Theo's first Boxing Day!

After a lovely few days in Bath and catching up with all the family there, today we drove up to see Lauren, James and Theo and to bring gifts for them.

There was time for Theo to open a few gifts before bed - and for him to subject them to the standard test..

He was very pleased with everything (and also loved the wrapping paper, of course).

Grandpa was given the task of feeding him his tea - and that seemed to go quite well.

A bit of cleaning up was necessary afterwards..

The next few days will no doubt be full of fun!

Happy Christmas

I hope that you had a very happy Christmas Day with family and friends.

We went to see Maggie and family with Mum and Dad and had a lovely day.

Crackers were pulled..

The chef and her helpers were congratulated on a great lunch.

The trifle was sampled.

The Christmas pudding was (well and truly) flambé'd!

And, of course, through the day we have enjoyed seeing photos of Theo's first Christmas - with a stack of wonderful presents..

We are looking forward to seeing him - and his Mum and Dad - very soon!!

Christmas in the garden

I went into Mum's garden to look for a seasonal picture.  

This beautiful variegated holly still has its berries - although the yellow-berried holly and the dark green holly bush are now stripped bare of berries.

This hellebore - called 'Corsicus' is usually in flower after Christmas.

These beautiful smaller hellebores, bowing their heads, are not Christmas roses and usually appear closer to Easter.

Happy Christmas Eve!

Birthday Party

Our friend Derek had a special birthday today and we were very pleased to be invited to celebrate with him and lots of our Pucklechurch friends.

His birthday 'cake' was a selection of his favourite sweet things!

The party food was focused on his favourites of his 1970's teenage years - sausage and chips and chicken and chips.

This was much appreciated by all!!

The 'puds' were also 1970's themed - how much strawberry blancmange could you eat or crumble, treacle tart, or steamed jam pudding?

Needless to say lots of work went into all the catering for this surprise party and to the choice and wrapping of the birthday presents, well done to all, a great party!

Christmas Orange

Admiring a box of clementines that Mum bought today, I wondered about the Christmas tradition of putting an orange - or now more frequently a clementine - into the toe of a stocking.

I learned that the clementine was 'created' by the cross pollination of a sweet orange and a tangerine.  This is no genetically modified fruit, though, it was an accidental occurrence, way back in 1902.

I learned that there is a story called 'The Christmas Orange' but I haven't read it!

I looked for reasons for the association of Christmas and clementines - in some places it will be the time when citrus fruit ripen and are available.  At one time an orange was a luxury item and hence Christmas would be a time to have such a treat.  Another reference suggested that it was because it is an ideal fruit to share.  One reference suggested that it represented the gold that St Nicholas was believed to carry in his sack.  So, unfortunately, no definitive answer.  

Anyway, the clementines are good at the moment - at least the Taste the Difference ones from Sainsbury's are - so enjoy!!

Family Tree

While we were staying with David's Mum & Dad this weekend, I took a few photos of their Christmas tree decorations.

Quite a few featuring various members of the family - some when they were very young..

Others when a little older..

Or grown up..

And the youngest member of the family..

Three out of four generations in this last photo..

Early Christmas

Today we celebrated Christmas with David's family.  A wonderful Christmas meal and a good array of seasonal hats and jumpers..

After lunch, some puzzling table presents...

Gifts from under the tree..

A game of chili chocolate roulette..

..and here is the lucky 'winner'..

It was a great day, our only disappointment was that Lauren, James and Theo were unable to join us due to illness but we look forward to celebrating with them soon..