Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve 2006

James couldn’t get to sleep last night. He was so excited that he felt sick and didn’t drop off until about 10.30pm. Still, there was a good by-product in that he slept in until 9am and, by some amazing fluke, the dogs didn’t bother us either, nor the grandmothers – so we all had an incredibly rare lie-in! I was treated to tea in bed and lay reading my book, listening to the house come to life, and watching the mist swirl outside.
We now have our annual dilemma of how to keep the house warm enough for my mother, without the rest of us dissolving into perspiring puddles. Mum likes the heat at tropical levels which is a slight problem as this old farmhouse is hardly draft-proof and, with the best will and the hugest fires, it never gets to greenhouse temperatures. Maybe we should have Christmas at the Eden Project! We parked her by the fire, laden with blankets but not sure we’ve quite got there yet.

The rest of us had a pre-lunchtime drink at the Exmoor Forest Hotel in Simonsbath (see earlier entries for full rave details). There was a lovely fire and it had been decorated beautifully with lots of subtle greenery and sparkles… And candles on the tables. Ours of course, chose to splutter and nearly catch fire to the tablecloth – typical. Two Bloody Marys later I was feeling full of Christmas cheer. Back for lunch and then we left the grans by the fire while Adrian cooked the hams (two different ones) and James and I saw to the mince pies.

Then James wrote out his letter to Santa. I can’t believe he’s eight and still believes in Santa – it’s absolutely gorgeous. His list wasn’t hugely long and I was heartily relieved to see that Santa will certainly be able to accommodate quite a few of his requests. Was slightly horrified to notice he’d put down ‘socks’ – yes, he does desperately need some but it’s a bit tragic for an eight-year old to be requesting socks on his Christmas list. Maybe he’s anticipating years of future Christmases!

Actually he got an early Christmas present yesterday – a pair of Exmoor socks with stags heads on them and a Jack Russell calendar – from our ex-neighbours who gave us ASBO Jack. There was a note saying that the dog on the cover is one of Jack’s relatives – Mrs P had sold him to the photographer! We were well impressed.

In a bit I’m going to take the laptop downstairs so we can start tracking Santa on-line. Don’t know if any of you have done this but it’s huge fun. NORAD, the US defense bods, do a website every year where you can follow Santa’s progress by ‘satellite’ round the world. The URL is http://www.noradsanta.org/ – it’s a hoot. He’s just gone over the Himalayas by the look of it and is approaching the Taj Mahal.

Dusk is falling. A few bats have started to come out and whiz around (the tiny pipistrelles). A calm is falling on the valley. Some deer come down the hill…..
Christmas Eve on Exmoor…… Right, folks, I’m off to join the fun downstairs. I wish you all a good night (especially if you have small children!), goodwill, peace on earth and ding dong merrily to one and all. HAPPY CHRISTMAS!!!!