Christmas Day – Nice family Christmas Day lunch with Diana’s family visiting and me ‘helping’ before a big clear-up session and Bond film with Daniel as 53 die in South African tribal fights and torrential rain falls that threatens our river to rise
Awake groggily this morning to my morning tea, suffering somewhat from the prodigious amount of sherry I had yesterday. The children were well underway opening their presents by the time I got down to join them and Daniel had already been literally bowled over by his. He was so excited by getting the tower HiFi that he toppled over backwards! Dan and Debbie opened theirs so happy and excited. Pity they had to make such a mess with wrappings everywhere. Then I set the video up whilst the children cleared away their things and Della came down to open hers. She was very good, but Debbie kept trying to open her presents as well and even Daniel forced one or two of them. Out after to feed the doves on another mild and bright day, after, that is, a slight mist had cleared.
On to the ducks to feed them and collect 1 egg, then to trudge to and fro, several times, carting rubbish from the wrappings down to our scrap pile on Bill’s plot. I stayed in the new sitting room reading my burglar alarm papers as the kids played with their presents and Diana readied the lunch. A splendid Christmas lunch it was too, with the turkey nicely done and Christmas pudding and cream to follow. After lunch, the dishwasher took the strain and I sat with Daniel in the old lounge watching a James Bond film. Then Di’s people arrived and we welcomed them in and sat them in the lounge for a nice cup of tea. Much exchanging of presents and I received my third pair of slippers! Then a tour of the house and they are modestly appreciative, before we stay in the breakfast room for drinks from the bar that I have laid out. Then time for tea and Diana has laid out a lovely spread, but few are hungry. To make things worse, the children eat fairly messily on our new red carpet and baby Catherine is up and down with her parents Chris and Chas and we all keep moving around in packed circumstances. I look after Della in the absence of a second high chair and miss most of my tea. I can’t wait to clear up afterwards and then starts a row with Diana, who feels I am interfering. A short stay in the sitting room and our guests decide to leave by 7.00pm. I spend the rest of the evening cleaning up and then putting up picture hooks all over the house for our pictures that have lain against walls until now. Di washes the floors and finds that a pair of my slippers are causing black marks everywhere and we eventually clean them off with a white rubber. TV and then an early night. In South Africa 53 people die in a tribal fight between Zulu’s and Pondo tribesmen and 5 others are killed in the unrest. News tonight of police surrounding a flat in Northolt after a man, armed with a knife, held a 4 year old girl since this morning. A woman died in hospital after being taken from the flat with knife wounds. The RSPCA are orchestrating an even more vocal campaign against blood sports; and the annual Christmas swim in the Serpentine Lake, Hyde Park, took place in milder weather than of late. The weather is forecast to turn a lot colder in the next few days, but I am worried by more torrential rain tonight, which must test the river, which has been rising all day.