Christmas Day, Sunday 25 December 2011
I got back to George’s to find Elizabeth investigating a Christmas Cracker – giving it a good shake, checking both ends ... Very curious. Surprisingly, these things are unknown outside the UK, as I found out when I tried to buy some, that’s why Sarah’s gift of these was such a boost. Not essential, but fun for the children and good to have silly hats to wear. Not at all ecologically friendly, though - will have to think of an alternative for next year.
So I got potatoes, carrots, parsnips (a present from Robbie's allotment, prepared and frozen a week earlier) broccoli and sprouts (another gift from Angie - we missed the window of opportunity at the one supermarket that sells them) ready, while the boys got showered and returned to huddle round the wood stove. Dave produced the chainsaw, and George, Rob and Josh all clustered round - you could smell the testosterone. Too much mulled wine had been drunk for this to be playtime, though.
We sat down about 2ish and the meal went very well. We'd had a few cultural clashes in the kitchen - Elizabeth couldn't understand why we didn't want to puree the mashed potatoes and add nutmeg. And the parsnips and sprouts were treated with some suspicion.
The crackers and silly hats went down a treat, and much fun was had as George's daughter Maria translated the bad jokes into Albanian, and we watched horrified realisation dawn on Elizabeth's face.
Alison had originally turned up terribly worried that they'd lost the pony - wondering if Bella had turned into somebody's Christmas dinner, but after the swim they went for another look, and found her up by Dmitri's restaurant in Paleokatuna where he was preparing a meal. Obviously Bella had decided she didn't want to be left out.
After eating, we clustered round the stove, and watched the kids open their presents.
Rob and George resort to reading the instructions for putting the wheels on the buggy for a patient Isabelle in the background.
Toys for the boys - an RC Nano Flyer (top right, glowing red) leading into skills tests to see who could land it in the Bree.
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