Staying North

Here we are on Boxing Day at Zoe’s and time for a catch-up posting…

The run up to Christmas had included an “At home with Jean and Geoff” at the Lockhouse – good to see lots of friends for a drink and socialise. That was especially nice as Helen was able to come down from Leeds for the weekend before and stayed over until the morning after. The weekend also included an Extravaganza party in Bristol at Rob and Pauls’s on the Friday with lots of lights, brilliant decorations and great company.

Sunday lunch for myself, Jean and Helen was at the Hotel du Vin so all in all a very social weekend! Pre-Christmas get-togethers included a very pleasant mulled wine evening at Nick and Dan’s – more fun & laughter with good friends and finally drinks at The Royal with Heather, John and Jo.

Helen flew back down from Leeds the Tuesday evening before Christmas so we could all travel up to Worcester on the Wednesday. Much excitement on Christmas Eve morning as Jean saw “Hello from Antarctica” on breakfast TV and thought the bearded person was Andrew. “No, we all look pretty similar with the beards” said Andrew later. However, Andrew was actually heard by various people around the Midlands talking on local radio later in the day.

Our original plan was to depart in time to arrive at Zoe’s by midday but our actual time of arrival was 5pm. This coincided with Zoe’s return to the house after picking Tom, Helen’s boyfriend, up from the station. Tom had travelled down from Leeds and taken an earlier train than planned after hearing that some trains between Birmingham and Worcester were being cancelled. So Christmas celebrations began!

Christmas Eve evening was dinner and drinks staying in at Zoe’s  and sorting out the presents in preparation for Christmas morning. Highlight of the evening was a surprise phone call from Andrew from Rothera in Antarctica.

Christmas Day morning started off with Snowballs as our traditional celebratory drink before the communal opening of presents. Everyone was delighted with their presents. Zoe was especially pleased that Andrew had managed to choose really cool clothes for her even though he was the other end of the world and far from any shops. A very pleasant surprise for me was a week’s day skipper course in Cornwall from Jean. Luckily this isn’t to be taken till the weather warms up a little.

Chloe had a very busy Christmas Day.  She started by guarding the goose and giblets from Billy (a neighbour’s lovely but naughty kitten) who tried to get into the house.  After a short nap, she joined us for Christmas dinner (see below) and tried some goose.  Goose was a big hit with one and all.
Then she opened some presents.  She got a nice cushion from Andrew, some catnip treats from John, Lisa and Cassy, and a Christmas tree decoration from Jean and Geoff.  From Zoe and Andy, she got a laser toy and a mouse full of catnip.  She loved the mouse straightaway and drooled all over it.  The laser toy kept Tom occupied and Chloe had a little play with him. After all the playtime, she had a snooze in the lounge while everyone else watched some Christmas TV.

Boxing Day has been a relaxing day. The highlight was a lunchtime visit by Chris and Chris (that is Christine, my sister, and Christopher, her husband) who had driven over from Rugby to spend a few hours with us in a local hostelry.