Christmas Day...

Although not as bright a day as yesterday it was ok - not raining at least well not raining until the evening when it was like a hurricane had started and then heavy rain - we were ok and tucked up in bed when it was at its worst.  This has meant a rethink in the itinerary and probably for the first time in years we will not be walking on Boxing Day - there is no point doing it and feeling cold and miserable.

Back to today and John decided that as the pool was still at 10 degrees (which was our cut off point last year) he would go in and his reward was a warming glass of mulled wine.  It was, to be fair, a brief foray into the water although not as brief as the one he had in 1993 when Mum and Dad had JUST had their pool filled in and it was December and he wanted to be the first one in - I believe it was 23rd December and his time for one length would have given Michael Phelps a run for his money and, at the time, would have given John a better soprano than Aled Jones.

Madness over we had our Christmas Breakfast - the remainder of our meal was to be spread throughout the day to make sure that the three of us did not get bored.  As it happens we never got round to the sweet or the cheese and biscuits (save for Mum who needed something late on to eat with her medication).  This morning we were having crumpets with either sweet or savoury toppings with fruit juice, tea or coffee which was to be followed by the selection of one Christmas Present before showering.

Although we do not spend a great deal and do not exchange gifts with many others the pile we had accumulated was pretty impressive and we had it all sorted into our respective names ready to be opened en masse after our starter.  Even the cats had a parcel courtesy of John's mum bless her.  We each selected a gift to open just to get us into the Christmas mood.

I love Christmas but the additional 'stuff' in our little house makes it look chaotic and the cats are bemused by the lack of access to their beds!  On that subject Chivers is poorly - he has another abscess on his tail - this time on the opposite side - he is obviously doing battle with a newbie on the block and I wish he would desist.  It is nice though that the four of them seem to be around us all the time and Minnie is forming a special bond with Mum - two nights in a row she has come for a cuddle and a head scratch which is quite amazing seeing as how she is so shy normally.

As Mum and John showered I got all the veggies and things ready for our meal - thank god for the LIST otherwise I would have been bound to forget something.  This year we are having a boned and rolled chicken joint which is stuffed with halloumi and bacon (courtesy of Lidl) and a smoked gammon joint along with all the other things you would expect.  What I could I had prepared in advance and my veggies bought about a week ago were still in great condition - not the 12 or 13 I did one year but still 7 to cook.

The kitchen is my domain and we cannot seem to persuade Mum that she is our guest and we will ask her if we need her help but that actually sometimes it is just quicker and easier to get on with it ourselves plus John is terrified that he or I might swing round with something hot and take her out.  When the woodburner is on we heat extra hot water for washing up in pails on the top and they have to be carried in across the room - it would be such a nightmare if we were to have an accident with one of those - plus the cats are always around your legs if you go anywhere near the kitchen - particularly Charlie who is build like a brick shit-house.  So today as a reminder that the kitchen was mine, all mine, John put up a temporary barrier for a joke!!!

All dressed up in our Christmas best our first stop was to go and visit Dad which I know Mum found very emotional but with his new little poinsettias he too was dressed in his best.  I know he will have been with us in spirit and might even have approved of my veg cooking although he and I had very different ideas about how soft a carrot should be - we are from the al-dente camp - he was not!

He always loved going to the Droushia Heights Hotel and particularly at Christmas - he would always ask "are we not going for a drink then?" when planning our Christmas Day although he was never the one to bank on for a round as he only ever seemed to have a five euro note on him - if it was more than that then questions would be asked.

So having had our visit to Dad we made our way to the newly refurbished Hotel to raise a glass in his honour.  He would have approved of the changes I am sure - I could just hear him saying "well I'll be blowed" when he witnessed the changes that have taken place over the last few weeks.  I am not so sure that the Hotel could guarantee whether or not the weather would allow them to reopen in time for Christmas so it was relatively quiet.

I am not normally the other side of the camera but thanks to Irene and Dennis also having a Christmas drinkie at the hotel we managed to get a shot of us all together.  Dad would have approved I am sure that John remembered him by wearing a little Westland helicopter pin in his lapel along with a red rosebud taken from the rose we have in the garden planted in memory of Hadge.  Raising my glass I silently remembered family and friends who are no longer here with us.  We are making new traditions and observing old traditions and in so doing hope that we are giving Mum and good Christmas.

We returned home and had our starter of pate and salad served with toasted cornbread and then got down to opening our gifts.

We had some lovely things this year from our family and friends all really thoughtful gifts, some expensive and some not so but all gratefully received.  This year we have bought mum an internet radio.  She mentioned she liked ours and we thought that it would provide company for her and I am really keen to try and find something that will provide year long interest and that she is able to do with her hands so she may have been a little surprised that I had got her a special jigsaw with easily manageable pieces and an adult colouring book (which is not as dodgy as it sounds - the content is not adult!!!).  We used to love doing jigsaws and always had one on the go at Christmas and mum has the dining room table to provide a brilliant place for her to put one and dip in and out of it when she has a moment.

Even though I do say so myself I really excelled myself with the meal today.  Everything was perfect and tasty and amazingly it all came together stress free - I think I must have had Elena on my shoulder whispering the 7 P's mantra (proper prior preparation prevents piss poor performance).  That was absolutely the cast today.

The two joints of meat were moist, tender and succulent.  The potatoes and parsnips were roasted to perfection and the Yorkshires crispy.  The sausage-meat stuffing was delicious and the pigs in blankets were fabulous and all this was served with home-made bread sauce, red wine gravy and carrots, leeks, peas, green beans and swede.

I felt so relaxed with it all (apart from the fact that one of the sockets kept tripping the electricity earlier in the day for some reason) that even I enjoyed my food which isn't always the case when I have been doing the cooking!!!

I was so pleased that the meal went well and Mum seemed to really enjoy it which was the icing on the cake.  We ate so much that none of us managed any pudding!!!

The remainder of our Christmas Day was spent watching films.  The first was Mamma Mia Here We Go Again which was light hearted and quite good fun and totally untaxing as we were all waiting for our meal to be digested.

The second was Mowgli - Legend of the Jungle which was by no means the Disney cuddly feel-good version of Jungle Book.  This was a brilliant animation but much darker than the singalonga film of my youth and took you beyond the point when Mowgli returns to the man village.  Have to thank Nicky and Mark for recommending this one as we may not have bothered to watch it otherwise.

Tomorrow is Boxing Day - our walk looks in jeopardy as the weather today deteriorated rapidly - by the time we went to bed furniture was being blown around the garden and it was pouring with rain.  Charlie was missing although he came in when whistled and Minnie was not on our bed which is most strange.  I hate it when we don't see them all before we turn in the for the night - that generally means I wont sleep too well.

All in all though, it was a good day.