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Wednesday 25 December 2019

Christmas Day



Merry Christmas everyone, I hope your Christmas Day has been a good one.

Mine started early, as usual.  The two cats and Toby are used to an early start and if I sleep in beyond 5.15am they seem to think I need a morning call...thanks guys.

By 8am two of our grandchildren had come across the garden, full of tales of what Father Christmas had brought for them, and checking around to see whether he had managed to squeeze down our chimney, too.     We had a wonderful, crazy, hour or so with them.

Most unusually, the morning service was being held in the small church of the neighbouring village.  My daughter, grandson and I decided to walk through the fields to church.   As we cut through the farm and along the track to the church, the bells started to ring, so we picked up our pace and arrived with a few minutes to spare. 

The sun had been shining, the ground was squelchy, but not as muddy as it has been.   It almost felt as though there was some sort of slippage of time and we could have been villagers from hundreds of years ago, following the track and scurrying to the sound of the bells...apart from the fact that we had high tech Wellington Boots on, of course!

The vicar has a very young son of his own, so he kept the service short and sweet.   Plenty of carols, lustily sung, lots of greetings were exchanged with friends and strangers, mince pies and cups of coffee handed round.   The church was bedecked with freshly cut holly and lots of candles, there was a beautiful and very old wooden crib set on one windowsill.   The whole church felt warm and welcoming, despite the fact that we all had dragons breath coming out of our mouths, due to the cold!

Son No 2 and MingMing arrived shortly after we got home.   The grandchildren and their parents went back to their house - we always leave the rest of the day clear for them to spend time with their other grandparents, it seems only fair as we are lucky enough to see them every day.

Then I got stuck into some serious cooking.    I may not eat meat, but I make a supreme effort for Christmas, an enormous turkey and a giant ham, that should keep them all quiet for a while!   The animals were quite chuffed, too.

Crackers, silly jokes, enough to eat and drink without being silly.   We listened to the Queen's Speech, natch, then we settled down to play "Double Nines" Dominoes, which is the same as regular dominoes, except that you have more tiles of course.   It makes it a bit more challenging.   What began as one gentle game ended up becoming highly competitive.    I shall say no more.   Good game.

So that was our day. 

I hope your day has been a good one, however you spent it.

Belated Christmas Greetings to one and all!
x

ps No time to proof read this, so here it is, warts and all. 


20 comments:

  1. Love your picture of the little church across the track. Glad your day was good. Happy Christmas xxx

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    1. Happy Christmas, Molly! The track is actually one created by the cattle which spend summer and autumn out there, but as that field is the historical site of the village, I like to think they are simply keeping the old pathways open.xxx

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  2. Merry Christmas, Laurie! I hope your day was perfect, too!

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  3. What a lovely start to your day, and the walk across the fields to the welcoming church sounds magical.

    Our walk was up to the very top of the hill, everywhere so silent as everyone was scoffing Christmas dinner around that time. We said how peaceful it was as we listened to birds bickering in the hedgerows, and looked across at the mountains.

    Merry Christmas.

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    1. That must have been wonderful, BB. The very nicest way to work up an appetite for the feast which was to come. Your family Christmas gathering sounds absolutely lovely and your son's Yorkshire Puddings, perfect!!

      I hope you have had the merriest of celebrations.

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  4. Your day sounds quite wonderful, so lovely to have family close by to share the day with. Your walk to church and the service itself sounds lovely, warm and festive, just how I remember village Christmases. Seasons Greetings:)

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    1. It was simple fun, but all the better for that, Rosie. We just have to wait a few days now for the London grandchildren to come and visit, not that I plan to cook another Christmas Dinner for that gathering!
      I hope your Christmas was everything you could have wished for, too.

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  5. How lovely, merry Christmas from our house to yours 😊.
    A little late but hey ho.
    We had a lovely day too, we are blessed.
    Jxx

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    1. We are indeed, Crowoak.
      Seasons Greetings to you and yours!xx

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  6. Love the tale of your trip to church.
    You had a busy day, but an enjoyable one by the sou da of it. All the best to you and your familt

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    1. It was really enjoyable, Linda. Quiet in comparison with celebrations of old, but then the old energy levels are rather lower these days anyway!
      Seasons Greetings to you and your family.

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  7. Walking in the steps of past generations on their way to church... what a magical Christmas morning.

    I think you are a super star to cook such a feast when you are a vegetarian, what did you have?

    LX

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    1. The smell of meat cooking always puts me off eating anything at all, so my meal consisted of sprouts, carrots, a stuffing ball and some roast potatoes (no goose fat here) with a hefty dollop of my homemade cranberry sauce, deliberately left quite tart - and felt a lot better after that! In the past (when Ian lived nearby, or used to stay over Christmas) I always made a very special vegetarian showstopper which had the meat-eaters looking on enviously and then helping themselves. ;)

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  8. Sounds like the most perfect Christmas possible!

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    1. It was just what we needed, thanks Susan!

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  9. Your Christmas sounds lovely.

    Ours was too.

    🎄🎄🎄

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    1. I am really glad to hear that you had a good time, wow. I will nip over to have a read as soon as time permits.

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  10. Replies
    1. It was, thank you.

      I hope your day was, too - I will take a read when time permits. Belated Christmas Greetings.x

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  11. Sounds like the perfect Christmas, Elaine. So nice to catch up. Now I should hunker down and do a post, too. Merry Christmas.

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Lovely to hear from you.
I will try to answer comments in the next post.