It's (been) Christmas

This is the second post I have written today having spent an hour or so earlier typing up for the stag do to Edinburgh that brought me back to this country and was in celebration of the amazing wedding last weekend. I have had to take some time between as I found that hard work, thinking back over so many weeks to what went on, and this makes me happy that this blog is not left too long before I update; I don’t like grinding my teeth and getting a headache. Anyway, that has passed so it is time to get on with this one and reflect on the week just finished; Christmas week.

 

Amazing lasagne with salad, coleslaw and garlic bread

We’ll go back to just after I finished typing up the previous post (though I didn’t publish it til the day after, the same as for this one as I’m being tight and not using the limited mobile internet we have in the house) when my dinner was ready and I was called down to go and eat the marvellous lasagne which A had spent the day cooking. It really was very nice and I was very happy to take a lump of it into the office the day after for my dinner.

 

All wrapped up in a bow

Lee had bought some bows from eBay very cheap and been shocked when he opened the packet and found they were not pre-formed; he had to make them himself. Very kindly he brought one in for me and so I was able to tie it around one of A’s pressies just to pretty it up a bit. We had everything ready and laid out by the fireplace, though there is no tree in our house as we’re both grumpy scroogey types. That isn’t to say I wasn’t excited about Christmas, just it should be kept to a couple of days a year and not dragged out for months like some crazy people do.

I am only back in the country to earn money so I worked up until the office closed on Wednesday, getting back for Christmas eve to start properly at about 2pm. A had been bouncing around the house all day preparing food for the feast over the next couple of days but when I got back we settled down on the sofa with books, beers and a film on. It was really relaxing, a sign of things to come. I cooked on Christmas Eve, making my patented and famous spicy pasta though this time I even made the tomato based sauce myself. It was lovely but I didn’t make enough so had to make do with only two bowl fulls. Then it was time for bed and to be wakened the next day, very naturally with no alarm (I had remembered to turn all my alarms off the night before) to Christmas day morning.

One of my presents :)

After doing my washing up (nothing should break this routine) and making a brew we sat and opened our pressies and what a lovely set of gifts we had including some awesome whisky glasses and this book written by the chap who does the Whisky Lounge tasting sessions I enjoy so much, some wooden guitar picks which got use straight away and a couple of good books (for me) and some port glasses, a bottle of nice port, and a mug for A. There will be pictures of all the other pressies scattered through this update so don’t worry.

 

A White Christmas, of sorts

After a relatively bright start to the day it clouded over pretty quickly and then it started to hail heavily; we were getting a White Christmas! It came down and settled over about twenty minutes; enough time to get a good picture, and then stopped. A has been really good with her running every day and, even though it was Christmas Day, she was up and out again when it looked like the weather had cleared. Typically as soon as she was a way away the hail came back and she said she had to shelter in a bus stop for the worst of it. When she got back I had a coffee waiting for her, and made up some bacon and egg butties to warm her inside after a hot shower started the job.

 

New whisky glass, with whisky in it

I had said I would cook Christmas Dinner but, with everything that was planned, it ended up being more A than me however I did take on the challenge of cooking the beef. We chopped the veg together, putting it into water to keep from browning, and then I rubbed the chosen rub onto the beef and left it to settle for a bit. With everything done, and it being after midday, a whisky was called for in one of the new glasses. A chose the whisky and chose well with it being Balcones Brimstone which I really like and its’ deep smokiness makes it a good day time drink; it is too strong of taste to drink for the alcohol really. These glasses are stunning crystal cut glass; much heavier than my other glasses and with thicker walls which was actually quite hard to get used to. They came in a lovely carrying case as well which I will keep them in until the display case is finished and I can present them in pride of place there.

 

A swinging good time

The weather had brightened up considerably since A had been for her run so, after putting the meat in the oven to start off, we headed out for a brief walk to get some fresh air and enjoy the neighbourhood together. Just behind where we are living is a little park with some swings and other playground equipment so this is where we headed to. The ground was sodden and there were puddles everywhere so we couldn’t go that far or explore that much but it was nice to sit on the swings together and watch the clouds scudding past and chat. It wasn’t a long interlude outside but it was welcome and when we got back the smell of the cooking beef was already strong in the air.

 

Christmas dinner; just a bit of food for two

Finally, and with much impatience in the middle, our dinner was ready for serving up though we did forget to put the Yorkshire puddings in to cook which made them late to the table. We had such a feast we could probably have easily fed eight people but it is Christmas and so having a super meal is very important. Everything was lovely, particularly the stuffing which was A’s masterpiece. The meat was well cooked, maybe a touch over, but it was still moist and when you put a dab of horseradish sauce on it jumped. A had never had horseradish before so her first helping was a tiny smear on the side of the plate. After that was eaten, however, she took a huge dollop and now we definitely will have to try and grow this to make our own.

 

Whacked out from over eating

After eating as much as we possibly could we retired to the living room and I’m not ashamed to say that I fell asleep laying on the recliner. This is also what Christmas should be about and I haven’t relaxed like this for a very long time; maybe not even while I was in Bulgaria this year did I manage to switch off like this and just rest. It was very much needed as well I can tell you.

