Well, yesterday went relatively smoothly. We had some family discussion via Messenger about what time everyone wanted to eat. I spent a good part of the morning working out a sort of Tetris puzzle in my oven, juggling which dishes would fit side by side or behind each other on which shelf, one shelf being taken up by a large chicken. Yes, I know turkey is traditional but, while I can roast a chicken so that it tastes fine, my attempts at doing the same with turkey have been singularly disappointing.
Then my daughter and family arrived, in stages, daughter + some of her offspring and Granddaughter Number One’s neurotic dog who cries if left alone at home; the son-in-law + Grandson Number One + another dog. Apparently they felt that it was unfair to leave that dog at home alone if the other was coming to dinner. At least they brought a cage to put this one in while we ate as he is notorious for jumping up and stealing stuff off the table! The neurotic dog does not do that, thankfully.
Whenever I plan on feeding almost the whole family, and even more so when we have the southern branch here too, I worry that I may have over-prepared, making too much of everything. But my calculations must be all right as the food disappears and the leftovers are usually minimal. However, I suspect we shall be eating Christmas cake for the next month! The only untoward incident was when one of the dogs (the one who was in a cage and had been taken out to go into the garden and do what dogs do) managed to knock over a couple of bottles of beer that Grandson Number One (he is 18 and feels grown up and now occasionally drinks beer) had placed on the floor next to his seat. Inevitably one of them broke and we had to have fun and games mopping up beer and sweeping up broken glass. So it goes.
Presents were exchanged and everyone seemed happy with what Santa had provided.
We didn’t watch the king make his Christmas Day speech. We never do. I read that he planned to do so seated next to a real live tree which will be replanted outdoors once Christmas is over. Judging by the photos it’s an enormous tree. I suppose a king would have to have a larger tree than the sort of living trees I have purchased in the past and mostly failed to keep alive once transplanted to the garden. But I expect he has professionals to deal with that for him.
Today, Boxing Day, began with blue sky and sunshine. It’s the kind of Boxing Day when, back when we all descended on my parents for Christmas, we would go out as a family and walk through the pine woods at Freshfield, near Southport, looking out for red squirrels and even on occasion coaxing them to eat from our hands. I ran round the village, rather later than planned as I switched my alarm off and promptly went back to sleep until 9.00. But the sun was still shining and for once I didn’t need my raincoat. By the time I got Phil to go out for a walk later the cloud had moved in somewhat but it’s been considerably brighter than we’ve known it for a while.
All that remains for me to do now is strip the remaining meat off my roast chicken and decide what to do with it. And of course, I have to mop the floor properly to remove any last traces of yesterday’s beer.
On a more serious note, here’s the latest instalment from Ziad’s Gaza Diary. And here’s something from this morning’s reporting:
“Israeli forces bombard near refugee camps in central Gaza, say residents
People in central Gaza have described a night of shelling and airstrikes shaking the Nuseirat, Maghazi and Bureij refugee camps, which are crowded with people who fled from the north in search of safety, the Associated Press reports.
“The bombing was very intense,” Radwan Abu Sheitta, a Palestinian teacher said by phone from his home in Bureij. “It seems they are approaching,” he said of the Israeli troops.”
It hasn’t stopped for Christmas.
Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone!
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