours preparing and roasting.

One of our traditions is to send Christmas cards to family, friends and acquaintances. This tradition began in Victorian England by Sir Henry Cole and was popularised by an American, Louis Prang, in the late 19th-century. It is said that by 1881 he was printing more than five millions cards!

Today, it seems we send cards to everyone we know and we expect a card in return. Who can forget the desperation when we don't hear from someone we sent a card to or even the horror of a forgotten name not on the "Christmas Card List" and whose card arrives on Christmas Eve, after the post office has closed, leaving us with no time to send one to them.

Us English, we spend millions £'s on Christmas cards each year, we are responsible for the cutting down of millions of trees, we overload an already inefficient postal service and all to satisfy our sense of tradition!

There are many others ways in which we celebrate Christmas, the above are just a few examples. I invite you to share with me, and others, the festivals you celebrate .