 

Boxing day fest

After watching a couple of films (one of them was Hellboy which was just as funny as I remembered it to be) we headed to bed and slept off the excesses of the day, mild compared to some but still more rich food than either of us is used to. Boxing day dawned bright as well and A once again managed to get out and run; what determination that must have taken. We had no plans at all for the day and spent it resting and doing very little again. Lots of reading and music listening and film watching. Just what the doctor ordered. Lunch was a mish-mash of leftovers from the meal the day before, fried up with gravy and eaten with a spoon and it was so lovely and tasty.

 

A's slipper glass

Later in the day we brought out the cheese board, some crackers, a couple of slices of bread and Ardennes Pate and munched on that, washed down with a glass each of the port I had bought her for Christmas, in the new port glasses. These are lovely things, though slightly unstable, and you can take sips through the long tail if you wish; it is actually quite hard to get a small sip when you do this which makes it quite dangerous. The port was outstanding, if extremely rich, and the small amount in this glass was enough to get us through the meal when paired with a glass of water each.

 

Snowing for the Christmas holidays

Recycling day was Saturday this week, what with the disruption to the usual schedule, so A went outside to push the bins around. I was settled on the sofa with my book when there was a banging on the windows. I looked out and couldn’t see anything so I went to the door and there she was saying “IT’S SNOWING!” and so it was. I dashed upstairs, got some sandals on, went outside and threw a snowball at her. Come on, it had to be done. We had a short but fun snowball fight until both our feet got too cold and we retreated inside. I was hoping that it would stay until the next day so we could make a snowman in the back garden but unfortunately it had mainly melted by then. A has sworn revenge from the excellent shot which got her in the head. I had better watch myself the next time there is snow around.

 

She's gonna be better than me soon

A has been picking my guitar up on and off for the past few weeks and I’ve taught her a few chords. She spent some time on boxing day and I think is noticeably improving. I remember that, when I first started, when every time you picked it up something else sounded a bit better. It has been a while since then for me but the gift of the plectrums has caused me to play more guitar myself in the past two days than in the whole year before. That cannot be a bad thing; I do wish I’d brought another guitar though because it would be easier to show her if we had one each.

Carrying on the theme of this holiday time (and it has been that) yesterday was another peaceful day. She went running, we ate more cheese and biscuits for lunch, we listened to music and read but didn’t watch any films during the day (she was saved from a western as I was thinking of putting one on, then it got too late) but for the evening we decided that rather than cook we’d go out for a meal. The first place we tried was the pub I’d been to with work on Monday but they had just shut the kitchen when we arrived. This mean I drove a bit further out to the pub where I’d met my old friends the week before and this turned out to be a good choice. The food was really nice again and the place was packed with Christmas revellers. A really enjoyed her Chilli Con Carne and my burger was outstanding though I wasn’t actually that hungry what with all the feeding I’d been giving myself all week. We turned down dessert at the pub and headed home where a film was put on and then half way through we had some more of the lovely pineapple pudding A had made for us. I have no pictures at all for yesterday so none for this paragraph.

 

Robin eating bread from our stump

And so to today; the final day of the holidays as I’m back in the office tomorrow working away. We both had a lovely lie in this morning which is unlike us, not getting up until 10am. After the clouds and rain of the past few days it was lovely to have the sun shining though it had been a really heavy frost in the night. After lazing around I got up to do the washing up and she went out for her run though when she got back she said it was too icy really and she’d mainly walked. My plans for the day, those which I had decided on, were to get the stag do pictures edited and write this post. I quickly found that I wanted to write stuff for the stag do so this took me most of the morning as I ground my teeth trying to put together the correct words. With the headache this caused I’ve had to wait until the afternoon to write this and the daylight is dimming as I sit here typing. Lunch was a couple of slices of toast and some Christmas cake (finally) and we enjoyed it sat in the dining area watching the birds come down for the crumbs A scattered outside. There were so many birds; blackbirds, sparrows, starlings and this fat robin. A put some water in the trough and they found that quickly as well and took advantage of it. We must have sat there for an hour or so laughing as the birds chased each other around and munched all the bread. It is something I miss about England, in Bulgaria, the variety of birdlife there is here.

 

Dunkin' biccies in her new mug

While we were sat there I made A a cup of tea in her new mug and popped a hob-nob in the little pocket for biscuits. This was dunked with much enthusiasm and the tea went down well as well. I was still suffering a bit from the headache so after a while I took myself onto the recliner and snuggled up with a book under a rug. We had a suitcase full of clothes no longer needed so A took them down to the clothes-bank near the shop while I rested and then made me a brew when she got back; she’s a good’un. While I type this she is watching another film and I’m going to go down and join her shortly.

So, my alarm has been turned back on to wake me in the morning and tomorrow it is back to the reason why we came back here. This has struck me a bit over the past four days; as enjoyable and needful as the break has been, it will be good to get back to putting money into savings from tomorrow so we can return and be more secure over in Bulgaria next year. Until next update, happy new year to you all.