Santa

Our Christmas tree was so weak, thin and spindly that it started keeling over, so we stopped at a farm which advertised some for £25. We walked to the wood with the man and his chainsaw. We chose a tree and he cut it down for us.

Then we sped down to the Tanfield Railway where we met the daughters and children. It’s always nicer for them when the men are working at weekends to have a plan of stuff to do with the children. We all had tickets for the Polar Express which is a few miles of steam Railway run by volunteers, running to Santa’s Grotto. Here’s a blip of the man himself with Thomas on the left, then Ella, James and Nathaniel. None of them were scared, and they had lots of questions fo4 him. Would he live forever, how old was he, when was his birthday, how many elves did he need for all the work? Then we went in to the station buffet where we were served mince pies and sherry, and the children got juice and apple pies. They were so excited by the whole thing. The stood outside at the front carriage of the train. Mr C was probably THE most excited.

After we got back I dismantled the rubbish tree and decorated the new one. It looks really pretty in gold and red. We had our tradition glass of Crabbies Ginger Wine when we had finished doing the dining room decorations.

I’m so behind with reading journals, so I’ll have a bit of a lie-in tomorrow to catch up before we head over the Roman Road to meet my cousins from Galloway.