Merry Christmas!

I had a rather disturbed night's sleep as I was waiting for Mike to come home, not realising that he was already home, and had returned when I'd nodded off for a while!

At about 12.30am I gave up trying to go back to sleep, and went downstairs, much to the delight of the cat. I started watching a good film called Lost At Christmas and decided to record the rest to watch on Boxing Day!

Normally, we would all wake up and open presents first thing in the morning with a glass of Champagne but this year we decided to open our gifts when Mum and Dad were here. I was amazed that I was still allowed to have them over for dinner, considering how the Omicron variant is spreading, but we all took lateral flow tests during the morning so we knew we were safe.

The turkey went into the oven at 10am, and Keith prepared all the vegetables while I set the table and hoovered downstairs. At 12pm Sophie and I went over to collect my Mum and Dad and the care home was very busy with people arriving to see relatives or take them out for the day.

We got Dad home with ease and settled him in the chair by the window before all sitting down and opening presents. There was rather a lot of alcohol about... I wonder why? I received two bottles of Japanese whisky from the children, as well as bottles of Dalwhinnie and Johnny Walker from Keith!

Keith and Sophie cooked Christmas lunch while I sat and chatted to Mum and Dad. The meal was delicious, and the wine I'd chosen, a Pouilly Fume, went very well with the turkey. We put all the dishes of food on the bench seat worktop to make it easier. Obviously, this was the first time we'd cooked such an important meal in the new kitchen but having the extra worktop space was a huge bonus! Sophie cleared away and washed up, so she was a huge help today. I don't know what we would have done without her.

Abbie arrived at about 4pm and brought their two cats - Hugo and Trixie - with her. Mike had insisted on them coming, even though Sophie was not at all happy. Monty has had a lot of upheaval lately, and having two kittens in the house might well have been upsetting for him. We took him up to Sophie's room while the kittens were downstairs. They skittered about and took a great interest in the Christmas tree!

Sophie and I took Mum and Dad back at 5pm, and I think they were ready to go. Back at home, we sat and watched the Christmas episode of Strictly and relaxed. Sophie's Tiramisu and Marsala went down extremely well over the course of the evening!

Merry Christmas!