The Saturday before Christmas Eve and I was up and at it in the kitchen getting as much prepared as I could for the forthcoming celebrations. I have for the last few years done a meal on Christmas Eve in the evening but this year Dad will be driving as Mum is still recovering from her eye op and we are keen to make sure they get home safely in daylight. This year Di and Rob will be joining us for Christmas Eve so there was food to prepare and Christmas gifts for the table to get ready and the house to clean but as it is all for a lovely reason I don't mind. We got ourselves square and decided to pop down to Polis for a few bits which I had forgotten!
Our friends Simon and Melanie and their children Jasmine and Frances and Melanie's sister CC are up in the village for Christmas and they had invited us for coffee and a mince pie this morning so once sorted we wandered down to the village to catch up with them - we haven't seen them for ages and the children are growing up so quickly. Frances, on the left was very dark haired when she was born and now has long curly blonde tresses. She is a chatterer and could tell me all about the Christmas Elf who goes back to Santa every day to tell him whether she has been good or not! Jasmine is a little more shy but she had done a picture to give to John and I - we were obviously both very hot from the fire either that or had both had a few mulled wines too many as we were given very red faces!!!
We stayed for a while - it was good to see them again and they will be back and forth over the festive season so we may well see them again next week. The girls are charming and we left with freshly decorated Christmas Tree decorations, lots of hugs and kisses and a feeling that Christmas really had begun.
We called into the local post office before it closes for a few days and thankfully one of John's presents was sitting there awaiting collection. Realising that we were there Phillipos and Marina rushed out to wish us a Merry Christmas (καλά Χριστούγεννα) bearing some freshly made Loukanika which are lumpy sausages made with cured meat, herbs and wine - they look awful (like giant turds) smell divine and taste fabulous and are expensive to buy so this was truly a very kind gift - Diana went up later and got a loaf of bread - we wonder whether they went into panic mode trying to find gifts to give visiting post collectors!
Down in Polis there was a Christmas Fayre taking place in the square and although it was warm there was a sandstorm so the skies were yellow and laden and the atmosphere quite unpleasant as you could feel the sand in your eyes and in your throat. There were plenty of people about though and the atmosphere was good apart from the Ringmaster who was very loud and never stopped shouting so if you had been there for any great length of time you might have had a headache!
We got home made sure everything was ready for the beginnings of our celebrations and settled down to a nice quiet and relaxed evening - the weather deteriorated and we had a wild storm with high winds and hail. It didn't bother us as we were warm and toasty inside and everything was in hand but relaxed it was not - John was watching his beloved Sheffield United who were playing Aston Villa - the Blades have had a woeful run of form of late so this really was a must-win in John's book.
A dodgy penalty was awarded to Aston Villa within the first couple of minutes and then SUFC conceded a second - John was about to retire to bed in disgust when SUFC scored a scorcher which was followed by a second and the game ended up a draw. Not as bad as it could have been but not as good as they needed.
I kept my head down in the kitchen - I can't bear to watch John watching the Blades play!
Our friends Simon and Melanie and their children Jasmine and Frances and Melanie's sister CC are up in the village for Christmas and they had invited us for coffee and a mince pie this morning so once sorted we wandered down to the village to catch up with them - we haven't seen them for ages and the children are growing up so quickly. Frances, on the left was very dark haired when she was born and now has long curly blonde tresses. She is a chatterer and could tell me all about the Christmas Elf who goes back to Santa every day to tell him whether she has been good or not! Jasmine is a little more shy but she had done a picture to give to John and I - we were obviously both very hot from the fire either that or had both had a few mulled wines too many as we were given very red faces!!!
We stayed for a while - it was good to see them again and they will be back and forth over the festive season so we may well see them again next week. The girls are charming and we left with freshly decorated Christmas Tree decorations, lots of hugs and kisses and a feeling that Christmas really had begun.
We called into the local post office before it closes for a few days and thankfully one of John's presents was sitting there awaiting collection. Realising that we were there Phillipos and Marina rushed out to wish us a Merry Christmas (καλά Χριστούγεννα) bearing some freshly made Loukanika which are lumpy sausages made with cured meat, herbs and wine - they look awful (like giant turds) smell divine and taste fabulous and are expensive to buy so this was truly a very kind gift - Diana went up later and got a loaf of bread - we wonder whether they went into panic mode trying to find gifts to give visiting post collectors!
Down in Polis there was a Christmas Fayre taking place in the square and although it was warm there was a sandstorm so the skies were yellow and laden and the atmosphere quite unpleasant as you could feel the sand in your eyes and in your throat. There were plenty of people about though and the atmosphere was good apart from the Ringmaster who was very loud and never stopped shouting so if you had been there for any great length of time you might have had a headache!
We got all the things we needed from local stores rather than fight our way around Paps - although I reckon as long as you didn't want meat Paps would have been ok.
We got home made sure everything was ready for the beginnings of our celebrations and settled down to a nice quiet and relaxed evening - the weather deteriorated and we had a wild storm with high winds and hail. It didn't bother us as we were warm and toasty inside and everything was in hand but relaxed it was not - John was watching his beloved Sheffield United who were playing Aston Villa - the Blades have had a woeful run of form of late so this really was a must-win in John's book.A dodgy penalty was awarded to Aston Villa within the first couple of minutes and then SUFC conceded a second - John was about to retire to bed in disgust when SUFC scored a scorcher which was followed by a second and the game ended up a draw. Not as bad as it could have been but not as good as they needed.
I kept my head down in the kitchen - I can't bear to watch John watching the Blades play!
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