All I want for Christmas is Helen Love and Tallulah Gosh
Evening, DW/LJ. I've not been around here much of late; work has been eating my life somewhat and apparently writing (and, to a large extent, reading) blogs has been one of the things that went by the board.
But I'm home for Christmas, and one of the traditions of Christmas Eve is a post, so here I am doing it.
We've done a moderate job of ticking off our Christmas traditions this year (from last year's list we've completed 1, 3, 5, 6, we're on course for 7, and we did indeed manage the unwritten-8). However, there is Turmoil about tomorrow.
Apart from a brief interlude when I was in the church choir as a teenager, every single Christmas has featured my family going to 8am communion on Christmas morning. (When I was in the choir, the rest of them still did it, I just ended up singing at different services). However, the church's new vicar has come over all new-broom-y and swept away the early morning service. We do not respond well to change round these parts. Various plans have been mooted and rejected, and in the end we've been to a Christingle service this afternoon and decided to call it a day. Breakfast will be a more lesiurely affair tomorrow.
Today has been a surprisingly sociable. In the queue for the butcher's this morning, a friend of mine from teenage years was standing directly in front of me. I had pre-wracked my brains to dig out his proper name, rather than his daft childhood nickname, by the time he turned round. His wife, waiting with him, also turned out to be someone I knew slightly. So we caught up a bit and agreed that it was probably about five years since we were teenagers.
Then I went next door to deliver presents and stop for a cup of tea. I had a long chat with Aunty Brenda there, as her husband had been rushed into hospital earlier in the week and there was currently an ongoing wrangle between him, her, and the hospital about whether he was fit to be discharged. He rang to say 'yes', so I popped back home to find that my godfather had just dropped in. Then an old schoolfriend called to say that she was knocking off work early, five minutes down the road, so she came round for lunch...
It's been that kind of a day, really, and I've rather enjoyed it.
The to-do list for the evening is a bit of vegetable-prep for tomorrow, put some pigs into some blankets, find myself a beer, occasionally poke the fire, and try and finish off the backlog of puzzles. If puzzles are your thing and you haven't been doing it, I heartily recommend Daniel Peake's Puzzlevent puzzle Advent calendar. We've been solving them on and off all December (and indeed I principally blame Mr Peake for the shocking lack of housework that has been done during that time). And... that's about it. Not a lot to write about, in fact :)
I hope, wherever you are, you're having a peaceful and happy one.
[Originally posted at https://venta.dreamwidth.org/537760.html]
But I'm home for Christmas, and one of the traditions of Christmas Eve is a post, so here I am doing it.
We've done a moderate job of ticking off our Christmas traditions this year (from last year's list we've completed 1, 3, 5, 6, we're on course for 7, and we did indeed manage the unwritten-8). However, there is Turmoil about tomorrow.
Apart from a brief interlude when I was in the church choir as a teenager, every single Christmas has featured my family going to 8am communion on Christmas morning. (When I was in the choir, the rest of them still did it, I just ended up singing at different services). However, the church's new vicar has come over all new-broom-y and swept away the early morning service. We do not respond well to change round these parts. Various plans have been mooted and rejected, and in the end we've been to a Christingle service this afternoon and decided to call it a day. Breakfast will be a more lesiurely affair tomorrow.
Today has been a surprisingly sociable. In the queue for the butcher's this morning, a friend of mine from teenage years was standing directly in front of me. I had pre-wracked my brains to dig out his proper name, rather than his daft childhood nickname, by the time he turned round. His wife, waiting with him, also turned out to be someone I knew slightly. So we caught up a bit and agreed that it was probably about five years since we were teenagers.
Then I went next door to deliver presents and stop for a cup of tea. I had a long chat with Aunty Brenda there, as her husband had been rushed into hospital earlier in the week and there was currently an ongoing wrangle between him, her, and the hospital about whether he was fit to be discharged. He rang to say 'yes', so I popped back home to find that my godfather had just dropped in. Then an old schoolfriend called to say that she was knocking off work early, five minutes down the road, so she came round for lunch...
It's been that kind of a day, really, and I've rather enjoyed it.
The to-do list for the evening is a bit of vegetable-prep for tomorrow, put some pigs into some blankets, find myself a beer, occasionally poke the fire, and try and finish off the backlog of puzzles. If puzzles are your thing and you haven't been doing it, I heartily recommend Daniel Peake's Puzzlevent puzzle Advent calendar. We've been solving them on and off all December (and indeed I principally blame Mr Peake for the shocking lack of housework that has been done during that time). And... that's about it. Not a lot to write about, in fact :)
I hope, wherever you are, you're having a peaceful and happy one.
[Originally posted at https://venta.dreamwidth.org/537760.html]