Friday 28 December 2007

Wonderful Christmas

Alice doing her Santa bit
Val and Al saying thanks to each other
Yours truly and Al

Val, Ches and Al


Ches and Al thanking each other

Val with someone doing a super mature thing behind her. Well, Peter Pan never grew up!


Ches checking out a pressie with a grinning whatsit behind her

Holly showing great patience with Santa Al opening her pressie



Al finally finds Santa's letter. It was under the dirty dishes he left!

Al, Ches, Nikki and Silv

Dinner table set. Name tabs by Alice! We had a late change of flower centre as the flowers from Aussie wouldn't fit in the twig thing Val bought!!


Just a quickie to say Hi to one and all and hope you all had a super Christmas.

The festivities at 122 have been long and full of food and good cheer. A visit to the bottle bank this morning was testimony to that! Taking into account that I don't drink alcohol anymore I wonder where all the bottles came from. A plastic box full of Stella bottles just for starters!! Val claims to not know how on earth that happened. Al stood in the pouring rain today getting rid of all the little green bottles, a damn sight more than 10, whilst I got soaked doing the clear and brown one's.

Al and I then headed to Home Park to get our tickets for the Hull FA Cup match. It will be our first visit to Home Park this season, shows how busy we have been as we normally take in a game every six weeks or so. Still, this year we watched the Cup draw and Al gave an almighty cheer when the Mighty Greens name came out of the "hat" first. Could have something to do with me promising that we would go if it was a home tie.

This year the board has been sensible and dropped the prices for the 3rd round tie. £15 for me and they are running "kids for a quid" so just £1 for Al. Sensible because I will get moaned at in the coming weeks if we don't go out for a couple of league matches. The board are learning, get the kids in for the future and if the kids want to go then an adult has to take them, and maybe get back into the the swing of live games again!

As I said earlier, Christmas was super. Ches and Al came around about 11 ish and Al did the Santa bit handing out the pressies. Funny how each family seems to set up it's own Christmas day tradition. Cheryl's friend Nikki and her mum Silvia came around for Christmas dinner and a good time was had by all. See piccies above!

Boxing day meant cold turkey and chicken along with the, now famous, "Podga's Chutney". Ol' Brownfingers did us proud, it was "bootiful". Val's sister Silv and her hubby George came around yesterday and we had some of the aforementioned Chutney with cheese and crackers. Silv does a lot of cooking and George has been growing his own tomatoes since the war (the big one in the 40's). They both appreciated the Chutney, so well done to Podga. All we have to do now is get a bit of sense into him when it comes to football teams.

Ches has been at work this afternoon and is about to go back on late shift and a night sleepover shift, so Al is around with us tonight. Ches took her car for MOT today, we knew that she needed new tyres but there was some brake work needed as well. Anyway £220 (all but a few pence) on top of the car tax yesterday has brought a few tears to her eyes!!!! Now she is back in work she can afford to run the car but they are very expensive beasts aren't they!

As usual time is creeping on. All that remains is to wish one and all a super end to 2007 and a cracking and successful 2008. Sister Mary is in Florida and hoping that the air strike isn't called off whilst other sissy Clare is working on her teleseminar in sunny NZ. Bro Tony is walking (or riding his bike more likely) on the beat in Aussie. Meanwhile I am looking out of my window at the dark and the rain. Well actually I am looking at all the flashing Christmas lights, it's quite pretty really.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Suffolk Sojourn 31/137. Well then - that was Christmas and New Year - all gone and back to reality now.

Looks like a fine time was had by all at 122 - fine foto's Paulie. Here in Suffolk we hosted my Folks and my daughter Sarah (Squeeze) for the duration. Good food and Fine wine - all prepped and presented with immaculate timing by Miss Belinda - no-one was allowed in the kitchen, even for the washing up! A triumph all round. Mind you the menu's were all sorted by the beginning of Dec. and you've never seen such a precise shopping list. I just decanted the wine!

Anyway, glad the Chutney arrived safely and was enjoyed by all and sundry - told you it was good!

As for Pilgrims/Tractor Boys/Gunners and Man U. Well done Pilgrims in the Cup - now they meet Portsmouth (who put out the Tractor Boys). Feverish text prediction to Leon on Gunners/Burnley tie as they kicked off (Burnley to win 2-1) was my undoing. As for Utd - onwards and upwards in Premier and Cup. Tractor Boys are still sitting enticingly above the Pilgrims in the Championship - will be interesting here at Portman Rd on Tue 29th.

So - that completes the voting from the Luxembourg Jury. A bountiful and rewarding 2008 to all your readers, and especially to you and your tribe Paulie.

Blue Skies