....Merry Christmas - everybody’s having fun

 The lyrics of Slade’s Christmas favourite don’t quite fit Christmas 2020 do they? Especially the line that goes ‘Are you waiting for the family to arrive?’.  Despite this I have quite enjoyed our quiet Christmas.  It was just the three of us and the dog.  On Christmas Day we had cinnamon buns for breakfast which I made myself with the help of the bread maker. We scheduled a Christmas family Zoom for 9am so we could catch the NZ branch of the family before bed. Also included in the call were nephews in Melbourne and Verbier in Switzerland.  Hard to actually converse with so many people on the call but good to see everyone and be introduced to the giant bear one of the younger nephews had got for Christmas.  After that we walked into the city centre and along the river, a route which is usually too busy for incident-free dog walking. Then we cooked Christmas dinner together. I was responsible for stuffing, though we couldn’t actually stuff our turkey ‘crown’, and also dessert. We abandoned tradition and had chocolate profiteroles. I may make a Christmas pudding before the holiday ends though as I do like it - just not after Christmas dinner.  The rest of the day was spent lazily in front of the fire. In fact this pretty much describes the rest of the week too. With Kate at home we have wrenched control of the remote from Paul and have been watching The Crown - we’re on Charles at Gordonstoun. And we’ve also been watching ‘The Queen’s Gambit’. I’ve never watched so much TV in my life. Not exactly ‘fun’ but relaxing and there’s not much else to do - especially now we have all been instructed to stay at home again. 

So here it is.......

I’m feeling more cheerful now with Christmas approaching. Kate has returned from university after her negative rapid test result so I now have company on my dog walks.  In the local country park where we walk her we discovered a tree with a kind of knothole in the trunk and the trust which looks after the park has fitted a door. If you open it there is a tiny Christmas tree and two little toy figures in there.  I love this - it reminds me of 'To Kill a Mockingbird' when Boo Radley hides things in knothole of a tree for the children to find. 

Other Christmas preparations are on the way now that Kate is back.  She liked the idea of a pink themed tree and persuaded me to buy this tinsel.  Personally I prefer the coloured lights and mishmash of random baubles like we had when she was little but I went along with her wishes.  I also made a wreath with bits of greenery mainly from the garden though I did sneakily snip a few berry branches from a heavily laden roadside hedge. I also purchased a rather twee light up house like my mum used to have which I always coveted. I bought a Village Post Office as I grew up living in one.

Last night we went also went out for the first time in ages to Storyhouse to see a production of 'A Christmas Carol' - Chester has returned to Tier 2 for now so theatres have reopened. It was a real privilege to see live theatre again.  I'm rather weary of this particular novel as I have taught it so many times but this production directed by Alex Clifton made it fresh again with some clever contemporary references and a lively musical score with lots of 70s classic punky tunes like London Calling and A Town Called Malice.  It wasn't quite normal as the audience were very spaced out and had to wear masks throughout but it was better than another evening in front of the telly. And this evening we are venturing out for a meal in a pub.  I’m torn between wanting to go and being extra careful as I don’t want coronavirus for Christmas. Paul is even more uncertain - he didn’t come to the theatre and avoids any unnecessary social contacts. Let’s hope for the best - it is quite a large space so we should be ok.