The Aftermath

And so, the day itself arrived. Always so much build up I think, for one day!

However, for us, it was a very pleasant day indeed. We woke fairly late (sometime between 9 and 10 I think), and I turned on facebook and boggled at how long some people had been up when they didn't need to go to work. I said as much to the Wonderspouse when he returned from feeding the cats and making the tea, and he recalled his father getting up at 6 on Christmas morning to put the turkey in!

How glad I am that we have goose mid-afternoon rather than turkey at lunchtime!

The first surprise of the day was that the phone rang while we were still in bed. MiL and FiL wanted to say Happy Christmas. And how much more we appreciated being able to say Happy Christmas to MiL, since she's been so ill this year.

The second surprise of the day was that Laura had moved house during the night. She must have been incredibly industrious, because her entire stash of food and bedding had moved to her little spaceship house from her little igloo house! She'd also blocked off a tunnel with woodshavings! Wow - how much work can that hamstress do!!!

Then we had a rather splendid breakfast:
1. Eggs Benedict.
2. Smoked Salmon and Scrambled Egg.
3. Pancakes filled with Dates and Pedro Ximenez.

After which I did the ordinary household morning stuff - cleaning the rodents, playing with the ratties (and putting in a new wooden climbing doofer for them - their Christmas pressie), and sorting the washing into colours and putting a load on (did about 3 loads throughout the day).

Then I opened the only parcels that we have in our house on Christmas day - those from Scharwenka. There were many amusements - including a vast store of "phone socks" (he'd thought he was ordering 6 socks, but actually got 6 packets) and also a battery-powered hamster (highly amusing because I'd also bought HIM a battery-powered hamster)!!!!

The Wonderspouse and I don't do Christmas presents - this year what he wanted most was to have time at home cooking. What I want is for George and Henry (the 2 new rat boys) to stay with their mums until they're old enough, then to move in here and be adorable! Neither of these things are things you can wrap and put under a tree!

I then did a few bits at my desk and drank Tio Pepe while the Wonderspouse cooked.

We watched the telly - something Festive with John Rutter, then a surprisingly good documentary by Prince Charles about Parry. In the midst of all that, lunch appeared:

1. Roast Goose.
2. Roast Potatoes.
3. Roast Parsnips.
4. 3 sorts of stuffing (including sausagemeat & chestnut).
5. Yorkshire Puddings (we like them).
6. Carrots.
7. Cauliflower Cheese.
8. Sprouts (purple).
9. Peas.
10. Gravy.
11. Bits of Bacon.

Very delicious it was too, and accompanied by Chateau Lamothe Bergeron from the Haut-Medoc!

Afterwards I took some goose upstairs on a small plate. I left some in Robbie's Wheel (he likes his treats in there, and is still too skittish to take food from my hand unless I'm very patient), gave some to Laura (she enjoyed very much), and then larger amounts for Charlie and Moses (who gave the impression it was the best food EVER)!

Then, downstairs, five felines tucked into goose and goose liver for their dinner. Our goose came with giblets, which they really enjoy!

Then I settled down on the sofa and painted my nails different colours while watching Ratatouille (a film I adore), and the Wonderspouse dealt with the aftermath of Ganymede (the name he gave to the goose). You can see the handiwork here! If you want to see what a whole goose is like, then check last year's blip, which is of Garamond (last year's goose) before the humans started on him!

Then it was Dr Who, the Strictly Christmas Special, and Eastenders. At around that point we had pudding - a suet, toffee, and date pudding, with Vana Tallinn poured over it, and served with large scoops of ice cream! Yummy! I'd also progressed to Bristol Cream by this stage!

Scharwenka called - and we giggled about the matching battery-powered hamsters!

Then we settled down for the Downton Abbey Christmas Special on ITV+1, and part-way through had toast, parma ham, and stilton, with port.

And then it was bath and bedtime!

What a great Christmas Day!