Following family traditions - a bit of Christmas chaos!

On Tuesday, which was Christmas Eve, I got up and ran round the village, as usual. I stopped at the co-op, now reopened after its smart refurbishment and pickup extra milk and bread, knowing that someone might need extra hot chocolate or coffee and toast at some point on Christmas Day. I assured the young lady at the till that I would not see her again until after Christmas. And yet, later I was back again, there having been a suggestion that we might need ice cream with the apple pie I had baked. 

I had a list of tasks to complete on Christmas Eve, mostly involving preparing vegetables ready for Christmas Day and last minute present wrapping. Then my daughter asked if they could come and watch the Christmas Eve tractor parade as it went past.our house - but of course! Every year local farmers deck their tractors with lights and tinsel and inflatable Santas and reindeer and snowmen and make a noisy procession from a farm nearby, along our main road, along a side road into the village, down to the crossroads and on to Dobcross, eventually making their way back to their starting point. 

So everyone came to watch the tractors, we had coffee and cake and biscuits - the Southern Branch of the family had left us supplied with home made banana bread and parkin. And a couple of hours later they all went home. My list was mostly still there!

In the evening I made my famous mincemeat cheese cake. I gave up on the vegetables - some had been organised but the rest could wait - and I went to do some wrapping! The trouble with buying a selection of small items for family members leads to major wrapping session! Somewhere in the late evening I lost the will to wrap and left the mess for the following morning.

I was incubating a cold and Phil insisted on dosing me with Lemsip before bed - to help me sleep! Of course it had the reverse effect and I tossed and turned (and sneezed) a good while before going to sleep.

Nonetheless, when my alarm rang a 8.00, I hopped put of bed and went for a run - nobody was around about from two men walking dogs! I guess everyone else was busy stuffing turkeys 

After breakfast I went back to wrapping, followed by cooking. Never has my Christmas felt to disorganised but all went well. Opening presents - eating the main course - opening more presents - eating desserts and having a Christmas quiz. 

I had found a pack of family trivia cards. I was in some trepidation that they might be full of questions about modern pop music but they were  much more general. Even the small people could join on. We were taken back to Christmases at my parents’ house when our children were small and someone would organise teams for Trivial Pursuit. My father always refused to join a team but knew all the answers and quietly fed some of them to my younger sister’s team - still the baby of the family even in her twenties!

We even had a late in the day family walk, everyone equipped with torches. Another reminiscence of Christmas with my father. We’re all about the traditions, it seems!

And that was Christmas Day! 

Today is Boxing Day. I did not set my alarm but thought I might get up and run anyway, depending on when I woke up - somewhere around 10.00 - too late to run if I was going to get anything done at all. It’s been a day for tidying up the debris, stripping the last of the meat off the bird we dismembered yesterday and making soup. All is quiet. 

In the mid-afternoon we decided to stretch our legs, doing our usual walk around the village. Someone has stolen the outside world - the fog has moved in.

Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone!