Cherry takes the reins

HairyHandofDartmoor

Happy Christmas 🎅⛄🎁🎄

Cherryfudge

Thank you everyone! I've decided this quieter Christmas has a lot to be said for it!

For a start, I had a lie-in: DH and Auntie had a morning walk so I got up in a fairly leisurely fashion and had got as far as coffee and forgetting the password for DH's laptop by the time they got back. (DH's is quicker than mine and can be moved more easily, and I'd intended to join the zoom chat before the service but didn't manage that).

Church was very short but nice and Auntie found it very moving. She refuses to have Internet but is happy enough that it's such a big part of our lives.

We had cheese and biscuits followed by Christmas cake for lunch and I suddenly realised it was somehow 18 minutes past one and we were supposed to meet J and L at their flat at half past! Of course that got rearranged and we met them an little later and all set off on a long walk around town and through a network of backstreets that L knows well but which were different from my usual walks. It was so good to have time to talk with each of them and as we're all walkers we kept going for some time. When we got back to ours we gave them their main presents out in the garden (and they took a card to post for me) then I prepped the dinner while DH and Auntie identified people from old family photos and helped me with various bits. DH's sister video called us: I think she was a bit upset as she couldn't have her daughters with her due to travel restrictions, but they had a relative of her husbands to keep them company.

Dinner was lovely, partly because J had made and shared ham, apple sauce, red cabbage and cranberry sauce which were delicious. We reciprocated with turkey and stuffing. There's a lot to be said for making and sharing treat foods - not just cake! Needless to say the fridge is now full of leftovers and there's turkey and leftovers pie tomorrow.

TV was the Queen's speech and Call the Midwife, and DS2 sent through a photo of the end of his shift, which looked quite jolly. The staff are all so young! Not too young to do an amazing and demanding job, but it possibly indicates a job that wears people out after a year or two.

Once he got home, the whole family got onto zo om for a Christmas meeting. I don't think zo om was doing their usual half hour limit today (yesterday - I've just looked at the time) as we didn't get cut off. There wasn't much to do in the way of present opening as DS2 had a couple from his siblings but none from us as he'd said he'd probably be back to pick them up! The rest of us have agreed to a present exchange on Monday so DS2 put on a new jumper and I opened my work Secret Santa, and after the call we exchanged presents with Auntie and pulled crackers. Then it was somehow half past ten and time for the others to get some sleep as DH is taking her back first thing in the morning.

So it's been a very different Christmas Day but still enjoyable. I fact, much as I love watching people opening presents, the lack of that didn't matter at all. It was much more important to have the family contact that we did have.

So tonight I'm thankful for time spent with loved ones, fresh air and some sunshine under an all-day mackerel sky, good food to eat and a better understanding of Auntie, who has been very accommodating over the distancing and everything, and good company.

I've spent £1.98 on a couple of e-books, and sneaked a peek at the news when it wasn't obvious to the others: somewhere in this 24 hours the country has passed the 70,000 deaths of people known to have Covid. I know from DS2 that many of these are people who die of other things but the Covid is in there. How many actually die of Covid itself we don't know. I've reminded myself that 99% of things aren't Covid: the birds still sing, the sun still shines, we can enjoy many things that we didn't really treasure when they were obscured by our old world of material consumption and not enough time for the people who matter to us.

Anyway, it's late: the day has been much fuller than I anticipated and I didn't have time earlier to catch up here. I'm off to bed!

Cherryfudge

I've stayed in all day today: I was intending to run but it was bitter outside and Storm Bella blew up this afternoon so it's been wet and windy too. It's been nice having Auntie here but it's nice being 'just us' again, too. We didn't go out to get chips (what's the point when all the ingredients for turkey and leftovers pie are in the fridge?) so it's been an NSD and besides it's Boxing Day and I don't see why supermarket assistants shouldn't have the day off. Though I'm a hypocrite there as I would have ordered online from the sales if I'd had an order together.
This evening we watched the ballet on TV - amazing they can get a theatre performance together, but they've worked out how to do it. Then it was the Celebrity Sewing Bee which was funny.
And that's my day.
DH said we should open a couple of presents as 'I haven't given you anything yet': I said I thought we were waiting to do a zo om present opening on Monday with the children, and the discussion got forgotten. So we're two days into Christmas and haven't given each other presents yet! We must be getting a) older and b) more chilled.
Money-saving-wise, I've mended a jumper of DH's where a seam split was spreading.
Things I'm thankful for tonight: the tree that waves in gales is still rooted in the garden not visiting the neighbours (I hope that tree surgeon hasn't forgotten!). A snug dry home and a log burning stove. 

Honeysucklelou2

I share your gratitude thoughts tonight as I listen to the wind howling outside, so thankful for somewhere warm and dry to be.

Sun_Addict

Sounds like you had a good Christmas. It’s quite alarming the amount of COVID related deaths. No point going out for chips if you’ve got plenty in. The longer the presents stay wrapped the longer the anticipation lasts 😆

Cherryfudge

DH gave me my present today - a year's membership of the courses I like doing, so now I can do the test at the end and get the certificate! It won't benefit my work, but it's nice to have and is an incentive to be disciplined and get the most out of it that I can. I can retake previous courses and get the certificates for those, too, and it will be interesting to get some idea of just how well I've understood everything (or otherwise).

