Christmas Eve

Thankfully the boys all arrived safely and on time last night for supper, the traffic was not as bad as expected. Tommy was coming from the Cotswold having collected Inca from work (doing her veterinary practice placement), Adam drove from Cambridge and picked up Luke in London on the way. We had a lovely supper and I got to bed later than usual.

This morning, in what seems to be an annual Christmas Eve tradition, Gavin, Luke and Adam played golf. They had an early tee off time and said the course was so quiet. Luke had his best round ever, he shot 2 over par. 

After some exercise and then breakfast I took Xena for a walk and Tommy and Inca joined me. Here they are at a tree that someone has decorated on the common. When we got to the common we saw that a large area had been cordoned off with police tape, and there were police standing in the enclosed area who were soon joined by military personnel. We wondered what was going on - later when we were walking some distance away we heard an almighty bang - Xena got quite a fright! Could it have been an unexploded mortar? A few years ago they found some there and did a controlled explosion of them to remove them so that is the likely reason.

Back home we had lunch, and then Inca had to get the train home earlier than expected as the later trains were all cancelled due to the strikes. Tommy drove her to Reading so her train journey home was easier. The golfers came home in time for a late lunch.

I have laid the presents under the tree, set the dining table and decorated it for our Christmas lunch tomorrow, and made the cranberry sauce. Tonight is easy - we are having champagne and substantial nibbles for supper - we ordered some platters of sushi which Gavin collected this afternoon, I am making our tradition salmon blinis, some pigs in blankets, and some hot nibbles that I got from Waitrose - easy as tomorrow I will be cooking the main dinner all morning.