*this is the turkey that would “feed 6 to 8”, and we had 10 for Christmas dinner

We had a good Christmas. CGF’s bro and family came down Christmas Eve so we had a large family Christmas, with excited younglings. The younglings were up at 0615 and crept quietly into the downstairs room where CGF and I were sleeping to play on the computer. In the excitement of the game they soon forgot we were sleeping (or trying to) and the noise level gradually increased. I wrestled with the dilemma of either asking them to be quiet or letting it be as it was Christmas. Eventually I decided to get up and prepare breakfast.

Cos we are hard-core runners, CGF and I went for a parkrun on Christmas Day – joining over a hundred other people who would rather go for a run than stay at home with their families. The route is very muddy and slippery at the moment, so not very impressive times being achieved. Saturday morning was even worse, having not had enough time to recover from the run the previous day.

I cooked Christmas dinner, because I am a domestic goddess. When CGF and her SiL asked how they could help I replied “stay out of the kitchen”. CGF did come to check all was under control from time to time – it was. I didn’t even need to write a running order to help me. Just numerous bowls of veg scattered round the kitchen to remind me what still needed to be prepared and cooked. Everyone agreed that it was the best Christmas Day dinner they had had all year. The youngest youngling (YY) helped with the prep – she trimmed the sprouts, wrapped the blankets round the pigs, and made the stuffing and brandy butter. She did far better at this than at the cup of tea she made us a couple of days later. I think she forgot to boil the kettle and/or was too liberal with the milk: it was luke warm and weak. But we drank it anyway, because it had been voluntarily and uncomplainingly made.

CGF carved the turkey – because I’d already cut my finger while slicing ginger (I’d forgotten that I’d sharpened the knife). “You can’t even cut ginger without damaging yourself; I’m not letting you loose with a sharp carving knife”, I was told, owtte. Later we noticed blood-looking stains on one of the doors. I grabbed the door at different angles to work out whether they could have come from my finger, but YY piped up: “it was you – I saw you do it”. I won’t use her for an alibi in the future!

It took a couple of hours to prep the veg, but it didn’t feel as if I was stuck in the kitchen for that long. Probably because I wasn’t – I kept popping out to join the others in whatever they were doing. And there was some enjoyable music on the radio. On one of my poppings out, two of the younglings were playing a guessing game - ten clues to an object, place, person, etc. on the card, getting easier each time. I guessed one after two clues but didn’t want to spoil the game. “Read my mind; am I thinking of the right answer?” I asked YY. She played along; looking intently at my face for a couple of seconds before declaring “yes”.

CGF’s bro went home Saturday, and we returned the visit on Sunday, staying for a couple of nights – meant that CGF and the sprogs could see parents/grandparents. Slow journeys both there and back, owing to heavy traffic. On the way back we were caught twice in that trap where the motorway looks empty as you join it, but you hit the back of a long queue a few miles along. If only we’d known earlier we’d have taken a detour (as both motorway sections had an effective and familiar detour route). One of the delays was caused by the amount of traffic trying to negotiate a junction, and I’m sure a large part of the problem was caused by drivers refusing to follow the traffic management systems put in place – such as entering a traffic light junction before the exit is clear, thereby blocking the junction when the light for the other road goes green.

The ‘rents visited after we got back. Weather (and their infirmity) limited what we could do, but we did go to the local out-of-town shopping centre to buy a few things we hadn’t bought before in case we received them as Christmas presents. CGF and Mrs The Aged spent an inordinate amount of time in one clothes store. In contrast, I managed to choose a shirt and jumper by noticing it on the rack as I walked past. Did you know that Marks and Sparks no longer use the St Michael brand name? When did that happen?

We also took them to our newly-discovered Asian restaurant – fusion of Chinese, Malaysian, and Japanese. It’s really good – The Aged was over-the-moon to have a Nasi Gorang as it reminded him of his time in Malaysia doing National Service. Yes that was a long, long time ago – longer ago than Malaysia itself. Because we have only recently discovered it, and CGF is pretty much an authority on local Asian cuisine, we assumed it was new. So it was some surprise to be told by the waitress (who, coincidentally, CGF knew) that it has been there for six years. Six years? That’s almost as long as Tyrell and Green has been John Lewis.

There was probably something else I was going to tell you, but I can’t remember right now. And it’s dinner time.