Christmas at home
Dec. 25th, 2004 06:43 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
nishatalithaI have really enjoyed today. No relatives, no travelling, no stress.
It was standard Christmas Eve practice in the Allis household last night - dinner together, family gathering to say nice things about each other and the year and then the midnight service at church. This year, as opposed to last year, we had a decent amount of carols and some children did a pretty and good nativity play and a cute thing about trees. Don't ask. Along the way my brother and I discussed with my sister just why she should stay the night and not go home to her flat five minutes away. She ended up staying, which pleased Mum. Then it was to bed and to sleep and awake the morning.
I was woken up at 8.00 by a text message from B. arriving wishing me a merry christmas. I waited to see if anyone else was up and went back to bed, attempting to sleep. Ten minutes later, my sister came in and told me to get up. We woke my brother up together.
For the first time ever this Christmas Day, we did not have to go to any relatives. Nor did we have any relatives coming here. This has made the day really good and relaxing and nice. Have to do it again.
Stockings, watch ice-dancing on TV, oh so pretty, then stick lunch in the oven (roast vegetables and the turkey that was in the freezer for ten years) and play a couple of games of backgammon (Dad: 0, Brother: 1 Me: 1) until my sister arrived and L. called from America, about to go to her girlfriend's family's place for Christmas Eve. There were a multitude of gifts under the tree, since Mum and Dad wrapped most of the things that they brought back from America. Lots and lots of shiny things for hair and bracelets and scarves. A couple of tops and useful things. Oh, and a skipping rope from my brother. My siblings seem pleased with their gifts - and I'm awfully glad that I didn't follow maudlinrose's example and get my brother a tee shirt. He got about six. Some were going to go to other people, but didn't, so my brother got them. Waste not, want not.
Christmas lunch was yummy. The turkey was slightly dry (not unexpected), but was good with gravy and cranberry sauce. We've eaten very well today, especially since desert was chocolate eclairs, fresh berries, small christmas pudding, custard and cream. And chocolate sauce to dip strawberries in. What the really fun bit about lunch followed on from my sister talking about the fact that the kiwifruit from the trees at her flat were fermenting. And then she asked if birds could get drunk from it. We said sure, and decided to test it out by pouring some unwanted sparkling wine (no one in this house really likes it very much) over bread and putting it out on the lawn to see if it would make the sparrows drunk. We saw a few birds do a few amusing things, but really, I don't think they ate enough to get drunk.
Once it was cleared up, we migrated back to the blue couches to look through stuff and have a fashion parade. Probably the most (so far) used gift would be the book Mum brought the family - it's Quizes for the Know-All family. It's wonderful. And it's amazing how much each of us know individually, so together, we can answer pretty much all of the questions, even the hard ones. It did make me laugh when my sister mispronounced Anne Boleyn's name when asking who her daughter was - and then not knowing who Anne had married. I didn't bother asking how she died.
Eventually, Mum fell asleep reading her new exercise book on the couch and my sister picked up a book she got. Brother and Dad played backgammon and I did some blackwork. The score now reads Dad: 3, Brother 4 Me: 2. Dad really isn't doing very well. He's now gone for a kyak and my brother went for a run earlier. That's where we stand now.
Plans for later are along the lines of dinner, watch The Sound of Music, since Mum got it for Christmas. Sister's boyfriend might come over to watch it too. We were going to watch it this afternoon, but lazed around instead. I'm going to do more blackwork and make a scarf. My sister and I both got scarf kits for Christmas. Silk and wool and stuff and you sew it together and then the dissolvable plastic comes off and you have either a scarf or a pretty wall hanging.
But today, wow. The most relaxed Christmas ever.
And I want to write more of Reintroducing Magic and I don't have it here with me. *sighs*
It was standard Christmas Eve practice in the Allis household last night - dinner together, family gathering to say nice things about each other and the year and then the midnight service at church. This year, as opposed to last year, we had a decent amount of carols and some children did a pretty and good nativity play and a cute thing about trees. Don't ask. Along the way my brother and I discussed with my sister just why she should stay the night and not go home to her flat five minutes away. She ended up staying, which pleased Mum. Then it was to bed and to sleep and awake the morning.
I was woken up at 8.00 by a text message from B. arriving wishing me a merry christmas. I waited to see if anyone else was up and went back to bed, attempting to sleep. Ten minutes later, my sister came in and told me to get up. We woke my brother up together.
For the first time ever this Christmas Day, we did not have to go to any relatives. Nor did we have any relatives coming here. This has made the day really good and relaxing and nice. Have to do it again.
Stockings, watch ice-dancing on TV, oh so pretty, then stick lunch in the oven (roast vegetables and the turkey that was in the freezer for ten years) and play a couple of games of backgammon (Dad: 0, Brother: 1 Me: 1) until my sister arrived and L. called from America, about to go to her girlfriend's family's place for Christmas Eve. There were a multitude of gifts under the tree, since Mum and Dad wrapped most of the things that they brought back from America. Lots and lots of shiny things for hair and bracelets and scarves. A couple of tops and useful things. Oh, and a skipping rope from my brother. My siblings seem pleased with their gifts - and I'm awfully glad that I didn't follow maudlinrose's example and get my brother a tee shirt. He got about six. Some were going to go to other people, but didn't, so my brother got them. Waste not, want not.
Christmas lunch was yummy. The turkey was slightly dry (not unexpected), but was good with gravy and cranberry sauce. We've eaten very well today, especially since desert was chocolate eclairs, fresh berries, small christmas pudding, custard and cream. And chocolate sauce to dip strawberries in. What the really fun bit about lunch followed on from my sister talking about the fact that the kiwifruit from the trees at her flat were fermenting. And then she asked if birds could get drunk from it. We said sure, and decided to test it out by pouring some unwanted sparkling wine (no one in this house really likes it very much) over bread and putting it out on the lawn to see if it would make the sparrows drunk. We saw a few birds do a few amusing things, but really, I don't think they ate enough to get drunk.
Once it was cleared up, we migrated back to the blue couches to look through stuff and have a fashion parade. Probably the most (so far) used gift would be the book Mum brought the family - it's Quizes for the Know-All family. It's wonderful. And it's amazing how much each of us know individually, so together, we can answer pretty much all of the questions, even the hard ones. It did make me laugh when my sister mispronounced Anne Boleyn's name when asking who her daughter was - and then not knowing who Anne had married. I didn't bother asking how she died.
Eventually, Mum fell asleep reading her new exercise book on the couch and my sister picked up a book she got. Brother and Dad played backgammon and I did some blackwork. The score now reads Dad: 3, Brother 4 Me: 2. Dad really isn't doing very well. He's now gone for a kyak and my brother went for a run earlier. That's where we stand now.
Plans for later are along the lines of dinner, watch The Sound of Music, since Mum got it for Christmas. Sister's boyfriend might come over to watch it too. We were going to watch it this afternoon, but lazed around instead. I'm going to do more blackwork and make a scarf. My sister and I both got scarf kits for Christmas. Silk and wool and stuff and you sew it together and then the dissolvable plastic comes off and you have either a scarf or a pretty wall hanging.
But today, wow. The most relaxed Christmas ever.
And I want to write more of Reintroducing Magic and I don't have it here with me. *sighs*
