Christmas at Home
Christmas is usually a quiet affair for us. If you look back through blog posts from years gone by you’ll see that they usually follow a similar format. The main change during the past decade or so has been that the opening of presents gets later and later. When Morgan was younger he was up early, excited and raring to go. Through his teens, this excitement became teenage indifference, the early mornings became later and later until it was Anna and I chomping at the bit, waiting for Morgan to get up!
Quietly Different
This year was a little different. Morgan is in Canada, so it was just the two of us. There was no creeping around at midnight to put presents under the tree or fill up stockings. Instead, we put things out together before going to bed and that was it. I was up early as usual and left Anna snoozing in bed. Anna got up at a sensible time and we then sat down and opened the presents in our stockings together. Yes, we still had stockings as it gave us something exciting to do before breakfast and split the morning up somewhat.
Benedict Breakfast
We then had breakfast and again I broke with tradition and went with Eggs Benedict today. This meant something of a pfaff in the kitchen for a while as I whipped up a fresh hollandaise sauce, cooked some bacon and prepared breakfast. Anna skipped the egginess and just had bacon baps. It was worth the pfaff though as it was delicious and again, stretched the day out a little.
With breakfast done it was time to start on the presents under the tree. There weren’t as many as usual. With just the two of us there was always going to be fewer presents. We also have a holiday planned for the New Year so had spent quite a bit on that and had therefore agreed not to spend too much for Christmas. My parents tried to make up for the lack of things to open by wrapping loads of silly little things for us though! Anna also wrapped all sorts of things for our holiday, including necessities (but not really Christmas presents) such as travel sickness tablets and sun cream!
We did have some nice things though. Anna had an expensive table lamp that she’s wanted for a while, some clothes, smellies, and of course chocolate. I had some nice Merino Wool clothing (that I won’t be taking on holiday with me), a nice houseplant encyclopedia and a book about hiking the West Highland Way. I also had a cool wooden automaton model to build which would keep me busy over the next few days. We also had money to pay for a pottery class later in the year. That should be fun!!
Dinner
With the presents opened and inspected it was time to start preparing dinner. We may have walked over to the beach during a gap in the weather too. I can’t quite remember. The weather for the entire Christmas period was terrible. We had severe weather warning after severe weather warnings. There would be a warning for rain, followed by a warning for wind and they were non-stop. We did manage to get out for one or two strolls along the beach, but most of the time we sheltered inside while the weather raged outside.
We both prepared dinner together. Anna did most of it, but I was there doing what I was told to do when I was told to do it. We then sat down for a traditional Christmas Roast together, including the crackers. Mmmm Mmmm.
Christmas from Canada
We then chilled for the afternoon and waited for Canada to emerge into Christmas Day, 7 hours behind us, so that we could FaceTime Morgan. We had a nice chat with him. He’s had a busy few days in the run-up to Christmas, including giving us a call from a pub the night before Christmas Eve at 1am our time. He was asking if we could see any reason why he shouldn’t give a group of Australians that he’d just met in the pub £470 to pay for an Airbnb for the next month!
It obviously sounded a little risky otherwise he wouldn’t have asked, but once he explained it all, it also made sense. So, he transferred the money to them and then spent Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day moving out of the Hostel that he’s been staying in since getting to Banff and moving into an Airbnb in nearby Canmore. He seems quite happy with the move, says the house is really nice and the Aussies that he’s now living with are nice too. It also means he has a few more contacts which might lead to some movement on the job front. As far as his Christmas plans were concerned, he and Meilyr had booked a spot at a Banff Restaurant for a Christmas Dinner buffet. He sent photos of his plate of food later that day and seemed to enjoy it. I’m not sure what else he’s been up to between Christmas and New Year – just settling into his new accommodation I think.
Onto 2024
Anna and I did very little between Christmas and New Year. The weather continued to disappoint. I did go out for a run one day and got absolutely drenched in the process. We watched TV, we played with our new presents. I built my wooden Automaton model, which was cool and we wandered to the beach now and then. I got a few chores completed as well and set up a new monitor on my desk for a slightly over the top triple monitor system. OTT maybe, but useful too.
Rhys and Sarah came round for a chat too. They are getting married in 2024 and I didn’t think Rhys had anything planned for a stag do so I suggested a mini-adventure to him. He liked the idea but none of his wedding guests were keen so in the end we thought that we could go on a mini-adventure on our own anyway. So, while they were here we booked flights to Greece and a trip to climb Mount Olympus!! So, that’s one mini-adventure planned for 2024 and good to have another trip organised and in the book before we go on our January holiday that we have planned! It’s always good to have a plan and something to look forward to.
Talking of looking forward, it’s 2024 tomorrow. As well as our trip in January and the Mount Olympus trip, I’d quite like to backpack along the West Highland Way, and maybe do the OMM again. We’d also like to try to visit Morgan in Canada as well!! Plenty of plans and lots to look forward too.
We hope all our readers had a good Christmas and have lots to look forward to in 2024 as well. Happy New Year!!!
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Glad all went well for both of you and Morgan stil seems to be happy in Canada
Happy New Year to you hoth ….you certainly have lots planned for 2024
Speak later x
Happy New Year! What a trip to look forward to 🙂