My gang

We had a bit of a lie-in this morning, even though the kids came in with their stockings. I guess it was about nine o'clock, maybe a little earlier, but not the early o'clock start you get before they get into their teens. (Abi is slightly precocious in this respect and stays in bed as long as the fully-fledged teenagers).

But before I knew it, I had the house to myself; the Minx and miniMinx heading south to family parties and Dan and Abi dropped off at at church to meet their mim. So I popped the cork on a bottle of fizz and grabbed a box of chocs and spect a couple of hours recording Electronic Ears, which I finished just as Dean arrived.

I used the vintage champagne stopper the Minx gave me yesterday to seal the bottle and spent an enjoyable couple of hours catching up with Dean (who was driving, so not drinking) and then the girls arrived, having driven up from their mum's new house in Lincolnshire. At their insistence, we opened some presents, and that was when the party started. 

Dean had driven back down to Blackpool before Dan and Abi arrived, by which time the Christmas meal - chef'd by Charlie - was underway and then my folks turned up and the house was suddenly delightfully bursting at the seams with people cooking and chatting and laughing.

All in all it was a splendid day. Here's a photo of my six, all paying close attention to something other than the camera!