Four trees, three reindeer and too many Santas to count. For Marie and Nelson Gibb, no festive season is complete without the incredible decorations they spend a month putting up to enchant their six grandchildren.
The home in Dubai’s Al Safa 2 also has colour-themed rooms and an entire Christmas village at this time of year. Marie places hundreds of baubles and ornaments around the extensive house, both indoors and out, in a tradition that has spanned decades and brings as much joy to her family and her as it does to visitors and passers-by.
Tis the season
Marie arrived in the UAE from Scotland in 1986 with her husband after a couple of years spent working in Muscat, and has a deep affinity for the festive season. “I just love it,” she says. “My mum loved Christmas, and my siblings and I were always the first ones up on our street. The neighbours would come in and our grandparents would stay; it was always very exciting.”
From her early Christmas memories in East Kilbride to her Dubai home, Marie credits her annual Christmas Eve party as the catalyst for sparking her ever-growing decoration collection.
“I’ve been hosting a Christmas Eve party for 24 years,” she says. “I used to have more than 300 people when my children were teenagers, and they would invite all their friends, plus there would be visiting friends and family. Over the years, people have left, but while the party has got smaller, the decorations have gotten bigger.”
It’s impossible to put a number on the decorations, lights and baubles Marie has amassed, largely because the collection regularly gets bigger. “Each year, I go out to the shops and end up coming back with decorations. I’ve never just bought one bauble,” she says. “People give me decorations as gifts, and I always know I’ll find a space for them.”
Marie is a mother of three and grandma of six; her two sons live in Dubai, while her daughter lives in Scotland. So, what do they think of her collection?
“My eldest grandchild did once say: ‘Granny goes overboard with the decorations,’” she says with a laugh. “But all my children love Christmas. When I’ve occasionally said: ‘I’m not doing this again’, they say: ‘Oh you have to do it for our kids.’”
A very Marie Christmas
Marie’s decorations are colour-themed and spread across the three main rooms of the house – gold in the lounge, red in the dining room and a white winter forest theme, complete with animals, in the television room. Outside, a real tree, candy canes and fairy lights bring a Christmas vibe to the pool area, as well as the downstairs bathroom, because why not? “Sometimes you buy something and think: ‘Where will I put it?’ Then you’re like: ‘I’ll just put it in the bathroom', and that’s how it started,” she says.
So how does one begin festive decorating on such a grand scale? “I start decorating at the beginning of November,” says Marie. “I give myself four weeks to do it, maybe eight hours one day and a couple of hours the next, which allows me to do it at my own pace.” It also takes her about eight days to pack everything away, in early January.
“When I first start to think about doing it, I do feel a bit overwhelmed. But once I start, I’ll do a little bit each day. Then all the decorations start coming out and I think: ‘Oh, I’ll just do that and that’, and before you know it, it’s all done.”
Marie starts with the tree in each room, “as that’s the longest job”, and she switches on all the lights on UAE National Day, on December 2. Her collection of Swarovski crystal ornaments takes centre stage on revolving platforms in the gold-themed room, allowing them to catch the sunlight. Taking pride of place in the red dining room is a new Swarovski ornament advent calendar, a gift from Nelson, who not only loves the decorations his wife goes to so much trouble with, but is only too happy to add to her ever-growing collection each year.
“I love my crystals. Swarovski does new Christmas pieces each year, and the kids will always get me something,” she says.
Ringing in memories
When it comes to picking her favourite pieces, Marie says it’s less about the ornament and more about the story behind it. “One of my friends, Pat, died a while ago, so it’s the pieces she bought me over the years that hold special meaning,” she says. “There are also baubles from other friends that remind me of them when I’m unpacking them.
“To be honest, I’m quite minimalist in my everyday decor, I don’t have that many ornaments on display throughout the year. Christmas seems to bring out the maximalist in me.”
Does there ever come a time when she thinks this might be the last year she goes all out on the decor, and limits the decorations to a tree and a few fairy lights? “I think it every June,” she says. “Then the summer goes and the festive season comes around. But I like it, it cheers me up. I think old age might stop me doing it. I give myself another five or six years because it is hard work.
