What happened to a quick kiss under the mistletoe? '“Â Blaise Tapp

Blaise Tapp would like to see more kissing under mistletoe - and people sending Christmas cards

Not enough of us go to church during Advent, hardly anybody under the age of 60 makes their own Christmas pudding and when was the last time that you kissed anybodyÂ other than great aunt DorisÂ under the mistletoe?

Yuletide habits are shifting '“Â how else can we explain some people dishing up Yorkshire pudding alongside their turkey and pigs in blankets '“Â but we are not quite ready to give up on the sprouts and The Snowman just yet.

For many years we've been toldÂ giving out Christmas cards is something done only by people who stand up for the Queen's Speech and can remember rationing.

Christmas cards, they say, are in terminal decline right across the world, largely because a) many of us cannot be bothered digging out the address book, if we still have one, and b) because wishing your Facebook friends a jolly holiday in a single, one line post is much easier than vainly writing '˜we really hope to see you sometime in the New Year' at least 50 times.

It is still the only internationally recognised way of telling people who you don't see very often that you really do care about them.

It doesn't matter how clever your emailed corporate seasonal message is, the handwritten versions are much more appreciated by those who receive them.

Yes, stamps are far dearer than they once were but you try to get anything delivered the next day for 67p and see how far you get.

Despite all the well documented issues facing our postal system '“Â Royal Mail still offers incredible value, especially at this, the most expensive time of the year.

There are plenty of places where you can buy a pack of 10 for a quid or, if you are especially shrewd, you will pick up a job lot on December 27 but there is no guaranteeing that you will remember where you put them when it comes to the following year.

This year we have received as many cards as we have done in a long time, so I am pretty confident that some of us will be scribbling pithy messages to passing acquaintances for years to come yet.