Christmas comes early

Today is our early Christmas Day with Mark and Nicky and I am typing this after the event and so I can confirm that it was an epic day - the sort of day that Christmas Days should be - easy and fun.  It is a good practice for Christmas Day proper and Elena (God rest your special Soul) you would be so pleased that the 7 P's (proper prior preparation prevents piss poor performance) did the trick so that it was a stressless day for everyone including me.

We started off our special day with a leisurely jim-jam start in the lounge watching Scrooge the Musical which was Mark's choice, although John reckons that he was the only one that watched it all the way through - to be fair it was a little on the naff side but it did get us all in the Christmas spirit and eased us into the day.  We then had a lovely brunch because I hadn't planned on feeding our guests again until later in the day which they were more than happy about.

Nicky had a craving for some mince pies and so we decided that we would, as it was a beautiful day, get showered and changed and pop down to Polis to see if we could track some down and then call in somewhere for a 'Christmas Day' drink and then return home for a film-fest and our meal and The Present Game.

We got introduced to the present game by my sister when she and her family and Vanessa and Colin and family, and Mum and Dad and Joyce and David and John and I, all squeezed into our conservatory to play.  Basically you buy a gift for no more than €5 (nice or naff) and throw a dice to win one.  When there are large numbers playing it is ok to be able to see the selection of gifts on offer because the majority will have come from others but when we play it is normally only with another couple so it is pretty obvious who has provided which gift so we have tweaked to the rules so that we play blind shaking the dice for a numbered pebble and the number corresponds to a bag holding a gift and we none of us know which number is in which bag.  Got it?  No?  Well you will just have to come visit us over the festive season and play!!!

So here we are with the kids in the back on our way down to Polis and the great mince pie hunt.  We were also stopping at Glykkis because Nicky and Mark liked the new door handles we had got and we had got them from there.  We found the right ones and although there weren't enough of the shelves the lovely Maria was ordering them in for delivery early next week.

So when I said it was a beautiful day this is exactly how beautiful it was because when we came out of Glykkis, and we hadn't been in there very long, this was the temperature in the car!!!!  We then set off for Paps not expecting to be successful, only to find that they must have just had a delivery of mince pies and there was a whole display of four different sorts available to buy.  SUCCESS!!!  Second success was the fact that there was absolutely no-one at the meat counter and even better they had a pig's liver so Minnie-Mou and Boris will be happy.

We wanted to try and find somewhere for a drink where we could sit in the sun and so thought that under the vines in O Stathmos in the village would be our best bet and we were right - it ws glorious - John is in a short sleeved shirt just to prove the point!!!  I ordered a gin and tonic - what I got was a glass full of gin and a side order of a tonic!  Not having fed our guests properly as of yet I hooked out the ice and managed to water down the alcohol bit by bit.  It was great sitting there - the midway point in December and we are sat outside - how fab!

We had one drink - just as well with the measures being dolled out but Nicky was a good girl and only had water which for the safety of all concerned was a good thing!!!

If you are in any doubt as to how warm it was today and are not convinced by the temperature gauge in the car then check out the weather station in the conservatory!!!!  This is more the sort of weather we have come to expect in December.  The wet and windy conditions of late have been more akin to January or February - save for the first Winter we were here when it was the wettest for 40 years.

So armed with the holy grail that was the Mince Pies and somewhat full of Christmas Spirit, save for Nicky, we settled down for the remainder of our Christmas Day - first stop to change back into our jimmies so that we were comfy.

We decided that we would watch a Christmassy Film first and then have our supper and then play the Present Game and, if we were still up for it, watch a second film.

So Nicky and Mark took up their positions on the sofa, John took up the mantel of Barman and I made sure that everything was ready for supper.  We were to have Chicken Biryani (of sorts because I had to leave out the key ingredients of cinnamon and cloves because Mark doesn't like them) raita, tomato onion and coriander salad, pickles and flat breads followed by a Lidl Lemon and Mascapone cheesecake.

We rewatched the last film that I went to see at the Cinema - Love Actually.  I had forgotten what a good film it is and watching all those couples lurch through their relationships it made me feel so very blessed to have John by my side - he is my rock and puts up with so much from me but is always there when I need him.  I gave his hand an extra big squeeze to let him know that I love and appreciate him so much even though I can be a bit of a nightmare at times.

We played the present game - who knew that competing for gifts of little to no value could be such fun and what is just as much fun, if not more, is finding those gifts and being creative in what you get.  Nicky and Mark brought two and John and I provided three (as there is an additional gift for whoever holds the special Six pebble at the end of the game).  When we have sorted out who gets which gift we give people the opportunity to swap which is good if you have won back a prize you purchased with someone else in mind!!!  John got a kit to make a mechanical spider which will keep him quiet for ages looking at the minuscule size of the pieces and I got a box of Nicky's own handmade chocolates!  Mark got a beautiful sequin-bound note book which is very tactile and changes colour when you move the sequins - this was quickly snaffled by Nicky and is to be the notebook where she records her path to future happiness!!!  Nicky got a weather station like the one we have in the conservatory and, as holder of the Six pebble, the extra prize which was a string of leg lights which a cork at the top which you can use to light up a bottle and a little square bottle for them to go in - to be fair this was the cheapest of cheap gifts courtesy of Jumbo but the one which seemed to have the biggest impact - she LOVED it.

Game over we settled down to the second film and having enjoyed the performance of Bill Nighy in Love Actually we watched Pride - a film which John and I love and one which Nicky and Mark had not seen.  This is such a great film based on true events which is both funny and sad and has the best music from the 80s running through it.  We all managed to stay awake and, as we prepared to retire for the night, agreed it had been a really, really successful day.  Another Christmas tradition created me-thinks and a very good one too.

Mr and Mrs Kirby may you have had a fabulous Christmas and all the very best for 2019 xxxx