On Prancer! On Vixen!

My Dear Princess and Dear Friends,

We decided that today was Xmas Day in Greytown. And by "we" I mean Tiger and I. The both of us are incorrigible. Between the pair of us we had -

- Made a special Xmas in Greytown brochure (see extra) - TIGER
- Written a Xmas quiz - ME
- Been to the Warehouse and bought everyone $20 presents to unwrap on Xmas day - ME
- Brought along a toy dinosaur to come with us and have photo adventures wherever we went - TIGER
- Bought an ugly Xmas sweater - ME

The presents went down very well - again see the extras - Loulou got a quacky duck, Caro got a cuddly Kiwi, Shenée got a dinosaur onesie and the boys all got NERF guns*. 

After this we all went to Xmas brunch, then off to see Stonehenge Aotearoa. Did you know this was an actual thing? It is actual thing. Some bloke in the Wairarapa decided to recreate Stonehenge in a paddock, mix it up with Māori symbolism and some general hippy stuff and turn it into a tourist trap. 

We actually really enjoyed it. It was a beautiful day and the views from the "henge" were spectacular. Also you could stand in the middle of it and experience the weird echo-ey effect of a stone circle. Tiger hallooooooed in the middle of it while Loulou did something akin to a Riverdance. 

Afterward, we headed back to the cottage Shenée and Craig had rented. This place was BEAUTIFUL and Shenée made us all tea while we sat around and had snacks. And then it happened:

"I dare you to eat that chili," said Shenée. 

"I will if you will," I replied. 

"What's that? Chili-eating contest?" said Tiger.

Honestly. The three of us shouldn't be allowed out unsupervised.

So ANYWAY. After much coughing and spluttering and gargling of milk, we were nearly back to normal. But were painfully aware of being STARED at by our respective partners.

"F***'s sake," said Caro. Summing up the feelings of the three of them. 

Shenée's cottage backed onto a paddock full of horses. She insisted that this was unintentional but I have reason to doubt this. She spoke to the owners of the cottage who gave us some carrots and told us to watch out for "Elvis the Horse". 

They really needn't have worried though. We were in excellent hands with Craig, Shenée and Tiger who are all great with horses. The horses themselves were beautiful and friendly and we had a lovely time just hanging out with them as they gently came to see the strangers and give us horsey nudgies. As you can see, Caro got along very well with one of the non-Elvis horses. It was a beautiful moment of quiet in a busy day.

Then it was a road trip back into town. Tiger, Loulou, Caro and I rode in Mo's car and passed the time singing along (badly) to the Pina Colada Song, Livin' on a Prayer, Love is a Battlefield and A Little Respect. 

"Give a little respeeeeeect toooOOOOOOO meeeeEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!" we sang. And I thought I heard something TWANG in my undercarriage. 

From there it was back to Greytown for Xmas dinner and lots of jokes about fiery poos. Then it was time for my quiz. And if you have ever taken part in any of my quizzes ever, you will know it consists of 5% actual questions, and 95% singing, acting, swearing and cheating. 

It seemed to go pretty much as I expected. I think everyone enjoyed themselves and Team Shenée lost to Team Linda by 74 points to 10,000.

I really shouldn't have let them score themselves.

The big Xmas film was "Tremors" projected onto the wall, accompanied by popcorn, chocolate, wine and more jokes about fiery poos. 

And then it was time for hugs, goodbyes and a good night's sleep in a comfy bed. 

All in all - BEST XMAS EVER. 

Until the next one. I cannot wait.

S.

* In retrospect, I'm not sure this was such a good idea.