Happy Christmas

Oh happy days. The children are sitting around the wireless listening to The Witches on Radio Four. Sister and husband are out for a stroll and Tom is having a doze after working his socks off, poor soul, trying to get the place ready for our visitors. Me, I've just finished baking a batch of oaten biscuits for cheese whilst listening to Handel's Messiah and I thought I'd better leap in and wish you all a Happy Christmas before I turn this machine off for a few days.

Not all of my family are here YET. There are ten of us at the moment and on Christmas morning my brother, who is over from Australia for a week will come down with my Mum and Dad. I haven't seen him for four years and I haven't spent Christmas with Mum and Dad for about eight years. They usually go to my big sister's for the day as she lives much much closer and anyway Christmas isn't really a big thing for them. But this year we all felt that we wanted to be together as my Dad, now 88 has been rather ill lately.

I hope you're not worrying about how we'll manage with all those many people. We've booked a spare bed for the night at some neighbours and the house is literally stocked to the rafters with food. Honestly, when you see how full the fridge is:

the bags hanging from the beams in the shed (admittedly they're mostly full of veg):

food dotted around all over the place wherever we can find space and boxes of booze in the downstairs loo:

you may be forgiven for thinking there's going to be some sort of siege in this part of England and we're stocking up incase we can't get out for weeks. Sadly, the truth of it is that we love eating and we love good food and there are a heck of a lot of us. But did we really need twenty pints of milk, three pints of double cream, eight packs of butter, thirty six eggs and a 20lb ham:

and we're having goose on the actual day not ham. I think I might be surprised actually at how quickly this lot all goes.

Talking of going quickly I'm praying madly that these next few days go .........v...e....r...y.........s...l....o...w...l...y please.

OK my turn for a doze now. Sis is doing supper tonight, having cooked lunch too I have to add and all I need to do is ice the cake and make some mince pies tonight.

So may I wish every one of you that reads my blog and has supported me and encouraged me so much this year  A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS .....................

Comments

[Lil' d]

Merry Christmas to you too - and thanks for the reminder that I need to ice the Christmas cake!

[Lea]

A very blessed and wonderful Christmas to you too Simmy!!!

[Ruth]

Wishing you a very Happy Christmas!

[Kate]

Sounds lovely, Simmy - and from looking in your fridge, it looks like you have a great supply of cheese - mmmm.

[Rebecca]

I hope you have a very Merry Christmas!

[Ash]

Happy Happy Christmas Simmy! That ham looks awesome :)

[mathea]

Merry Christmas to you too Simmy. That ham looks great, and for a moment I thought I could even smell it, and then I realized the smell was from the one I have roasting in my own oven :-D
Take care and enjoy those looooong s-l-o-w Christmas days!

[Georgia]

Merry Christmas...may it be filled with love and food and family and all the good stuff. The kids are so desperate for Christmas to come, but I think these days of anticipation are almost better than the real thing. Have a great time!
Glad I met you this year, and thanks for the blog.

[Sarah Rooker]

Merry Christmas to you! I'm stuck in an airport trying to get home from Ohio. I'm due to arrive home at 2 a.m. on the 24th. Dear Nelson has been cleaning, cooking, wrapping, and getting all sorts of things ready!

Have a wonderful, wonderful Christmas.

[Lizz]

Happy Holidays and Peace and Light to you and yours!

[Angela]

Merry Christmas Simmy from Indiana USA. Enjoy your family time to the fullest.

[Marie]

Hahaha, Merry Christmas Simmy and thanks so much for your lovely card that arrived yesterday! Your fridge/house/shed looks like mine! So much food, so little time!!! Ain't it wunnerful!!!

[Jo]

Hi Simmy, a very merry christmas to you too, I love reading about your preparations, I'm about to do some early morning mince pies, as this lot (2 adults and one small boy) keep eating mine up!

[kiwirach]

Merry Christmas to you Simmy, I hope you have a wonderful time with your family.

The Angel i brought from you hangs beside my desk....she is such a delight, thank you.
Rachel.

[sue]

Merry Christmas to you and your family Simmy! It sounds as though it is already wonderful at your house, so enjoy every minute with your family. I am sure all that wonderful food will be eaten too, just like Christmas should be, lots of food, family and laughter, and then a snooze in the afternoon.

[julie]

Have a wonderful Christmas Simmy - looks like it will be judging by all of that delicious food (the ham looks superb!) Hope time really does slow down for you over the next few days and that you enjoy every minute. All the best for a very happy New Year too xxx

[melody]

Have a happy Christmas, Simmy... Enjoy your family. You've been making it look easy this past week and fueling our American fantasies about Christmas in the Cotswolds.

[Pat]

A very Merry Christmas to you and your family.

[sue]

A-very-Merry-Christmas-to-you-and
all-your-lovely-family,Simmy!

Hope-your-day-is-joyous,-and
your-New-Year-blessed!

Love,
Frankie,Zoe,&Maxie-Rose
(and-Sue-&-Gary,too:)!!!

[dottycookie]

Hope you had a lovely time, Simmy! I thought we had overloaded on food and milk too, but there doesn't seem to be much left over ...

[Tracy]

Looks like our place--lol! Hope you & yours have been having a wonderful holiday season celebrating! Many blessings to you all in the New Year ((HUGS))