Church was online again and the nice weather we were expecting turned into rain, but at least last night's wind was gone by about 2am and today's rain stopped by tea time so we went out to look at Christmas lights. Some people have really gone to town and we had a good brisk walk punctuated by me saying 'I'll just go and look at those, and those.'

We did go past the house of an older friend who I'd texted in the first lockdown but from whom I never heard back. Other people assured me she was fine so I didn't worry and put it on the back burner till such time as I can meet her for coffee again. However, while we saw her at the window drawing her curtains, she didn't see us waving and I noticed she's sold the house. I think I'll text her again and hope to catch up. She's one of these people who have made good use of their time and are super-knowledgeable on all sorts of fascinating things, without being pushy, and I really enjoyed the times I've met up with her.

In between we had a Christmas video call from my sister and family that was eventually cut short by their internet cutting out but it was nice to see them all and we're hoping to do another tomorrow.

I haven't spent anything today but DH paid for the course (he had to have my login, hence the payment goes out today and possibly next Boxing Day I will be frantically finishing a course that I didn't complete before Christmas 2021).

So I'm thankful for lots of interesting stuff to get stuck into over the coming months, for fresh air and for the storm having blown over, and for my sister and her family (and it's 26 degrees where they are!)

Honeysucklelou2

What a thoughtful gift you had from your DH!

My nephews enjoy much warmer temperatures than us at Christmas time. Strange to think they are in shorts while we have winds howling round!!

Seasidegal58

Your Christmas sounded lovely Cherry. As you wrote, it was different but you and your family still enjoyed the time that you manage to see each other - either via zoom or in person. 😀

Cherryfudge

We had fine weather today, so two loads of laundry were done, then we went for our post-Christmas SD walk with A, J and L. H wasn't too well so A only stayed the first part of the walk, but we saw them both on Zoo m later. Meanwhile DS2, who we all thought was au fait with plans for a late Christmas get-together, threw several spanners in the works, the morning video call became the evening video call and when we got home from the walk, he was in the house! However he sensibly stayed in his old room (recently disinfected) and just dropped off our presents, collecting his in the street as he set off home.

The evening video call was for us all to open our presents from each other, and although it took three of the freebie Zoo m sessions, it worked well. DS2 had to leave two thirds of the way through to go to work but we opened main presents and stockings and generally had fun. As well as my access to courses I now have more books, slippers, a bird feeding station and nest box, Christmas socks, calendar, edibles and drinkables. I've had fun.

Other than that I gave myself a haircut earlier: I really needed it and the ends are a lot better but it's suffering from having been tied back for months so some bits are rather wispy. I deep-conditioned it too, so I'm hopeful I've limited the damage.

Part way through our walk I had a phone call which turned out to be someone from Mum's village who had found a note from Mum in a book my sister had given her, bequeathing a particular video recording to my sister. This lady can talk for ages so I felt a bit rude but had to cut her short after a few minutes and say I'd pass the message on. I was in the middle of nowhere trying to catch up with family so it wasn't the best timing. Then while we were opening presents, I got a couple of texts from work: one to say a staffing situation has changed and they've had to cancel a client visit which started on a shift I was going to be leading. That was quite a relief as I was the only one who could really take on the two most challenging parts of the shift that evening and no one could do both at once safely. (That's not to do with me standing in for Superwoman, it was entirely about having worked there long enough to have dealt with both scenarios lots of times). The other was a shift change at the weekend, which means an early on Saturday but that's okay.

So this evening I'm thankful for time spent with family again, gifts and 'in' jokes, lovely countryside to walk in and a feeling of relief over the shift changes despite concern over a colleague.

Cherryfudge

Another fine day, another load of laundry! I admit I didn't get out of my pyjamas till lunch time, then I popped in to work for the weekly Covid test and from there DH and I went for a walk to deliver a present for H and collect one for us from her parents. We stood on their drive and talked for a while and saw A briefly (he was officially working but one is allowed a few minutes' break ).

A had just had a message about rising Covid levels in our area: it was about 60 per 100,000 recently and is now over 200. That's really scary.

DH went to the supermarket on the way home and I went to a couple of other shops. I wanted some stationery for my courses, but also picked up Christmas paper and a light-up hairclip for next year, and a couple of storage boxes for old photos from my parents and for papers pertaining to the house we're selling that was theirs. It will be easier when I'm not simply trying to remember which pile these things went in! Lastly I got some nylon thread which the shop thinks is what I need to fix a venetian blind before the existing drawstring (IYSWIM) gives way entirely. It cost all of 30p! - so if it doesn't work I won't lie awake worrying.

Spending
Stationery £7.98
Mask 49p
Household £8.28
Gifts £6.17? - I can't make sense of this receipt!

Tonight I'm thankful for snow this morning that's still vestigially present under a lamp-like full moon tonight, for seeing A and H, for new notebooks to write in (always a joy!) and for a cosy fire tonight and chocolates from H's parents to eat.