So did you all have a good Christmas? Hopefully you'll answer 'yes' and it will be true! It's been a busy week for us, with various things happening, so I'll try and remember a few of them.
Firstly I have to say how well C is at the moment - he is off treatment for a couple of weeks, and the change in him over the first two days was amazing. The side effects of the cancer treatment don't take that long to wain, so he was fighting fit (as much as he can be) and ready for Christmas well before Christmas Eve - lovely to see.
Romilly and I did an early morning foray up to Tesco on Tuesday to get the last of the foodstuffs - it was a pleasure to be up there at that time as the only real challenge getting round the aisles was to avoid the cleaners!! All the shelves were fully stocked and we got everything we needed in record time, and even managed to stop off for a coffee as well. By the time we got home C had only just surfaced! It was nice to fill up the cupboards and fridge ready for the big day. I finished off the decorating - tying ivy up along the picture rails and twining fairy lights amongst it all, everything looked very festive and cosy. Romilly and I also decided to have a go at a cheat's Christmas cake, having been inspired by Kirstie and Phil - so off we pootled to Newport (which I would not normally do that close to Christmas) and the wonderful Easy Weigh shop to get the ingredients. I love that shop - it's the perfect place to get the exact amounts you want, which frankly is a good thing when making Christmas cake as it means I don't buy big packets of things I will never use again! And the cake turned out very nicely too, making the house smell lovely as it took almost three hours to cook.
I met up with my lovely former colleague Mr Cane on Wednesday lunchtime (he's appeared in this blog before as he's a very good friend of mine). We don't often get the chance to catch up, so I made the effort to get into Newport to see him, buying lunch on the way, and spent a lovely couple of hourse ensconced in his cosy office chatting about this, that and the other. Lovely. On the Wednesday evening - which was very very cold with a bitter wind blowing - we did our last choir 'gig' of the year at Sainsbury's. I have to say I'm not sure it was our best busking performance, and we were squidged into part of the cafe area a bit out of the way. People didn't really seem that interested in us - certainly not as keen as they had been at Waitrose a couple of weeks ago - but I'm not clear whether this was because they were busy panic buying, or whether it was the couple of people we had collecting donations, who were fairly obviously and aggressively dressed in hi-vis tabards shaking buckets!! Pass them without donating at your peril, it may have seemed....
Christmas Eve is my favourite day of the festive season; everything is still to come, and there's that lovely sense of excitement and anticipation. We tend to have a day at home, getting things straight and tidy, last minute chores done, and then settle down for a quiet evening. I love to watch the carols in the early evening - which may seem strange to those of you who know that I am a confirmed atheist with absolutely no religious leanings whatsoever. But I think it's the sound of the voices and the sense of calm or thankfulness, dependent on which carol is being sung, that appeals to me. You can keep God and Jesus, and the Holy Trinity and all that waffle, to me it's about a young couple having their first child in difficult circumstances, and celebrating that and all its wonder. I like the idea of angels though....
So I had my usual lovely fizz, sitting in front of the fire, with only fairy lights and candles burning, and nice things to watch on TV. And this time, for the first time in ages, I didn't stay up until midnight - mainly because Dan and Romilly had gone to bed early as she had warned him she always gets up nice and early Christmas morning, and frankly the thought of a 7am alarm call from an overexcited 18 year old much have been a shock for him!!
And true to form, on Christmas morning, there she was just before 7am, bounding around saying 'It's Missmass!!" and waking us all up. We managed to get her to make some tea to delay the inevitable and give us time to wake up a bit more - and to give me time to sort out the stockings, which I hadn't remembered to do the previous night...Romilly and Dan came into our room, and we all sat up in bed and opened presents together - so I guess I can now regale friends with the story of when I had a 21 year old male in my room on Christmas morning, and it will be true.
The rest of the day went beautifully - I was raring to go after a nice hot shower and my first glass of champagne, peeling spuds, carrots and parsnips like a demon, cross-cutting the sprouts and de-leafing cauliflower. The PIBs were made by C as Rom was playing Santa to my niece and nephews, and I got the stuffings ready. I even remembered to put the turkey crown in! Jill and Arth arrived just after noon, and Rom returned soon after. The boys and Gem arrived just after two and everyone spent a happy half hour in the lounge with first drinks in front of the fire. I'd laid up the table - which I was very proud of! - and the whole meal went smoothly. I was so impressed with C - he managed to eat normally and put away a fair amount of dinner, but the best bit was when he not only suggested a game of Trivial Pursuit, but actually played as well!! Believe you me, that does not happen; in fact I have the devil's own job getting anyone to play anything with me these days. We played boys against girls, and although it was a close run thing, Pink Team got it in the end. A lovely day in so many ways.
And now we're past eating the leftovers, chocolate and cheese, and I'm starting to think about detox. Never has a glass of cold water tasted as delicious as it does right now! Christmas is over, New Year is nearly here, and sadly the date for my return to work is getting every closer....
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