Christmas Past

Christmas this year is going to be a bit different for everyone.  A lot of people have had their plans disrupted by the pandemic and at short notice.  Many of the events we normally look forward to at this time of year haven't been able to go ahead, like the office Christmas "Do".  Perhaps next year will be nearer normal. Although the office "Do" is never the same two years in a row!

I was unsure how I'd manage this year.  So far, I have to say, it's better than I expected, perhaps because so many of the things that David and I would have done together haven't been possible so I haven't had to face them alone.

The highlight of David's Christmas was the De Marco's dance studio Fancy Dress party and he took great pleasure in planning his costume!  It was difficult to actually dance in some of the outfits and the year we went in Japanese dress he knocked my hairpiece off my head while performing a spot turn in the cha cha.

David trying to be inscrutable, with limited success 

Christmas Eve was our day for socialising,  I'd prepare a buffet of party food (always including my famous corned beef pie!)  and we'd be at home for visitors throughout the afternoon and evening, while I surreptitiously tracked Santa with NORAD. 

The Howells

Dave's parents visited in the evening and his mother and I would sample a cocktail or two- her favourite was a banana Daiquiri, but she was very open to sampling anything that sounded interesting.  David and his father preferred beer.  Gifts were exchanged and karaoke was sometimes perpetrated.  David's dad's party piece was "My Way".  

They did it their way...

Christmas day was always just the two of us.  We'd begin with breakfast in bed (prepared by David, usually after I'd nudged him awake a few times - he wasn't a morning person) - Buck's Fizz, toast and tea for me, coffee for David.  We'd usually get an excited telephone call from his mother, wanting to know how we'd liked our presents, before we'd got out of bed. Present opening was a leisurely process, lunch was whenever we felt hungry, and then in the evening we'd watch whatever Christmas TV we fancied.  Boxing Day was the day for the family to gather.

Last year, David was in hospital over Christmas  - but I'll tell you about that next time.

Strange goings on...

I've previously written about my firm conviction that David is still around and making his presence felt, and since the last time I updated this blog there have been a few things I find hard to explain.  

If you knew David, you will know how much he "loved" Donald Trump (on a scale of 1-10, about minus 5,000).  Just before the US elections, I joked that if Trump won I'd be getting some serious poltergeist activity around the house.  

The day after the election, while we were still waiting for the results, the fire alarm outside my kitchen door went off at 3. 30 a.m.  For no good  reason.  It's wired into the mains so it wasn't caused by a low battery and I promise you I wasn't doing any cooking (if I get over-enthusiastic when cooking bacon I have been known to set it off).  I was so shaken that, after I'd deactivated the thing, I checked to see if Trump had perhaps won a second term.

The second thing  - well, I want to show you how I store my paper punches.  They are heavy lumps of metal and they sit well back on a shelf in a bookcase. They weren't cheap to buy so I'm very careful about putting them back safely every time I use them.

The other day I walked into the room and heard a thud behind me .  I turned around to find one of the punches had fallen off the shelf somehow, jumped over the storage boxes on the shelf below and landed in the middle of the floor.  I still don't know how that happened.

The third thing came from Andy, David's good friend (and Best Man at our wedding), who found a cassette tape recording of himself, David and two other friends playing role-playing games when they were teenagers.  It was, he said, a recording that should not exist;  he didn't even know it had been made ( it was made secretly by his younger brother, who had been chased out of the room in the way that big brothers chase out annoying siblings, and who wanted to listen to the game play).  There were some unlikely circumstances leading to its being found, but found it was.  

I'm going to leave it there for today.  Thank you for staying with me this far.  I promise not to leave it so long between posts next time. Meanwhile, compliments of the season to you all and may you have a safe and peaceful holiday>