Peace on earth and Good will to men.

"I heard the bells on Christmas day. Their old familiar carols play, and wild and sweet the words repeat, o peace on earth and good-will to men!" 
- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Oh what a beautiful morning!  Banished are the rains and grey, and sunshine filled our eyes as five of us walked along the Bosphorus shore towards Bebek then on to Rumeli Hisari for Turkish Breakfast in one of the many waterside street cafes.

Spent the afternoon happily peeling sprouts (yes really!) and generally preparing dinner for six, whilst watching UK TV - Despicable Me II and Harry Potter.   Cauliflower cheese (Merril style) with mature cheddar and crunchy nut and breadcrumb topping; blue cheese with apple, mixed nuts and lentil bake; and Robin appeared late afternoon to prepare the roasted veggies with Rosemary and garlic, a trans-continental change from English style (boiling) for my American and Canadian guests!

With Jenny and Michael’s Pumpkin soup to start and Caitlin and Robin’s fruit, cheese and chocolate to finish, with Carolyn's salad alongside, it was a truly splendid meal and so subsequently immobilised by excess, we retired to the lounge where Santa’s gifts were given.   Robin and I rounded off the festivities with A Christmas Carol (2009).  Thank you my dear colleague-neighbour-friends for keeping Christmas so very well with me this year. One to remember. 

“And it was always said of him, that he knew how to keep Christmas well, if any man alive possessed the knowledge. May that be truly said of us, and all of us! And so, as Tiny Tim observed, God bless Us, Every One!” 
― Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol