HIGH POINTS OF CHRISTMAS FUTURE

I have the feeling the Lego City train is going to keep us all occupied merrily for weeks.

I've been thinking quite a bit about family in the last couple of days.  As two folks who met late on in life, we share the joy of a blended family.  This may cause confusion for Blippers who don't know us well, so here follows a wee explanation:

 There is one natural son from the Prof's first marriage,  a delightful guy who has his Dad's lovely personality , but brings something special of his own. There is one chosen daughter from the Prof's second marriage who is the wonderfully loving Mum of the VIP who features here so regularly.  There is one chosen son from my single life, known on Blip sometimes as my Son and Heir and sometimes as The Son from Over the Water as he has lived much of his life in Canada. You can read his story here. When the Prof  and I came together we both gladly and easily took on the loving, the caring and the joy of our mixed bag of offspring and in turn their five children.  The only time we have all been together was at our wedding, but that was before the two youngest were born.  

Of course, neither of us planned that to have this sort of family, it was just what happened as we went along, which is true of most families, even the picture postcard perfect ones. And there is also the huge extended family, not just of blood relations but courtesy aunts and others. For a family is best, it seems to me, when its boundaries are not so easily defined - when it always has room for someone else who needs a home, when it lives up to the ancient dictum, 'I was a stranger and you welcomed me in.'