Blessed to have our family to celebrate Christmas 1988
Blessed to have our family to celebrate Christmas 1988

The mildest for 40 years - when the children woke early, and my parents arrived later after which we played games in our new conservatory before and after a fine Christmas lunch and a more relaxing afternoon and evening watching television films. 239 bodies have been found after Lockerbie air crash, with 30 still missing, and the shipping accident on Christmas Eve has affected 10% of British North Sea oil production, as three platforms are shut down.

I stayed up very late waiting to complete the ‘Father Christmas’ tradition and then retired to bed shattered. Di’s bad chest only just allowed her to cope and we slept soundly after that. Daniel was awake by 3am, Debbie by 4am but I laid in until 7am. The children started to open their presents and I must record that they behaved very well – perhaps the best year yet. We had our breakfast and then waited for my Mum and Dad to arrive. They had intended to arrive by 10am but it was after 11.30am by the time they got here. We had coffee and chatted and they both took a good look at the conservatory with its fish and pond before we had a nice Christmas lunch afterwards. The turkey was a fresh one and, by being turned over during roasting, stayed moist and tender. The Brussel sprouts and other vegetables were tasty. The only problem was the Christmas Pudding, as the accompanying cream had gone sour. This afternoon, Di and I washed up and then the family played a board game with Nanny.

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I had set up the dining table on the conservatory island and we stayed there. We took tea sitting around the lounge and then we watched two good films on the television until the day was done. At 11pm, after settling my parents down, I retired to bed. The TV news is still all about the Lockerbie air crash – this time the search area has been greatly increased to try to find the rest of the flight recorders and wreckage in a 100 mi² area, as high winds on the crash night spread the plane over a wide area. Another 30 bodies on top of the 239 found are still missing. The Christmas Eve shipping accident involving a storage vessel could cost £2 million per day for months as there is no replacement for the vessel and it has to be repaired. 10% of the British North Sea production is affected, shutting down three platforms. An armed man is on the loose in Bow, East London, after shooting a man and a woman, leaving them critically ill. Today was the mildest Christmas Day for 40 years.