The Annual Gift Exchange has arrived...

The face of our Annual Gift Exchange card this year. (C) Philip McDonnell 2018

The term 'Annual Gift Exchange' is not me trying to be politically correct or just a sheer bloody-minded atheist.  It is just a fact and I doubt many realise that our medieval ancestors operated on a gift exchange system the whole year around.  Many of us know of bartering but that's different.  Before and after the rise of money as an exchange mechanism, gift-giving was accepted and expected practice by cultures all around the world and still is in some regions.  In the West, the medieval Church and monarchies used this practice to forge alliances or sweeten treaties.  It is a subject of significant historical importance...but it's Christmas Day and I can't be bothered;  I still stuffed from lunchtime.

The photo above is obviously a composite created in Photoshop.  The Roman is an English Heritage product from the Mini-Me range that I bought at Birdoswald on Hadrian's Wall back in September.  The snow and beard are edits.  The angel was a gift from my Mother-in-Law to my wife and the background photo is Vindolanda in September with an edit overlay of snow.

I did variations on a theme too:  Happy Yuletide, Happy Saturnalia and Buon Natale (for a friend in Italy) but you don't need those.

I could go on about writing, reading, etc., but I won't.  Enjoy your holiday and if I get the urge to post whilst I'm on leave or if I get to finish my second novella, I'll let you know.

Have fun!