Hangingstone Christmas Trees

I didn't feel any need to put up a Christmas tree this year. There are plenty in the garden.

Christmas is always a strange period, for me at least, a time of year when my regular cocktail of emotions tends to get highly spiked. It can be a magical time as a child, and as a parent of young children, but it can also be incredibly stressful, trying to deliver a wonderful day, even simply trying to be cheerful when you're not feeling it. I suspect that the gap between expectation and reality is widening with every passing year. It mustn't be forgotten that it is also the loneliest time of year for a lot of people. Many don't have any expectation at all.

It was easy for me to opt out this time around. Family today was split between the South of England, Australia, the United States, with the boys in the Caribbean - all a very long way from Yorkshire. I embraced my solitude with some relish, not lonely at all, although it was lovely to skype with the boys from the small yacht that has just crossed the Atlantic with their mother. The power of technology makes the world feel quite small - although it felt quite large enough for her while sailing. It was rather extraordinary to be talking to Forrest one moment, and then watch him dive off the side of the boat the next, just after announcing my Christmas present. I don't think I've ever been more delighted with a gift. Thank you mate. Get in training! It was also extraordinary to see Roam, already working up a tan, after seeing him only a few days ago here.

I've tried not to beat myself up for not doing the things I perhaps should have been doing today. I've lounged and read most of the hours away, just taking time out for a short walk on the moor. I've not really bothered much with food either. I've enjoyed having that choice. I've been absorbed too much in my book.

So, let me wish a very happy Christmas to all my loyal, long-suffering followers here, and friends and family who also pass by, who I haven't caught up with personally. I hope it was a good day for you, in whichever way you chose to celebrate it. My motto is the simpler the better.

Much love.