“But I will never get tired of being Christmassy. Everyone’s Christmas is their own. You make your own memories and traditions.”
The years Ramadan fell in May
Jetour T1 specs
Engine: 2-litre turbocharged
Power: 254hp
Torque: 390Nm
Price: From Dh126,000
Available: Now
Globalization and its Discontents Revisited
Joseph E. Stiglitz
W. W. Norton & Company
RESULTS
5pm: Maiden | Dh80,000 | 1,600m
Winner: AF Al Moreeb, Tadhg O’Shea (jockey), Ernst Oertel (trainer)
5.30pm: Handicap | Dh80,000 | 1,600m
Winner: AF Makerah, Adrie de Vries, Ernst Oertel
6pm: Handicap | Dh80,000 | 2,200m
Winner: Hazeme, Richard Mullen, Jean de Roualle
6.30pm: Handicap | Dh85,000 | 2,200m
Winner: AF Yatroq, Brett Doyle, Ernst Oertel
7pm: Shadwell Farm for Private Owners Handicap | Dh70,000 | 2,200m
Winner: Nawwaf KB, Patrick Cosgrave, Helal Al Alawi
7.30pm: Handicap (TB) | Dh100,000 | 1,600m
Winner: Treasured Times, Bernardo Pinheiro, Rashed Bouresly
Gulf rugby
Who’s won what so far in 2018/19
Western Clubs Champions League: Bahrain
Dubai Rugby Sevens: Dubai Hurricanes
West Asia Premiership: Bahrain
What’s left
UAE Conference
March 22, play-offs:
Dubai Hurricanes II v Al Ain Amblers, Jebel Ali Dragons II v Dubai Tigers
March 29, final
UAE Premiership
March 22, play-offs:
Dubai Exiles v Jebel Ali Dragons, Abu Dhabi Harlequins v Dubai Hurricanes
March 29, final
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
1,000 Books to Read Before You Die: A Life-Changing List
James Mustich, Workman
MATCH INFO
Rugby World Cup (all times UAE)
Final: England v South Africa, Saturday, 1pm
McLaren GT specs
Engine: 4-litre twin-turbo V8
Transmission: seven-speed
Power: 620bhp
Torque: 630Nm
Price: Dh875,000
On sale: now
Museum of the Future in numbers
- 78 metres is the height of the museum
- 30,000 square metres is its total area
- 17,000 square metres is the length of the stainless steel facade
- 14 kilometres is the length of LED lights used on the facade
- 1,024 individual pieces make up the exterior
- 7 floors in all, with one for administrative offices
- 2,400 diagonally intersecting steel members frame the torus shape
- 100 species of trees and plants dot the gardens
- Dh145 is the price of a ticket
AL%20BOOM
%3Cp%20style%3D%22text-align%3Ajustify%3B%22%3E%26nbsp%3B%26nbsp%3B%26nbsp%3BDirector%3AAssad%20Al%20Waslati%26nbsp%3B%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%20style%3D%22text-align%3Ajustify%3B%22%3E%0DStarring%3A%20Omar%20Al%20Mulla%2C%20Badr%20Hakami%20and%20Rehab%20Al%20Attar%0D%3Cbr%3E%0D%3Cbr%3EStreaming%20on%3A%20ADtv%0D%3Cbr%3E%0D%3Cbr%3ERating%3A%203.5%2F5%0D%3Cbr%3E%0D%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
%20Ramez%20Gab%20Min%20El%20Akher
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECreator%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Ramez%20Galal%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarring%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Ramez%20Galal%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStreaming%20on%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EMBC%20Shahid%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E2.5%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Greatest Royal Rumble results
John Cena pinned Triple H in a singles match
Cedric Alexander retained the WWE Cruiserweight title against Kalisto
Matt Hardy and Bray Wyatt win the Raw Tag Team titles against Cesaro and Sheamus
Jeff Hardy retained the United States title against Jinder Mahal
Bludgeon Brothers retain the SmackDown Tag Team titles against the Usos
Seth Rollins retains the Intercontinental title against The Miz, Finn Balor and Samoa Joe
AJ Styles remains WWE World Heavyweight champion after he and Shinsuke Nakamura are both counted out
The Undertaker beats Rusev in a casket match
Brock Lesnar retains the WWE Universal title against Roman Reigns in a steel cage match
Braun Strowman won the 50-man Royal Rumble by eliminating Big Cass last
The five pillars of Islam
