Christmas with Family

We are back in London now, after a wonderful trip to Hampshire to visit with family over the holidays. It really was everything that we hoped for for Christmas, and it is definitely one we'll remember. We rented a car in town to drive the hour and a half to Barton Stacey on Christmas Eve. When Steven got to the car rental office, they said that they didn't have any more compact cars available (we had reserved the cheapest option), and so would give us a free upgrade. Steven was pleased with this and then even happier when they said, "Well, Christmas has come early for you, Sir, as we're upgrading you to a Mercedes." So, we drove to the country in high style. 

We made excellent time and arrived at Julia and Jim's place by lunch time. We had arranged to stay at Julia's neighbor's house just down the road, with Susan, Robert, David, and Grandma. It was a lovely 4-bedroom house with lots of space for everyone, and they had decorated it for Christmas, so we deposited all of the gifts that we brought under their tree. We settled right in and felt very comfortable. Greta and Steven met Julia and her family for lunch at the Swan Inn, while Franny and I had sandwiches and unpacked in our cozy new digs. Then Steven brought Grandma back to our place to rest. That was the one sad part of our holiday- Grandma is not doing well at all. She had a bad fall on Christmas Eve and was in a lot of pain, and she's having a lot of difficulty in general. She'll be 90 years old in February, and she is definitely feeling it these days.

Later that day, a few of us walked up the road to the old church for a Christingle Mass, which was just beautiful. Franny and David participated in lighting the candles of the Christingles (oranges decorated with sweets and holding a single candle each), and the church was illuminated with flickering candles and happy faces. We all had dinner at our own houses that evening, with Robert cooking our household a nice salmon and pasta, followed by apple crumble with cream. A little later we walked over to the Pub (again the Swan Inn) for a couple of festive pints and a good laugh. Julia and Jim knew everyone in there, and lots of villagers (yes, that is really what they call themselves) came over to chat. We were quite the novelty as "strangers," given that everyone else was a regular. We made it home before midnight, though, to finish any Christmas prep and be sure to get to bed before Santa arrived.

The kids were very reasonable and slept in until about 7am, then we all raced downstairs to open a few gifts and have some breakfast- toasted Panettone and coffee, with clementines on the side. We got dressed and walked up to Julia's for more gift opening with all the family. It was a blur of activity for about 20 minutes, and then everyone was busy playing with their new loot. The boys got lots of electronics, which kept them quite occupied. Greta got books and gift cards, as well as some clothes and jewelry. Franny got books, headphones, clothes, as well as slippers and a robe that she has barely taken off since she opened! Everyone was thrilled with their goodies.

Much of Christmas Day was spent cooking, as we had fifteen people around the table for dinner. Each family contributed a different part of the huge meal, from turkey and ham to desserts and veg, as well as starters and drinks. I had ordered all of the veg from Abel & Cole and we had loads of pots and pans going to cook it all before bringing it up to Julia's house. She had transformed their playroom (itself transformed from a former launderette for the soldiers) into a Christmas Grotto, with the table-tennis table covered in Christmas wrap and the walls decorated with fake Christmas scenes, it was amazing! And we all fit comfortably around the table, with plenty of space for the enormous amount of food and drink. Everything turned out beautifully and it was such a nice family meal to share. 

We were all pretty knackered that night, so stayed in and played games. We also watched the specials on telly, including the Doctor Who and Downton Abbey Christmas specials. Then for Boxing Day, we headed out for a nice walk in the country. We followed a trail through some horse pastures and country lanes, where we hardly saw anyone else. That is, until four Land Rovers pulled up and the country gentry got out in their full hunting regalia. It was quite the scene, with even the kids wearing full tweed and carrying rifles! We marched on, enjoying the setting but no hunting for us.

On Boxing Day afternoon, we had another excellent meal with delicious left-overs and various salads and desserts. We had our fill of mince pies and Christmas cake, and we sampled some new things such as pickled walnuts. The kids all went into the main house to play, while the grown-ups sat around drinking wine and chatting, it was really nice. Made me realize how special it is to be with family for the holidays, and we fully enjoyed it all. Of course, we missed our family that is back in the States and Canada, and our dear friends with whom we usually share a wonderful Christmas meal; but this was pretty special, too.

We drove back to London on Tuesday afternoon, and made use of the car by doing a massive Sainsbury's run. Then it was back to work for me on Wednesday. I'm off for the long weekend, though, and Steven has another batch of mince pies in the oven as I write, so life is full and good. I hope that you all had a wonderful Christmas, too, and Happy New Year to all!