My Poor Abandoned Blog!!

Happy Christmas!!!

The trouble with Christmas is that its a long time coming and every year we all fall for the hype. I was concerned that we would not have 'enough stuff' for guests over the festivities, in the end we have plenty and some!! 

We have had a good Christmas season, it kicked off for me with a surprise visit to a mini Christmas  market in WGC, followed by a beauty evening in John Lewis, where I won second prize in the raffle and Karen won top prize!! Made it a good night when you add to it a nice glass of Mulled Wine.

Next we met up with Mums Brother and his wife, Uncle Roy and Auntie Peggy. We met at Ayletts Garden Centre in St Albans .We agreed to meet at 12, when we arrived they were already there. Walking through to the cafe, we nearly passed a stall serving free mulled wine, we only 'nearly' passed it, I stopped and got a glass for each of us, fortunately although the others all tried it, not one of them liked it, so as I hate waste I had no alternative but to drink it all.

Tom drove home!!!

We added to our collection of Christmas decorations, this little fella was made by pupils at Lakeside School in Welwyn Garden City so the proceeds are going to a worthy cause. 

Next dad treated us all out for Christmas Dinner at the Beehive in WGC.

Carl and Tom accidentally wore matching tops!!!

Next it was girls night out , we went back to our usual haunt The Crooked Chimney. We usually have the same waitress every time we go, she had been there for the past 12 years. This year she asked for Christmas day off, she has three children and gave them plenty of notice, they said no :(  so she decided to call it a day. Its a real shame, she has been there through loads of different and somewhat odd managers,such as the one who said that even if we booked Christmas meal we could not have crackers or decorations as they couldn't afford them!! Ever since then we have taken a selection of our own cracked and table decorations!!!

So it was a sad farewell to Amanda, what a huge loss she is to their business. 

In the mean time the prodigal son returned and moved back in. It was really fantastic to see him again.

Next night out was with our best Holiday Friends (mark 1) Rick and Dina, they did us a fantastic evening meal a lovely Chinese, followed by 'some' cider, resulting in the below photo!!!

Next we had Sunday tea with our other holiday friends Malc and Debs, another great evening featuring the saucepan game and lots of laughs!!!!

Christmas eve and we had the Reeves over, the usual combination of loudness and fun was had by all including Bobbie who was excited for Santa to arrive!!!

Finally the big day arrived and we opened our presents with Dad and Harry in attendance, Beth and Harry headed off to Stevenage for dinner leaving lunch time for the rest of us!!!

So that's our action packed holiday season........ so far!!! Looking forward to new years eve now !

Happy New Year!!!!

A life time ago!

I am sorry to say that our holiday now feels like a lifetime ago. We have been back for a little over a month and the whole experience is like a dream. We have had our usual mix of issues over the past weeks, with both Laura and Dad being unwell. Both are now on the mend. 

I can hardly believe that Mum passed away two years ago tomorrow, where has that time gone. On the one hand it seems like an age ago and on the other two minutes ago. One of the good things about having an IPhone is that it allows you to save your text and Whats app messages. I was looking through the other night and found the last few from Mum which was a big bit of a tear jerker. We are lucky to have such great friends and relatives who all have helped everyone over these past few years. We will never forget her  and think about her every day .

It was nice to be able to hang one of my Remember Me Angels to keep Mum close at hand all over Christmas. This morning we went to Mass, which was said for her. I was very impressed with Father Norbert who did most of the mass in speech and sign language. I am in awe of anyone who can do that, its like rubbing your tummy and patting your head as far as I am concerned!!

So what else has been happening? I have been sorting out Christmas presents, I had a marathon wrapping spree yesterday and we put the decs up so I was able to store the presents under the tree. I am trying to get the spare room sorted out so that it is all set for the return of the Hong Kong wanderer. We mainly use the spare room to store clothes so I need to get the bed in to position where it can be slept in. I am just about there. We are all looking forward to him coming home for a few weeks. I am looking froward to the school Christmas dinner and the Christingle service, I really feel that Christmas has arrived once I have been to those two things!!

I would like to wish two of my friends Happy Birthday, Karen and Fran, I hope you both had a lovely day.  Sorry that this was a quick update, I will have more time now that I'm a celebrity is over for another year!!! Have a great week.