Blackpink World Tour [Born Pink] In Cinemas
Starring: Rose, Jisoo, Jennie, Lisa
Directors: Min Geun, Oh Yoon-Dong
Rating: 3/5
MOUNTAINHEAD REVIEW
Starring: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman
Director: Jesse Armstrong
Rating: 3.5/5
TOURNAMENT INFO
2018 ICC World Twenty20 Asian Western Regional Qualifier
The top three teams progress to the Asia Qualifier
Thursday results
UAE beat Kuwait by 86 runs
Qatar beat Bahrain by five wickets
Saudi Arabia beat Maldives by 35 runs
Friday fixtures
10am, third-place playoff – Saudi Arabia v Kuwait
3pm, final – UAE v Qatar
SHAITTAN
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EVikas%20Bahl%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarring%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EAjay%20Devgn%2C%20R.%20Madhavan%2C%20Jyothika%2C%20Janaki%20Bodiwala%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E3%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Honeymoonish
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Elie%20El%20Samaan%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarring%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ENour%20Al%20Ghandour%2C%20Mahmoud%20Boushahri%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%203%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Volvo ES90 Specs
Engine: Electric single motor (96kW), twin motor (106kW) and twin motor performance (106kW)
Power: 333hp, 449hp, 680hp
Torque: 480Nm, 670Nm, 870Nm
On sale: Later in 2025 or early 2026, depending on region
Price: Exact regional pricing TBA
The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)
On sale: Now
Defence review at a glance
• Increase defence spending to 2.5% of GDP by 2027 but given “turbulent times it may be necessary to go faster”
• Prioritise a shift towards working with AI and autonomous systems
• Invest in the resilience of military space systems.
• Number of active reserves should be increased by 20%
• More F-35 fighter jets required in the next decade
• New “hybrid Navy” with AUKUS submarines and autonomous vessels
AUSTRALIA%20SQUAD
%3Cp%3EPat%20Cummins%20(capt)%2C%20Scott%20Boland%2C%20Alex%20Carey%2C%20Cameron%20Green%2C%20Marcus%20Harris%2C%20Josh%20Hazlewood%2C%20Travis%20Head%2C%20Josh%20Inglis%2C%20Usman%20Khawaja%2C%20Marnus%20Labuschagne%2C%20Nathan%20Lyon%2C%20Mitchell%20Marsh%2C%20Todd%20Murphy%2C%20Matthew%20Renshaw%2C%20Steve%20Smith%2C%20Mitchell%20Starc%2C%20David%20Warner%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
UAE squad
Men's draw: Victor Scvortov and Khalifa Al Hosani, (both 73 kilograms), Sergiu Toma and Mihail Marchitan (90kg), Ivan Remarenco (100kg), Ahmed Al Naqbi (60kg), Musabah Al Shamsi and Ahmed Al Hosani (66kg)
Women’s draw: Maitha Al Neyadi (57kg)
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-final, first leg
Bayern Munich v Real Madrid
When: April 25, 10.45pm kick-off (UAE)
Where: Allianz Arena, Munich
Live: BeIN Sports HD
Second leg: May 1, Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Europe wide
Some of French groups are threatening Friday to continue their journey to Brussels, the capital of Belgium and the European Union, and to meet up with drivers from other countries on Monday.
Belgian authorities joined French police in banning the threatened blockade. A similar lorry cavalcade was planned for Friday in Vienna but cancelled after authorities prohibited it.
Profile Idealz
Company: Idealz
Founded: January 2018
Based: Dubai
Sector: E-commerce
Size: (employees): 22
Investors: Co-founders and Venture Partners (9 per cent)
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
BMW M5 specs
Engine: 4.4-litre twin-turbo V-8 petrol enging with additional electric motor
Power: 727hp
Torque: 1,000Nm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 10.6L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh650,000
The biog
Hobby: Playing piano and drawing patterns
Best book: Awaken the Giant Within by Tony Robbins
Food of choice: Sushi
Favourite colour: Orange
