The Other Side

Hello my friends!!! We made it! We are on the other side of Christmas. Happy, exhausted, full to the brim with Christmas pudding and turkey, surrounded by presents and leftovers which are to be eaten over the next week in as many creative ways as we can think of. Packaging and bags of recycling waiting to go out are everywhere, which the cats are loving. Ziggy has adopted a box left under the radiator in the hallway, although is quite happy to box-hop should he need to (a little bit like a hermit crab).

My photos over the festive period were all taken on my phone so please bear with the odd lighting and shapes and sizes of the images. This year was the first year ever that we actually spent Christmas day at home. In our own house. It is a new experience for us but I think we handled it quite well. Some traditions stayed the same, we always decorate the table on Christmas Eve ready for breakfast the following morning. The tablecloth (which is sparkly!!) was new and bought to go with my table runner, which itself was decorated with cinnamon scented red tea lights and pine cones leftover from my wreath making session. We ended up with two bunches of flowers as well, one the one I bought and one a present, although the colours of the flowers are identical and looked lovely next to each other on the table.

Huzzah!! Here in photo land we reach Christmas Day, post stocking opening. Our tradition here is for everyone to congregate on the Parent's bed, bleary eyed, barely awake and, in the case of The Sister, slightly grumpy. Present opening goes in age order starting with Dad and we all go round and open one present at a time. Then there is the rubbish throwing competition which isn't a spoken about tradition but happens every year where people try to throw their used wrapping paper into the bin in the Parent's bedroom, bouncing it off the mirror and the walls and generally making a mess.
The above photo shows a couple of my new decorations which were in my stocking. The white one with sequins was made by The Mother, isn't it pretty?

No one is allowed downstairs until The Mother has gone down and turned the tree lights on to get the biggest festive impact of the morning. The presents are all arranged and glinting under the tree and it all looks very lovely.

Whilst we all gaze in rapture at the pretty tree and think about what might be wrapped up below, Dad cooks the breakfast and we all trundle into the kitchen to sit at the beautifully decorated table and pour out the Bucks Fizz (a new tradition for us started this year) with extra orange juice. The cats are hugely excited by all of the commotion and stick with us all morning. Even coming in to help us unwrap the presents.

 Kit wasn't so bothered by what was happening, he was just happy to sit with us all and know we were there. Ziggy loves wrapping paper, it makes a fantastic crunchy noise and moves around when people throw more onto the pile. The best part of Christmas for Ziggy (other than the extra treats and tit bits of turkey) is the packaging.

My gorgeous new hand painted bowl and Christmas scented dried fruits made it straight onto the table ready for the lunch time setting. As we were cooking it ourselves, Dad had decided he didn't want lots of fuss or have to spend the day slaving over a hot stove cooking the meat and timing in all of the veggies. So he cooked duck, lamb and ham (not all in one pan) on Christmas Eve ready for us to have cold with a variety of salads, hot pigs in blankets and a ham and egg thing The Sister made. It was an interesting twist. We did have a little Christmas pudding with cream to follow.

In the run up to Christmas I had bought a selection pack of photo accessories to play with at the table which turned out to be quite fun and caused some amusement.

I thought I would throw in a little photo of myself as well, looking rather fetching with my top hat and bow tie. (The 15 at the top is because it was screenshotted from The Sister's phone on a Snapchat app- it's all techno gadgets here!!!)

So I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas and relaxing Boxing Day (we always have a second Christmas day with the other side of the family, with more presents, a full roast and homemade pudding (or rich chocolate and raspberry tarte if you prefer), quizzes and slightly tipsy adults), and that you got everything on your present lists and more. Here's to the next party- New Year!!! xx