Christmas 21009.

Good Morning Friends,
As I have been browsing all my friends blogs I can see that most of us have had a lovely Christmas and that sure is something to be thankful for. I was especially excited this Christmas morning as Mary and I had been houseound all week due to the local roads being what are regarded as secondary roads not being gritted or salted consequently they were like an ice rink. Now I may be brave..sometimes...but foolhardy I am not so we just stayed put. Thanks to friends and family who braved the icy conditions we were never without the necessities of life. However Christmas morning I woke around 6.30am and peeped out to see NO FROST...well I was so excited I got up at once, If you could have seen me dancing around you would have thought I had lost my marbles altogether....I even rang Mary at 7.30 to tell her to get up !! We had only got to bed around 1am. as we have a tradition in the Wilson household of opening our gifts around midnight and this is year we did'nt get finished until about 12.20am !! It was the first year that Peter our neighbour joined us in this mass present opening....mainly as he wanted to see our faces when we opened his present to us.... He has lived alone for many years and it was actually the first time for a long long time that he saw what is the true meaning of Christmas, ... no, not Mary and I surrounded by lovely colourful gifts,....But Mary and I surrounded by so many loving friends....We had some wonderful gifts, and Peters gift ? We both had a painted portrait of our beloved pets. Mary had Amber and I had Dee. He is wonderful at thinking up all sorts of wonderful surprises and I woudl never ever have thought if that, he sure kept us guessing. They are beautifully painted and after today I will get Dee hung on the wall !! As we were frost free we were able to get up to Church for the early morning service that is always a nice service. After we came home and had another look at some of our presents it was soon time to go to Sarah and John's for Christmas Dinner. This year as well as Mary and I we had Peter with us and also Muriel another neighbour who had been unable to drive up to her Mother for her usual Christmas due to the bad roads. What a wonderful meal we all had. I started with something I had never had that was smoked mussels a bit salty but delicious, this was followed by the usual Turkey, stuffing, roast potato,carrots, brussels, parsnips, swede,cranberry sauce..that is all I can remember !! sure there was more though ! after we had enjoyed that, we all retired to the sitting room whilst Beth(my niece and her husband Max) and John cleared the table and relaid it for the "sweets" This gives time for the first two courses to "go down" before we start again !! we all had some champagne as opened fun presents that Sarah always has for everyone under the tree, then it wae back to the dining room for the next course... Sarah got there first and had the Christmas pudding lit and blazing away merrily....the choice of puds..was the usual Christmas pud, Trifle, and a yummy chocolate tart. I started with a small portion of Christmas pud. which was soon surrounded in ..single cream...the lake, then dusted with sugar..the snow, ...then a few dollops of thick creams brandy and also bransy butter...the islands !! see how daft we all are !! I followed all that by a small slice of the Chocolate tart with a few layers of various thick creams on top !! as someone who really does not "do" puds as a rule I think I did very well..... We did not stay to late as I was afraid that it might freeze again and the damp roads would become skating rinks again. What a lovely family day we had full of love and warmth...How blessed I am to have such a wonderful family. Boxing day found Mary and I over at Maragret and Mitch's...my other sisters home is lovely and so beautifully decorated it is just a delight to be there and enjoy yet another meal. This time we had roast beef and all the trimmings and during the afternoon we played the new Susan Boyle (is that her name ? ) CD that she had as one of her presents from Mitch. It is a great CD and Susan is a great ambassador for anyone who has had a label around there necks for years of being " a slow learner" the politically correct words !! I hope any Mother who has a child with that label will give thought to what can happen if only they believe....
And so here we are the last day of 2009 I just cannot believe we have had 10 years since we had all the celebrations for the Millinnium. what changes we have had in these ten short years.
I will end here with my new year wish for you all.
May each and every day of 2010 be one of contentment, good health and someone to love.
If we have these three things we will be blessed indeed. God Bless you all

NEVER FORGET TO LOVE ONE ANOTHER