Christmas day is nearly over. Weeks of preparation for the festivities behind us. We were only four this year and Ian reminded us that its the first time in many years that its been that way. We were one more as Matt's recent split from his ex meant he was here and not in Wigan! Matt has tried very hard not to let his unhappiness spoil Christmas for the rest of us. Our day has been quietly enjoyable. Long gone are the days when we would all be up at the crack of dawn, the Children excitingly opening their stockings as early as they could get away with. Father Christmas stopped delivering a couple of years ago, so this morning after a leisurely breakfast we sat down to hand out the presents piled under the tree. We decided that we would stretch out the process, it was fun guessing what was in the parcels and taking pleasure as each of us opened their gifts. We had decided that we wouldn't buy large presents, as is usual with families with youngish adults, there has been need of monetary assistance recently and the need to be financially sensible was necessary. Ian was particularly pleased with the glass teapot/infuser and the lap sang su chan tea that Matt gave to him. Matt was equally delighted with his T shirt from Ian with slogan 'Destined for greatness, just pacing myself'.

Christmas lunch was was served at 4.00pm and was a joint effort between Steve and I, it was jolly nice, but we didn't fit in pudding until an hour ago. Home made Christmas pud with Steve's rum sauce- delicious.