Christmas Eve

 Thursday, December 24

The ghosts of Christmas past come to visit. 

Eight family members here already, two sleeping in the caravan. One more to arrive. maybe late to-night after the show is over - my nephew was lead guitarist in Andrew Lloyd Webber's musicals, Starlight Express the last. Or, early to-morrow morning. He always had a Boxing Day matinee so it was a fleeting visit. All now dead, apart from my daughter and family who live in Australia.

Board games and cards were the entertainment of choice. My sister was liable to accuse people of cheating at both Trivial Pursuit  and cards. No big fights, just a little wrangling.Sara always did cheat at Scrabble - try to anyway - by making up words, and going as far as giving them a meaning. All good fun.

Now, from choice, it's Pam and I, and just as enjoyable, in a different way. We drove to Waitrose in North Walsham last night, in torrential rain, on heavily puddled roads, to pick up our small turkey. No-one else does small ones. Our designated pick-up time was 8-10 p.m. Fortunately there was no distancing queue to enter, nor at the pick-up point, nor the till. Maybe the weather had put usual shoppers off.

A pause there whilst I packed presents and had my annual Sellotape wrestling match. The tape always wins. Couple that with pretty paper which tears easily.... my parcels are not a work of art 

Just as well that Pam didn't make a cake this year, the usual Delia Smith Caribbean recipe. We were given two small ones. One by Sam, glazed almonds as decoration, and one by Kate with marzipan and holly. Pam loves marzipan, I always cut it off.

Pam's photo

 

We broke Covid rules for the first time last Saturday. Long-time friends Kate and Jim were celebrating their fiftieth wedding anniversary, and had booked a table at the Gunton Arms. Family live in the Netherlands so were unable to travel. We were happy to help them celebrate their day. The food is good, the service efficient, and space between tables very adequate.It's the first time we've entered a catering establishment since January. The hotel is on the Gunton estate. Two large herds of deer were visible from where we parked the car. It was a very pleasant and enjoyable occasion.

Tier 4 from Boxing Day onwards, not before time. We keep hearing from friends who have had the first vaccination, and the date for the second booked  When will we hear? It seems that urban areas are first in the queue, fair enough really. Both of us are in the 80+ at risk group.

Back to the delights of garden wildlife watching. A male Grey Wagtail paid us his second visit yesterday. He washes in the pond waterfall and then flies either to the pond cover, or the head of the spitting frog, where he preens. Lovely. Pam has seen the Nuthatch twice, not a frequent visitor at the moment. We intended having a birding day out yesterday, but it was very misty, wet and cold all day. Maybe next week.

The wildflower seeds Pam ordered from Fothergills (all UK) have arrived. Another job for Andrea.

I have access to my Apple equipment again and a SKY engineer fixed the WiFi connection problem with the QBox. All set for the winter. And Man U won last night, they're through to the semis of the Carabao Cup. Unfortunately we've drawn Man City.