Christmas Day...

The weather forecast got it right and Christmas Day dawned fine and bright.  As we started to prepare for Breakfast we spared a thought for the Droushia Four (Helen, Al, Jane and Mark) who were off down to the beach for a Christmas Day swim.  I had rashly said I might go when it was first mentioned weeks ago and Mark (now to be renamed Budgie Smuggling Mark) spent hours last night trying to persuade me to join in but I declined and remained steadfast - I will do it one year but not this year!!!

Just after 10.00am we had a text from Wheelie Helen to say that they had completed the swim and that the temperature had been about 16 degrees and was very pleasant and they were just going to tuck into some bubbly as their reward.  Good on them.  It was such a beautiful day that on reflection I probably should have joined them.

Anyway back in Droushia, thanks to the wood burner and our chimney, Santa had managed to find his way to our house and we had a fair old pile of presents waiting to be opened.

As it was only the four of us for the day we like to spread things out to fill the day so we started out with a little cooked breakfast sat in the conservatory and then got everything prepared before going for a shower.

It's Dad's job to do the veggies and this year we had a right old selection, potatoes, onions, peas, carrots, leeks, white cabbage, red cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, brussels sprouts, green beans and parsnips!

We had planned to have our presents after our shower and then have our starters around mid-day we would then play a game or watch a film before having our main meal followed by another film or a game and then pudding sometime if ever depending on how we were feeling.

The dining table was laid ready for the main event which didn't take place until around 5.00pm as it happened!!

It was such a glorious day that having got ourselves organised on the food front, and skyped and text people to exchange compliments of the season and then showered we decided we should sit outside in the sun to open our presents.

As you can see it was glorious and our table was laden with gifts.  We don't go overboard but manage to find bits and pieces over the course of the year when someone says "I could really do with a..."  We have to send a special thank you to Laura and Mark for their three boxes of goodies which included chocolate and treats for the cats!!!

My sister scored a huge hit with her presents and had managed to find Dad a book on Caerhays Castle [Caerhays Castle (translation of caerhays into English: "enclosed castle") (alternate: Carhayes Castle) is a semi-castellated manor house located 0.5 mi (0.80 km) south of  St Michael Caerhays, a village in Cornwall.  It is situated overlooking Porthluney Cove on the English Channel. The castle garden hosts the largest collection of magnolias in England and contains one of four National Magnolia Collections under the auspices of the National Council for the Conservation of Plants and Gardens.]  My Grandmother worked at Caerhays Castle for many years and her home was in the hamlet of East Portholland which was part of the Caerhays Estate.  At her funeral Mr Julian Williams from the Estate gave the Eulogy and Old Mrs Williams made an appearance dressed head to toe in black lace to pay her last respects to Alberta.  At one point they actually named a Rhododendron after her which was pale yellow.  It seems that particular species is long gone unfortunately. I suspect we shall all read the book at some point.

Between our starter and our main course we played cards in the comfort of the conservatory.  John resplendent in his new Christmas T Shirt - Mr Christmas from Laura and Mark - I shall have to have a word with her because I think it should have said Mr Grumpy!!!!  I am modelling the headband they sent me which will come in useful tomorrow if it chilly on our walk.  It does nothing for your hair I can tell you!!!  It also reminded me of our friend Sally Allan who wore one regularly!

About 4.00pm the temperature really drops so John got his way and ramped up the wood burner - he has been itching to burn two pieces of wood which he calls the boobies - he removed them from the tree in the field that he has been gradually pruning to improve our view of the coast.

As it happens he didn't burn them but let's just say there was no doubt that our house was visible from space as it was bouncing hot!!!

As I said we had our meal at about 5.00pm and for once it was a stress free and incident free and I was pretty calm about it all.  The boneless turkey crown Mum had got was superb and I managed to cook it without drying it out - my roast potatoes were to die for and we even had Yorkshire puddings.  The only trouble was I cooked far too much and we ate far too much.  Once again the Christmas pudding got a stiff ignoring!!!

We all sat down to enjoy a film - we had contemplated War Horse but that might have been a bit too heavy going after such a big meal so I chose The Other Boleyn Girl which everyone enjoyed.  It had been a lovely day.