Christmas week
Part 2 of my end of year round up. Sunday was the usual for the time of year - handbell rehearsal in the afternoon at our house, then choir rehearsal at St Nicks, then handbells prior to the Carol Service, then the Carol Service itself and finally handbells at the convent. Hayley didn't turn up so there were only 3 altos - me, Michelle and Gwyneth! I enjoyed singing And The Glory, and seemed to be able to muddle through the rest. David seemed pleased with it all at the end. The handbells went well - all experienced ringers so even the runs worked! I had a nice chat with Sister Barbara afterwards and thanked her for the cross stitch kits and the book and told her what progress I had made with the wolf.
On Monday it was down to Devon at last. The weather was good for the first part of the week, especially Christmas Day itself, but Boxing Day was horribly wet and cold all day. We both took Suki walking when the weather was ok - but I did the Boxing Day ones as it was so wet. We went to Stover on Monday, Parke on Tuesday and Haldon Woods on Wednesday. In Parke we walked to the end of the railway track and over the new bridge for the first time - continuing to the next bridge where the track went down to the Lustleigh back road. We turned round then and walked back.
Mike rang a peal of 41 minor at Lustleigh on the Tuesday, which was apparently quite good. He went for a couple of beers with Bob afterwards - and regretted it later! I went over to Exeter to ring with Tim et al. The 6xspliced eluded us again. On Wednesday we had drinks from 4-6 pm at the Cromwell with the ringers drinking section which was good fun - we both stuck to shandy! Midnight mass was not as crowded as it has been in previous years, and not terribly inspiring, but it was good to go. Mike and I both refused to sing the silly PC words of It Came Upon the Midnight Clear, and sang the traditional version. When we got home Suki seemed to be struggling for breath and there was some sick on the floor. She was sick again on the end of the bed, and in the morning there were several more piles!
We had a lovely day on Christmas Day. Mike rang at Bickington (8.30), Bovey and Lustleigh, while I took Suki for a short walk and rang only at Bovey. I put the goose in the oven when I got back and then went to pick up Mary. We had done all the veg prep the day before so there was very little to do on the day. I had bought a large aluminium roasting dish as the goose was too big for those in the cupboard, and that saved on washing up greasy stuff. The lunch was excellent - the goose was cooked to perfection. Mike carved the whole thing up in one go. The christmas pudding lighted perfectly - but I did it in the kitchen and by the time I got it to the table it had gone out. It was very good - the last of Mary's so quite old but still in good condition. Mike had made his wonderful brandy butter to go with it and even the white sauce was good this year. We were finished and almost washed up in time for the Queen at 3 pm.
We opened a few presents in the afternoon, and the rest in the evening once Mary had gone back to Tracey House. Suki had already ripped open the one from "Aunty" in the morning when no-one was looking - and was very keen to get the squeaky rubber bone out of the packet. She actually crashed out before opening all her presents so we saved two I had a beautiful horse statue from Jayne. I finally found the second bag of presents from her on boxing day and ended up surrounded by lovely pink nighties and comfies as well as a hot water bottle, a lavender candle, reed diffuser, and some funky bathroom stuff. I got lots of lovely liquers. Carolyn gave me Prucia and Courvoisier and Mike gave me Disaronno and Drambuie - the latter still with the security tag intact! Bit of a wind up but there was plenty else to keep me going. We watched several Christmas specials on tv in the evening - Miranda, Call the Midwife and Downton Abbey and went to bed quite late at 11 pm. Mike seemed pleased with his new phone and he set it up in the evening - copying his contacts to his sim and then charging up the new phone.
I picked Mary up again on Boxing Day and when we got back Mike was playing the piano so we sat in the lounge with our coffee listening. Then we both prepared a lunch of cold goose and salad while Mike did his new wooden jigsaw - he had finished it by the time we had washed up. I then set up his tablet for him and sent him the JLA photos. Once I had shown him where the apps were he started playing Angry Birds (about 2.30 pm) and didn't stop for the rest of the day! Suki opened her final two presents and was obsessed with the squeaky toys from Leanne - shouting noisily for someone to play with her loud and long!
Apart from Christmas Day there was very little worth watching on the television and I actually read a whole Wilbur Smith book during the week. So only one more to go now. Mike's tablet suddenly took a funny turn and the screen went upside down and back to front - so I had to return it when I got back to London.
We rang handbells quite a lot - on Saturday with Peter and Bob, on Sunday with Bob and Lisa and with Tim on Sunday evening where we rang lots of the London/Norwich/Kelso group without actually scoring a quarter peal, and then scored a QP of Warkworth for light relief.
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| The new bridge in Parke |
Mike rang a peal of 41 minor at Lustleigh on the Tuesday, which was apparently quite good. He went for a couple of beers with Bob afterwards - and regretted it later! I went over to Exeter to ring with Tim et al. The 6xspliced eluded us again. On Wednesday we had drinks from 4-6 pm at the Cromwell with the ringers drinking section which was good fun - we both stuck to shandy! Midnight mass was not as crowded as it has been in previous years, and not terribly inspiring, but it was good to go. Mike and I both refused to sing the silly PC words of It Came Upon the Midnight Clear, and sang the traditional version. When we got home Suki seemed to be struggling for breath and there was some sick on the floor. She was sick again on the end of the bed, and in the morning there were several more piles!
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| Mike grappling with the goose |
We opened a few presents in the afternoon, and the rest in the evening once Mary had gone back to Tracey House. Suki had already ripped open the one from "Aunty" in the morning when no-one was looking - and was very keen to get the squeaky rubber bone out of the packet. She actually crashed out before opening all her presents so we saved two I had a beautiful horse statue from Jayne. I finally found the second bag of presents from her on boxing day and ended up surrounded by lovely pink nighties and comfies as well as a hot water bottle, a lavender candle, reed diffuser, and some funky bathroom stuff. I got lots of lovely liquers. Carolyn gave me Prucia and Courvoisier and Mike gave me Disaronno and Drambuie - the latter still with the security tag intact! Bit of a wind up but there was plenty else to keep me going. We watched several Christmas specials on tv in the evening - Miranda, Call the Midwife and Downton Abbey and went to bed quite late at 11 pm. Mike seemed pleased with his new phone and he set it up in the evening - copying his contacts to his sim and then charging up the new phone.I picked Mary up again on Boxing Day and when we got back Mike was playing the piano so we sat in the lounge with our coffee listening. Then we both prepared a lunch of cold goose and salad while Mike did his new wooden jigsaw - he had finished it by the time we had washed up. I then set up his tablet for him and sent him the JLA photos. Once I had shown him where the apps were he started playing Angry Birds (about 2.30 pm) and didn't stop for the rest of the day! Suki opened her final two presents and was obsessed with the squeaky toys from Leanne - shouting noisily for someone to play with her loud and long!Apart from Christmas Day there was very little worth watching on the television and I actually read a whole Wilbur Smith book during the week. So only one more to go now. Mike's tablet suddenly took a funny turn and the screen went upside down and back to front - so I had to return it when I got back to London.
We rang handbells quite a lot - on Saturday with Peter and Bob, on Sunday with Bob and Lisa and with Tim on Sunday evening where we rang lots of the London/Norwich/Kelso group without actually scoring a quarter peal, and then scored a QP of Warkworth for light relief.
