The days are flying by.....

No pressure, then, Linds....none at all. Just announce to the world that your 1000th post is pending and then completely fail to come up with any adequate ponderings or a worthy giveaway, so stop posting altogether instead.........

Hello all. This is my 1001st post. The 1000th is half written, and on the grounds that I have been a little distracted in recent days, the ceremonial posting will be whenever I can get my mind in gear. Sometime. Soon. I think.

I hope you have all had a wonderful Christmas. Ours traditionally (when home in the village, of course, ) starts with the Carols on the Square on Christmas Eve. Thousands wander down to sing carols, organised by Churches Together in the village, and this year was great. Many many people. Fog, and music, singing, and fireworks. Some of the fireworks and the fog combined to leave us totally unable to see a thing. Smoke and fog are not a good combination! So there was much laughter as well. And good heavens, was it COLD!!


We met up with friends, which is a feat in itself in the masses, and here we have Janine, Kate, David, Peter, and Glynis, the wounded one. I did mention the cold, didn't I??
Then it was home to thaw, and in my case, fall asleep on the couch before Father Christmas did his rounds. In this family, all resident children leave letters for him, and age does not preclude anyone from this worthy tradition. And FC ALWAYS answers the letters. Before he has a sip of the port, or a bite of the mince pies. "He" finds that a snooze under the tree aids his letter writing, you see.

And Christmas Morning dawned, with calls from across the globe, skype link-ups and messages flying back and forth. Diana's parcel, which arrived on Christmas Eve, contrary to NZ post's ideas, contained some lovely baubles of a distinctly NZ flavour - see the green bauble here with a kiwi in a Santa hat!! We all got one for our trees, so that is lovely. More memories for the tree. And she also sent me a beautiful runner for the table, so I have been thoroughly spoilt. I just wish she could have been here too. In person. Real.

And guess what!!! I have moved into the 21C!! I am now the owner of an iPod !! I have yet to work out how to make it go, but it is purple! It takes movies! It works sideways! And David (who bought me this wonderful piece of modern technology) assures me he has loaded my music onto it. Now to find it..... the music, that is......

But, leaving the marvels of music at home, we headed off to the Harpers for Christmas dinner, a feast prepared by the wounded one ably assisted by her entire family. Matt makes the gravy, complete with a Yorkshire accent. You had to be there. Hysterical. Peter and Kate were amazing, and never seemed to sit down. I, on the other hand, did a lot of sitting down and consuming. Sigh. I now waddle.

And then it was Boxing Day........ and look who arrived!!


Just LOOK at those little legs!! Couldn't you just eat it up? She discovered the basket pram which Diana got for her first birthday in Cape Town - made by the Civilian Blind, which was a charity set up to teach blind people to weave baskets, and sell them to learn to be self sufficient. They still exist, but are called something else now, I think, but every little girl I knew, had one of these prams, and Missy shrieked with delight and off she toddled. Not too good at turning yet, though. There is much banging and bashing, and looking over the shoulder and if no help is forthcoming, there is a gentle roar. But she goes back and forth and the giggles and wiggles....

And I have a sign up now stating "Granddaughter in Residence", because in 2 nanoseconds, this is what happens to the house. And I wouldn't have it any other way. One small girl has a load of fun!

The weather has been very cold, and we took a short walk through the fields to see the sheep, but did not stay out long. Never mind Missy, her parents were freezing, but she did like the sheep.

This is the Mill House, with the water churning out from the water wheel under the house. As you can see, the snow is gone, but the wind was icy. And today, we are waiting for more snow to fall. A and A and Missy have headed north for the night to see friends, and I am trying to catch up a little.

Yesterday, I went along to Peterborough with them to visit Kiddicare, and it turned out to be a ruse to get us to P'boro, because they had ordered me a DYSON and had to go there to collect it!! My old original one died in a ball of flame, if you remember, after about 14 years, and this is an all singing all dancing fancy new blue one. The prospect of having a vacuum cleaner which actually picks up stuff from the carpet is truly exciting. And it is also quite clear, given the level of my excitement, that I need to get a life. Maybe that can be the resolution for the new year. Get a life. Hmmm. We will see.

So there you have the quick version of the RCR Christmas. Family. Friends. Noise. Laughter. And one little girl who has her Moregranny firmly wound round her little finger. I babysat last night for 2 hours. For one of those hours she screamed the place down, and finally sobbed herself to sleep in my arms. It nearly broke my heart. This Granny business is exhausting. Exhilarating. I need a nap. They will be back tomorrow.