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Published: January 2nd 2007
Finally it was Christmas!
Vic’s mum came to England from Holland by ferry and picked us up to take us down to Hayling Island where we would celebrate Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with Vic’s Godmother in her 15th century heritage listed cottage - nothing could be more English than that!
I was so appreciative, as the girls adopted me as one of the family so I wasn’t alone for Christmas!
We set off with a boot full of wine and seats stacked with gifts as we were watching Wendy to make sure she was driving on the right (well, left!) side of the road, giving me my first opportunity to see the real English country side.
Arriving at Carol’s to a full house, Wendy had already arranged for us to stay in a near by apartment, to which Victoria tried very insistently to get into the next door leaving the 3 of us in a fit of giggles! We did say we were keen to make more friends in London, but I didn’t realize how desperate the situation had become 😉 Opps! The drive must have gone straight to our head!
Heading back to Carols
for the Christmas Eve warm up the table was laid with yummy food, and plenty of it! Around the table was Carol and her husband, their nieces Michelle and Abbey and brother’s family, Bruce, Josie, Michael, Chantelle and friend Jane - all where also staying for the weekend - and when I was warned you had to be quick, I completely underestimated the speed necessary to fill your plate! Luckily I was now prepared and in training for the fight over Christmas Feast!
What both Vic and her Mum forgot to tell me, was that to their family they both go by different names! They both use their middle names, Victoria and Wendy, however on their birth certificates they are Lauran and Beverley! So I was all confused about who these other two ladies were!!
Christmas Day, Victoria and I woke to our Santa Sacks (Gosh, he’s good!) before wrapping last minute gifts and heading over to Carols.
Mum and I have done Christmas at our house for years, so it was a very strange feeling to be in someone else’s house, with a big tree (we only have a small art deco one in Melbourne!) and
all the winter trimmings that we never had because we out by the pool!
Dinner was just amazing! We sat down to a fully set table, with candelabra’s and crackers to enjoy our Salmon pâté starter, followed by the opening of table presents (like Chris Cringle/Secret Santa where everybody gets a small gift each from someone else) Lamb, Turkey and Gammon, and the most scrummy desserts! Carol even lit the brandy of the pudding, and it flamed away on the table, looking very cool!
Once our belly’s were well filled, and still over half the turkey remaining, we resided to the crackling fire for chocolates and the big climax of present swapping!
Not expecting any gifts, I was swamped by presents from Victoria, her Mum, Carol and another of her friends Kristine. They must have noticed I wasn’t taking to well to the cold, as I was given a cutesy beanie, a huggable hottie (pink heart water bottle!), and lots of long socks among many other goodies that kept me nice and warm over the break! It was just so nice to sit around the fire and tree in a real cottage in the winter time.
Well fed, well watered and all wrapped up we were ready to call it a day and headed back to the apartment where for me the real excitement kicked in! Only one more sleep until Mum and Dad arrived!
Boxing Day morning Carol was also heading out to Heathrow Airport, so I was lucky enough to get a ride with her, which was a huge help! And by 3pm the oldies were in town with already, plenty of stories to tell 😉
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cet
non-member comment
oh my GOD
you have gorgeous dark locks xoxoxo sounds like your christmas was warm (kinda) and welcoming