A Week For My Family........

 
Christmas eve eve and all the gifts are wrapped.

I made a start on the food prep. Vegetable soup will be our starter. 

Then veg peeling, wouldn't be Christmas without sprouts. 

By the end of Christmas eve Hubby and I had prepped the turkey and all the veg was pealed, chopped, parboiled and plums were thawed and de-stoned for a crumble, until there's a kitchen and fridge smothered in foil covered dishes. 

Finally we laid the table (we'll add glasses and condiments in the morning).

Christmas Day and before anything else Hubby puts on "The LP" the only vinyl we still play and keep the record deck for. Traditional Christmas music which I bought for our first married Christmas and it has been played every year since. (I probably say this every year too hahaha).

Yaay all my family here with us together, dinner for 10 (and two dogs) my best gift of all. 

Only food disappointments was the turkey was a little over cooked (only half of us are meat eaters) and the plum crumble had bubbled up into a bit of a swamp but those that had some declared it yummy. Gift receiving caused a giggle as amongst other things Daughter&M gave us a mug each with our initials on then we unwrapped the same from Son&Fiancé. 

There was a settled down together part of the evening when we all watched Dr Who. There was the usual chocolates sharing. E and I left the room briefly so I could help her with a knitting query. Daughter brought a selection of cheeses and crackers which a few of us made a token nibble at as we were still too full from dinner, then she packed them all away again. All too soon we waved them goodbye. 

Boxing day and Hubby and I cleared up, did lots more food prep, fridge juggling and furniture rearranging. We are ready again.

27th is traditionally my whole family gathering day, as it was my dad's birthday. Unfortunately this year the 27th is a working day and some couldn't get the time off, however in the end 26 of my children, grandchildren, siblings, nieces, nephews, great nieces and great nephews, in-laws and partners all filled my house, some having to drive for more than two hours to get here and they even had further traffic problems so it took longer. 

When we realised the main event was going to be delayed because of their travel problems, Daughter and Son took the opportunity to walk the dog. 

They all arrived and as always a lovely full house and full buffet table. 

Acrobatics

And a darts tournament. 

And lots and lots of chat. 

By the time they'd all gone home and Hubby and I had done the clearing up of important stuff we were both very ready for bed. 

Thursday was a lot more sorting leftovers, clearing two more dishwasher loads and putting all the furniture back, then final housework. By Friday I was thinking about our New Year's Eve meal for us and two neighbours and Hubby and I took a trip to Iceland for our Chinese takeaway evening. NYE is not a night to order for a delivery, as we did that once and waited till nearly 10pm to eat, so this year again we will take it from the freezer and pop it all in the oven. 

As this is my last post of 2023, I'd like to wish you all...