Betwixtmas

Taking the plunge

In many ways this is an awkward time of the year for many people. We forget what day it is and only mark the dates. Christmas eve, Christmas Day, Boxing Day, dead days and New Year's Eve. I had to think really hard about when to put pen to paper and get this written so that it can be published on a Monday. I truly was all at sea with what the day of the week was.  Even so, with my addled brain Christmas is always a joy. It starts when you see children dressed with tea towels on their heads for their Nativity and ends when you resolve to build a better life for yourself.  

So to the highlights... or low ones. I think my runny fondue goes down as a low light. I thought an extra slosh of white wine would make it just a bit more festive as a Christmas Eve celebration - it just made it too fluid. Then onto the over cooking the turkey legs which I thought would benefit from a spicy overhaul this year. These stayed in the oven an hour longer than they needed as I got too involved with playing cards. Whoops. The last culinary slip was pouring brandy over the pud and then finding a lighter that didn't work so I double-dosed it just to get the affect of a flaming Christmas pud. Dangerous.

On the upside... I did well on the card games. I have a reputation to maintain. It is a family tradition that goes back to my childhood when, over the festive period, we had parties at lots of different relatives' houses and each party was almost the same. Cold cuts, salad and pickles, Christmas cake and mince pies and card games. In the old days, and by this I am talking about the 60s, everyone made their own everything so Christmas was months in the making. The card games were different too. We played Newmarket - a gambling game with pennies and another game called knocking. Thinking back, I must have learnt these at a very young age. Canasta, a family favourite, was never played at Christmas. It was an everyday sort of game I played with my Nana. I am hoping one day I'll be able to play this with my grandchildren! 

I really lost two two days of this Christmas season as I had a tummy bug. This started with diarrhoea, followed by bouts of sickness through to Boxing Day morning. My plans for a long bike ride on Boxing Day went out of the window. I stayed in bed for most of the day and then went to bed early after slumping on the sofa. My time was filled with reading "We Solve Murders." 

And so to Sunday and a little bit of normality. Sunday mornings equal tennis so off I went - still a little weak from the tummy bug and played for about 2 hours. Then on to Woburn Lido for an outdoor dip in 12c for about 20 minutes followed by a gathering at a friend's house. 

Just me...

Perhaps once I have recovered my senses and sunk back down to my humdrum everyday life, I'll be more sensible and do things that are expected of old dears like me!