The snow has gone at last

Unfortunately, the thaw means that the mud is back...never mind - more snow is forecast for later in the week, although I do hope that we don't get as much as we have had recently. Enough is enough!

Christmas Day was spent very quietly here, just the four of us. We all went to church first thing, and it was a lovely service, led by a husband and wife team, and there was a splendid feast on which to munch if we got peckish during the service! Afterwards, we came home and the girls enjoyed looking at their gifts and sifting through the layers of paper - they were both pleased with their things, and the FH and I were lucky enough to receive some beautiful things too - I got some new PJs, earrings, chocolates, a poetry-set-to-music CD, and some novels. The FH also got chocolate (Toblerone), two new fleece sweaters, some socks, lots of art equipment for his art class, and a military band CD from his cousin.

We popped the turkey into the oven and relaxed whilst it cooked, then enjoyed it with all the trimmings at about 2pm. The FH was well and truly stuffed by then and passed on the pudding, and actually didn't eat anything else all day. The rest of us just had a sandwich during the evening as we were all pretty full too.

The EFG has been suffering terribly with a cough, and although she managed to get through the big day, she spent most of Boxing Day in bed, just getting up and having a bath at about 4pm when the FH's cousin, cousin's wife and son came to tea. She came downstairs after her bath and sat on the sofa but apart from coughing, she hardly made a murmur all day, and ate little.

The YFG has spent some hours playing with the little boy (5) next door, and his new Wii. He needed a friend to play on it with him as Mum and Grandma were getting a bit worn out! She has worn herself out cycling, Mario Karting and playing tennis with him too. She has enjoyed it tremendously, and the FH was there today and came home saying, "We've got to get one of those!" so the YFG was overjoyed! She spent quite some time on the internet this afternoon researching all the best prices for me, and I have ordered it with all the extras. Luckily, I had about £90 in Tesco clubcard vouchers, so they have been spent on it. The website promises that it will be delivered Wednesday, and that is also when I have an Asda delivery due so we will definitely be staying home that day.

Today we have been back to church for the usual Sunday service, which I led. The main theme was Holy habits, which was a very thought-provoking idea, and connected well with the time of year and making resolutions to try to keep for 2010. My uncle joined me and the YFG for church, and the FH stayed at home to look after the EFG. We had a cold lunch of salmon sandwiches and freshly made cheese scones, and then relaxed for the afternoon before I cooked a chicken dinner for 7pm. The EFG has spend most of the day in bed in her new PJs or on the sofa. Uncle J is staying for the night, but he will have to go home tomorrow as he has to go to work on Tuesday - his last three days of work as he will retire completely on Thursday. He only works three days a week part-time, but at 70, the time has come to rush around less and get a few lie-ins! With bell-ringing, gardening and looking after the house, he has plenty to do without going to work and he feels that he should be relaxing a little more at his age. I totally agree.