And so that was Christmas

And I have to say very nice it was too, albeit in a low key way and happily without power cuts. The snowy conditions put paid to any last minute retail panic but we had plenty of everyday provisions in the house and were quite prepared to make do with a piece of beef or a chicken from the freezer. As it turned out we did get to the nearest large shops briefly on Wednesday evening after the snow plough had been and between more showers. We picked up a duck for Christmas dinner plus some fresh veggies and bread, sorted. We had left it too late to cut down a fir tree from the garden or collect any greenery, everything was under 18" of snow but there was so much beauty outside we didn't need tinsel and glitter, a few candles and a roaring fire were enough.

Mr FF like most men had left what shopping he had to do, ie my £5 worth of gifts, till the last minute but I unwrapped on Christmas morning a book, a pretty celtic patterned mug, a Yorkie (chocolate) bar and a homemade voucher for lunch at Betty's tea room when we go down to Yorkshire. He seemed quite pleased that he was under budget but that may change when we get to Betty's. We didn't have many parcels to open as we haven't yet done the family gift exchange, but I really enjoyed our calm, peaceful day that involved quite a bit of snow shovelling. We have been looking after Peaches our friends' cat over the holiday but didn't go round the first day she was home alone as she has an automatic feeder. I woke during that night to realise that the poor creature was probably unable to get out of the house because the snow would be over her cat door.This was our road as we made our way up to the cottage armed with shovels. She was indeed snowed in but even when we cleared the way she wasn't interested in going out. We made her a pathway round the house and the next time we went up there were paw prints in the snow so she was back to normal. On Christmas morning we dug the drive out for her parents who return today, otherwise they wouldn't be able to get their car off the narrow lane and I imagine the last thing they would want to do after a long journey should be shift snow. It seemed a nice neighbourly thing to do and certainly gave us an appetite.Hopefully we are finally off to Yorkshire tomorrow to spend a few days with family, exchange presents and meet Amelia. I've been busy sorting out warm clothes and emergency supplies just in case there are any problems, keep your fingers crossed for us and enjoy the rest of the holidays.