After excellent Christmas Eve Communion service, got to bed by about 1am, then left for Caddington about 10.30. Straightforward journey, but plenty of traffic. Snow negligible until nearing Luton, but still lying heavily in Winchfield and surrounding areas. Lovely Christmas lunch cooked by David, followed by opening of presents. Oliver showed his expertise on new F1 Wii game. David generously got us Apple TV, which means we can see our pictures on full screen, as well as renting videos and playing music. Brilliant! After tea (very little capacity) we watched Dr Who, which seemed a reasonable thing to do.
On Boxing Day picked up Andrew from Coventry and got him back to Caddington by 1pm for lunch – this time beef, cooked by Dot. Rather over-bought on the meat front. Still plenty of turkey left over on Christmas Day, and although we managed to finish off the Boxing Day beef, we had another turkey to cook at home. Andrew and I got home around 6.30pm, Dot travelling about 30 minutes behind with David and the children. I duly cooked the turkey and carved it before going to bed. Earlier we had spent a chaotic time unpacking various presents, and the children got to bed very late.
On Sunday I dropped Andrew off at Phil and Joy’s before 10pm, then continued to set up the church for the morning service. Dot and the children came later, and at first I thought there would be only two others, but eventually we had a full complement of 11, including three children. Relaxing atmosphere, contrasting strongly with preparation of another fantastic meal afterwards, eventually with two brothers, one sister-in-law, one son, two grandchildren milling around while Dot tried frantically to get it all together, with a little help from me. Eventually one brother and sister-in-law went home: meal as always brilliant.
Joe and Birgit came round on Monday morning, then took Andrew to Phil’s while the rest of us bussed into the city and found thousands and thousands of people milling around in search of salvation – in this case something to buy. We managed to get a dress for Amy from M&S but failed to return the original too-small dress because I’d forgotten where I’d put it. Found it as soon as we got back, of course. Also bought Horrid Henry book for Oliver. Popped into Caffe Italia, but it was full, so eventually landed up at home for a snack. Andrew delivered back by Birgit. Had full meal in evening – amazingly, got Andrew involved in game of Coppit with the children – before David set off for home with the children. He managed to forget one or two items (critically, one of them was the Wii power pack) and so the next day we arranged to meet at Coventry, where I delivered said items and Andrew at about 3.30pm. Afterwards David and I had a drink in a local pub, located by iPhone, before going our separate ways. Think he passed me on the M6, but not sure. I got home about 7.30pm, and had a quiet evening with Dot, sandwich and TV. Managed to avoid more heavy snow falling just west of Coventry, but did get plenty of heavy rain on the way home. Today in Norwich murky, damp and very cold.
Sadly, in the midst of all this Christmas hustle and bustle, we learnt that our friend Rosemary had died. She had been ill, but seemed better last time we saw her. She had fluid on her lungs and died in her sleep – I think on Boxing Day night. There will be a special service remembering her on Sunday. She will be a huge loss to the church as well as to her friends. For many years she has singlehandedly made sure the building was maintained, clean and prepared for services. She has also managed all the hiring of the hall. She was also extremely encouraging and for many on the fringe was the “face” of St Augustine’s.
