Christmas

. . . was a riot. 21 people in the house! Children, presents, food, and musical instruments were piled high. Jeremy and his two sisters, Stephanie and Fenella, took care of most of the cooking, the children laid the (very lo-oo-oong!) table, and I did the drinking! Everyone had brought a contribution to the day, and lunch was delicious.

Present opening was - hmm, I don't think maelstrom is too strong a word to use. The air was thick with scraps of wrapping paper and cries of 'Thank you!' Except for Kit, who, on unwrapping his present from Grandma Rose, hurled himself shrieking across the living room to hug his thanks. She had baked him a chocolate cake and decorated it with five £1 coins. His two favourite thing in the whole world - better even that Lego.

In the evening five of the cousins performed solos for us, Sam on trombone, Raul on sax, Mia on recorder, Kit on guitar and Emilio very creditably on trumpet.

Boxing Day was much quieter!


It was lovely to have with us my cousin Mark, his partner Felicity, and our friend Teresa, currently in her second year at university in Munich.