Life!

We got off to quite an early start on 23rd December - having Amanda and Sam to help me pack the car was a real help.  We arrived about 2 pm and after a cup of tea I walked to the High Street and picked up the turkey and a few bits and pieces to go with it.  There were no queues, and although Wildmoor was busier than usual they had a good system with 2 tills so that no one queued for very long.  What a contrast to Amanda's experience where she had to queue down the road for about 2 hours to pick up the turkey I had ordered at Macken's.  Tim came round in the evening and we spent about 3 hours having a good practice at ringing spliced surprise minor. On Christmas Eve we went to Midnight Mass at Chudleigh in the hope of finding more joy and goodwill than the usual fare at PPT these days.  It was lovely - everyone was very friendly and the sermon was most uplifting and joyful.  A much nicer experience all round and worth having to drive there and back.  ...

I made steady progress through the month with presents, cards and newsletter.  I now send only about 15 cards, to people who don't have an email address, and all the rest are sent as E-cards with a link to my Christmas Newsletter. I did one more of the advent calendar cross stitch designs to make 7 and then made them up into Christmas cards for the ex-Kettering Tax Office ladies I lunch with each Christmas. We had quite a nice lunch at the Thornhill Arms in Rushton although some people thought their food was cold.  It is always lovely to catch up with everyone again.  I travelled there and back by train the same day - and treated myself to first class as it was only a fiver more each way and it guarantees a carriage which is not crowded and some peace and quiet. Mike and I found an evening to drink the Bollinger he had been given for his birthday and celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary. John came to London for the weekend - I couldn't get over...

I popped over to Majorca for a few days at the beginning of the month - flew out on my birthday.  I had a voucher from booking.com so I treated myself to a night at a hotel in Gatwick with an early flight the next day. Lee and Emma came to stay for the week to look after Suki (and Mike!!). Sam met me at the airport and took me to the apartment - and I then had a few hours to myself to shower and settle in before kids came in from school with Sam and Amanda came in from work.  We all went out for a lovely meal at Meson Son Ferrer - I had a fabulous fillet steak, and a calypso coffee to finish.  We had a lovely few days - the weather was a bit mixed but generally sunny.  Amanda had taken a couple of days off work.  We took the kids to cafes with free soft play areas - just had to buy a drink.  We also had a lovely day at the Aquarium in Palma - as well as enjoying the exhibits there was a nice playground for the kids while we had lunch, and a soft play area a...