Merry Anderson Christmas!

We have had a traditional family Christmas day, which I love. I will write it down for posterity because it is very typical of the Christmases we have had for the twenty-six years of our marriage so far, with the occasional variations due to unforseen events, like when Mum was sometimes in hospital over Christmas. It started off with all five of us in our bed opening our Christmas stockings. The boys are still very happy to have stockings I'm glad to say, and in fact there was even one for James and I at the foot of our bed when we woke up filled with goodies! Everyone was all happy and excited, it was one of those perfect times. I won't go into details of the lovely presents that we gave each other because it would sound like a catalogue of greed - but actually the best thing about our presents was the amount of thought that had clearly gone into each one. The boys must secretly like each other (and us) if they spend so much time choosing each other such personal and thoughtful presents! At about 10.30 a.m. we put the turkey into the oven - we had carefully worked out the timing as usual using my Delia Smith Christmas book - then we took Grandma round to Forrest and Marjory's where we toasted each other Merry Christmas and chatted merrily. Home to play with our pressies before we finished preparing the trimmings and vegetables. James noticed that there wasn't much of a smell of turkey cooking but we put it down to our new cooker being well sealed. If only we hadn't been so blasé! Jamie and Ally went across to bring Grandma over at quarter to three and we poured ourselves glasses of champagne (or sparkling raspberry!) and listened to the Queen's Speech then drank at toast to her health and of course to Prince Philip who is still in hospital. We served our starter and soup with great efficiency and then tested the turkey, but to our consternation it was nowhere near cooked! We had obeyed Delia to the letter but we must have got the weight of the stuffed turkey wrong so we had to wait another NINETY minutes until it was ready. Grandma was very understanding - she is used to our culinary mishaps! She told us about a long ago Christmas where she and Jimmy had cooked their turkey using a spit inside the oven so that it would cook nice and evenly, but instead it caught on the inside the oven and shredded itself into turkey mince. We had musical crackers this year which each contained a whistle which played a different note so we used the instructions provided to group whistle Christmas tunes. Alasdair did his best as the conductor but we were all truly dreadful at it and the only tune that was at all recognisable was Jingle Bells.

At last the turkey was cooked - it turned out very tasty - and we all ate far too much until we staggered into the lounge to listen to music and doze a bit. Jennifer phoned from Russell's Mum and Dad's house to wish us Happy Christmas, his Gran was there too - she is ninety-eight now! Davie took Grandma home and the rest of us watched the Doctor Who Christmas Special which was highly enjoyable. And that's about it! We have more or less cleared up, we are full but happy. Last year I couldn't bear the idea of having Christmas at home without Mum so for the first time ever we went to a hotel for dinner, but Christmas at home is so much better, and now that we have the extension and the new table it was different enough that I didn't feel too sad. In fact it has been a lovely day. Merry Christmas! 

Santa's sleigh is on its way

James has an app on his iPad called "Plane Finder" which he enjoys using to track the routes where planes are travelling around the world. I have looked at it sometimes and it is fascinating even to me; the idea of all these planes blinking across the screen taking people to different destinations. This evening he got a message when he switched on his iPad to say "Plane Finder is tracking Santa" and sure enough, Santa's sleigh is on screen making its way from country to country! When you click on the little red icon, it gives details such as: Route - Rovaniemi, Finland to Rovaniemi, Finland; Squawk - O-HO; Aircraft type - Sleigh. Santa is currently over Paris!
We have had a pleasant Christmas eve; Jamie and Alasdair went to the butcher's with Grandma at half past nine this morning to collect the turkey - it is huge! I had decided that 11 lb would be plenty but for some reason we got one that is 14 lb. James and I stuffed it and sewed it up and seasoned it and covered it with bacon. Then we put it in the garage to keep cool until tomorrow morning because there is no way that it would have fitted into the fridge. The news is full of Prince Philip's emergency heart op last night. The hospital certainly acted very quickly and apparently it is a very routine procedure, but of course he is ninety years old so they are being very careful with him.
So I think we are just about ready for Christmas! The presents are wrapped, the meal is prepared, and now all we have to do it wait for Santa! 

The Choir

Last night James and I watched a programme called "The Choir - Military Wives". It was the highlights of a television series that was shown this autumn, which we missed, but which I heard was very good. So it was nice to get a chance to see it, and it was absolutely fascinating. The choir master, Gareth Malone, had worked with two choirs made up of the wives of soldiers who are serving in Afghanistan and other war zones. These women are left living in army bases with their children for long periods while their husbands and partners are on duty, and joining the choir gave them a focus and something to aim for. They gave various concerts, becoming better and better, and finally performed in front of the royal family at the Remembrance Service at the Royal Albert Hall. It was very inspirational and they sang a beautiful song "Wherever You Are", especially written for them by Paul Mealor using words from letters they had sent and received from their husbands and partners. I hope it will be number one in the charts at Christmas.

Today was a pleasant day. When I went downstairs Jack was miaowing pitifully because James had accidentally shut him in the back room which meant that he could not get to his bowl of cat chunks. And when he and I investigated his bowl, it was found to be empty, which is always a very serious matter for Jack. When I fed him he was very loving towards me by rubbing himself against my legs. I had lunch at Ally Walker's, it was really nice to see her again and she showed me photos of Singapore which bring back good memories, and photos of their brilliant holiday to Vietnam and Cambodia, I would love to go there some day and also to Laos. When the Walkers went back to Singapore at the end of their holiday they visited an amazing island where their accommodation was right on the beach and there were lots of watersports. I would definitely like to go back to Singapore because there is lots more I would like to visit there. Lesley popped in and the three of us had a nice chat. On the way home I popped in to Whole Foods which is "a natural and organic grocery" which has recently opened in Giffnock. It has some nice ideas; the food all looks beautiful and there is a huge variety of different kinds of flour and grains and oils, but on the other hand it is very expensive - I bought some paper napkins, a small jar of honey, some incense sticks and two small small containers of nuts and it came to £28!