Merry Christmas!!!

Back from Christmas morning service, husband down the pub (having put turkey in the oven and left everything else ready), daughter and sister moving partly done jigsaw from dining table to jigsaw board so that we can eat later. We didn't go to midnight service as I was too tired but there were a lot of people at the morning service as several families have relatives staying. I was woken at 7, not by my daughter who as a student is not into early mornings any more, but by my sister and niece in New Zealand. It was Christmas Day evening over there and so they rang up to say Happy Christmas and thank you for their presents. Caitlin, at two and a half, was very excited by it all and I do not envy her mum trying to get her to sleep that night.



Holly's campervan teapot!

 We have opened our presents and are snacking on a variety of things prior to dinner at about 3. The weather is glorious - sunny and clear - but Nick's car themometer said -10 on our way to church so I may just look at the day from in here!

Advent has been strange this year without Holly to share in it, I think next year I will try to find or write a set of daily things which we can share even in two different places. I have a service next week at Acocks Green and am thinking I might use the service in Magnet about the kings gifts.

In the bleak mid-winter

Today is definitely the bleak mid-winter! At 10 this morning I had to have the standard lamp on in our living room (which has big windows at both ends) to see to read and when I got back in this afternoon at 3, I had to put the light on. Bring back the cold, clear and sunny weather please - but no snow until after I have fetched Holly from college on Thursday. The number of Christmas cards on the side is growing, Nick will need to put the strings up across the room soon before we run out of (clear) flat surfaces - my pre-advent tidy didn't last long.
Yesterday morning was spent discussing the Start! course which we will be running in January at Dorridge Methodist Church and we decided that I should produce a flyer for it so that might be a job for this evening.

This is a tealight stand that I bought in a charity shop in Shirley yesterday. I try to get something 'new' each year to add to the decorations and I liked this.
Another thing to do is make some gingerbread biscuits - my sister bought me a set of russian doll measuring cups for my birthday and I need to work out if they are American (most likely) or English cups before I can use them - for various people for Christmas.

Second morning in a row that Nick has had to defrost the drainage pipes from the bathroom. Yesterday I couldn't have a shower before I went out as he had to take the pipes off and bring them into the kitchen to defrost. Today he had a shower but left the plug in the bath until he had finished in the hope that the rush of hot water would clear any build up since yesterday - no. So it was outside again with the hotair gun! After I had my shower I put the plugs in the bath and sink to see if that makes any difference tomorrow.

Some progress is being made on the 'getting ready for Christmas' front - I have sorted a card list so I know how many stamps to get and have started to make some cards but presents still need wrapping.