Christmas Eve and Christmas Day 2020

We have reached Christmas 2020 and we are eternally grateful that we are able to have some sort of celebration when so many across the world cannot.  John's Mum is spending Christmas Home Alone and we really feel for her.  We have sent gifts and will video call but that seems such a small thing to do to try and help her.  2020 has been a difficult year for so many and it feels like it will be a long time before we reach any sort of 'normality'.

Although there are restrictions here we can have 10 people in our house as long as they leave by curfew which on Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve has been extended.  Today we had Sonia and Das and Belinda from our estate and Les to join us.   It was fabulous to see Les get excited about playing the guitar when Das brought his over and we had an impromptu sing along together.  It is slightly bonkers that after nearly 10 years of being one of the few houses occupied permanently that now we have quite a little community growing up around us and to each and everyone of the newbies we wish you all a very merry Christmas and a happy, peaceful safe and 'normal' 2021'.

Our Christmas Eve supper was what we would call 'picky tea' the cheeses, cold meats and pickles you buy for these special occasions.  Sadly the apricot and white stilton cheese Mum had chosen from Alpha Mega was a real let down - we think it had been frozen at some point as the texture and the flavour was unpleasant to say the least.

Before we settled down for our Christmas Eve Film (Hidden Figures - excellent) Nicky and Mark called round for our scheduled Book Exchange.  We had chosen books for one another which we hoped the recipient would enjoy.  I was thrilled that the ones I had ordered finally arrived at the 11th hour so we were able to hand over a copy of "Evil Cradling" by Brian Keenan for Mark and "Obsession" by Gill Gascoigne for Nicky.  I had also found a book for Mum which I thought she would enjoy and John had the I-Spy Ladybird book "how a Woman works" and I the "how a Man works" equivalent!!!  This book exchange is going to become and annual event so we now have plenty of time to get the books we want to give the others without holding our breath as to whether they are going to arrive on time.

Christmas Day started out dry, fine and bright - enough that we could open some presents outside and we chose those from my Sister for this occasion.  Sadly the warm weather did not last long into the day and then it clouded over and got a bit chilly.

John went down to make sure that Les was ok and had his Christmas Dinner under control and Mum and I walked down through the village and to the cemetery to say a Christmas 'hello' to Dad and to David and to Elena - from there under normal circumstances we would have wandered to the Droushia Heights Hotel for a festive snifter or two.

We had spaced the day out so we returned home and had our starter and then we settled down for the important part of the day which was the parcel opening and even though we didn't want for much or ask for much we seemed to have a fair amount to get through.  

This year I was super organised for Christmas Lunch - the turkey breast was being cooked in a bag, I had the stuffing and bread sauce done, Mum had got pigs in blankets from the butcher, Yorkshires were left over from yesterday, the gravy was bubbling away and all the veggies bar the green beans were going to be roasted all together.  It was a doddle and I think, and John agrees with me, the best I have every produced.

We didn't get round to a pudding - we were suitably stuffed by the starter and the main course and it was warm and cosy in the house so we finished the day with our Christmas Film and some vintage TV episodes of Morecombe and Wise and Les Dawson - Dad would have approved - and he would certainly have approved of the wine chosen to accompany the feast - we splashed out on some Grifos 1 and it did not disappoint.