blamebrampton

I had a theory that there would be another chapter of Tidings of Comfort today.

And that laughter you are currently enjoying is my gift to you :-)

Maybe by St Hilary's Day?

I hope you're all having a most wonderful time. We have had a lovely and calm one, with Christmas salmon and a ridiculous amount of chocolate. I did set fire to the kitchen very briefly – a teatowel, really – but had it well under control when Mr B came in, picked it up and tossed it out the back door, proclaiming, 'It's raining!' Which it has been constantly since last night.

I am not joking about the chocolate. I asked Mr B for a Fitbit and electric keyboard. I received instead some lovely jewellery and this:


That frog is about 10 inches long. He will be receiving a lovely new desk chair when it arrives, and has a new game of Kubb. Which Cookie has laid claim to:

She is still sitting on the open bag. Apparently she is super keen on Scandinavian games!

Buon Natale to all!

PS It really is raining solidly, and has been humid for weeks. Our house is too small for a tree, so I hang the ornaments on termporary hooks on the wall. One by one the removable adhesives have been failing, so Christmas Day ended and Boxing Day has begun to the relentless sound of gravity working upon ornaments. It's like the sound of paeonies splatting in the summer heat ;-)

Happy Christmas/Yule/Late Solstice and very lake Hanukkah to all my F-list.

I hope that you are spending the holidays in ways that you're enjoying; whether that be the full festive fiasco, or the relaxed barbecue under a tree.

If you, like a few of my friends in far-flung cities are actually having a rubbish time, I can at least offer the comfort that it will make all future holidays look better by comparison, and the suggestion that you spend the time reading that novel you've been putting off and ignoring the chaos around you. Because buying into it will only cause you pain. Fake nausea if your attendance is being demanded!

Our house is having a very calm time with lunch postponed to late dinner (should get onto that in a minute ...) and fabulous gifts including the complete House of Eliott for me (costume fiends of a certain age will know what I am talking about) and Banksy's book of art for J.

This year Sydney is deliciously cool, so we were able to take the new Nerf torpedo down to the park and throw it around until our arms gave out. If you lack a boat, there is nothing, absolutely nothing, half so much worth doing as faffing about down at the park with something to kick or throw. We briefly considered stealing one of our neighbour's children so we didn't look like idiots being the only Nerfy adults about, but decided that I'm short enough to get past a cursory examination. There were two other sets of adults, one with a remote-controlled plane, one with a new football. Brilliant.

My resolution for 2008 is to play in the park at every available opportunity.

I hope that for all of you, 2008 brings joy, peace, and plenty of time for play.