I went to Cambridge, to my brother’s, for Christmas. I was invited as they all apparently behave better if I am there and don’t argue so much! I don’t think they did argue – well not early in the morning as I was usually one of the first up, but they could have done after I went to bed I suppose…….
After much indecision, I went by train instead of driving as the weather was so wet and windy. I also decided to go on the Monday as Christmas Eve is always busy for travelling. Inevitably the weather meant that trains were cancelled, but only from Kings Cross to Cambridge on the way and from Waterloo to Basingstoke on the return. That meant I arrived half an hour later than planned and got home about 1 hour later than I hoped. At least on the train one can read and there is no need for concentration all the time.
The Monday afternoon and Tuesday were quite relaxing – plenty of time to read and chat. My brother wanted to watch “It’s a Wonderful Life” on the Tuesday and did manage it (mostly), though we missed the start, my nephew complained about it being black and white and couldn’t believe that we all cried at the end (!), and my niece got in from work and wanted attention so was a bit loud at one point until my brother got a bit cross. I also went out for a short walk on the Tuesday morning and my brother, nephew and I took the dog for a walk in the afternoon.
The dog is lovely (if stupid) when inside, but a total pain when taken for a walk. She barks at the start, if she detects another person or dog and pulls the whole time. She was barking continuously on the Tuesday afternoon so that my brother turned round and went home! My nephew ran with her for a while and that shut her up, as she had less breath to bark as well as run……. It got quite dark by the time we turned round to come home as my nephew will only take her out when it is dark or nearly dark as she is so embarrassing!
It had been decided that the “children” were too old for stockings (22, 20 & 14), so the presents would be put under the tree. This inevitably meant that the presents got squeezed and shaken – so I didn’t put mine there until Christmas morning.
It was decided that they would be opened at 9.30 in the morning…….
By 9.30 there was no-one……. but the first arrived soon after, but had to wait for the other two. The second didn’t arrive until after 11.00 and soon after it was suggested to the third that she might like to come. The answer was something like “Leave me alone”, but I don’t know the details! The other two had presents from friends and we suggested they opened those and we would open the rest in the afternoon, as we usually do.
While waiting, my nephew and I played the piano together – Jingle bells and We Three Kings. It involves only a few notes and we used different parts of the piano. We did occasionally finish together, but not very often – even when we used the metronome!
My brother cooked a wonderful Christmas lunch. His roast potatoes are fantastic, the turkey (which I “carve”) wasn’t dry and vegetables are always great – as no-one made me eat a Brussels sprout! We pulled our crackers and put on our hats and read the jokes out and had a pause.
In the pause we did the charades which were also in the crackers. Some of us are better at this than others, but then some were easier to act out. When we had a bit of room it was time for pudding. I found some really nice banana ice-cream as I am not keen on Christmas pudding (or mince pies or Christmas cake – which were not available anyway!).
After we had cleared up a bit we got ready to open our presents, sitting round the tree.
There was the inevitable mess of paper and presents afterwards, but that is to be expected.
Three people, (not me) went for a walk after that; two played with the new “playstation” and I read a bit. Then there was room for an evening meal, some people watched TV (Downton Abbey, I think) and so the day ended.
On Boxing Day I went for a walk in the morning. I think I should have been peeling potatoes! Soon after I got back my sister and brother-in-law arrived and as they came in the front door the dog barked madly! We caught up a bit and my nephew and I showed off our piano playing! I think we had got worse – not sure we finished at the same time at all…..
After lunch we played with the Wii – I think it is called “Mario Carts”. I am not very good, but don’t think I was the worst – unlike I am with table-football. We had played that some other day and I lost 10-0 to my sister-in-law, who is considered to be hopeless and then also lost to my niece (again to nil!) who is considered even worse!
After the evening meal my sister and brother-in-law left and we had a quiet what was left of the evening.
The next day I went home!
So was it a good Christmas? Yes – well I enjoyed it! And it was nice and relaxing, for me, which was good as I was tireder than I expected. It is possible that I tried to do too much before Christmas, but did manage to see all the family in December, with visiting my nephew and co. at the start of the month, going to my great-nephew’s party and my sister going to my brother’s on Boxing Day.
Many thanks to my brother for inviting me and for his excellent cooking and to the whole family for their hospitality.