Wassail.

Truth to tell the 5th January is always a tricky one. Birthdays to celebrate, which are always welcome. But also the date my dad died, fifty four years ago. And of the tragic car crash that took my eighteen year old niece back in 2013. 

There are, after all, only 365 dates in the year, plus or minus, and stuff happens on every single one. In the Rosher family tree there are various things, from the Christening of Marie in 1605 to the birth of an Isabella in 2011...

And in traditional terms it's time to take down the Yule tree, and go outside to Wassail the apple. I've done neither yet, and indeed I'm unsure we have any cider left. But hey, we improvise. I may have found some apple schnapps.

I won't be using this chalice - it's a chest tomb ornament up in the old churchyard