Christmas Day 2021

This would have been a memorable Christmas Day even had it not been the first for two years since the advance of the pandemic.

Following our normal routine with Mat, Tess, and Poppy; Becky and Ian, we began in mid-morning, when everyone had emerged from bedrooms in various stages of sleep and dress, with

the opening of Santa’s stocking presents.

Later, after watching this year’s memorable Queen’s speech, the sitting room was once more littered with the debris while the establishment of some kind of order was attempted in

the opening of major presents.

Of particular note was

Flo’s parcel from Kentucky containing her painting of Durdle Door, being her present to Daddy Ian, leaving him quite overcome.

America was good to us, since we also received a wonderful Shutterfly Photo Album from Jan and Bob Beek from Montana and their daughter DeAna from Switzerland. The photographs and captions form a most engaging set of memorable photographs and prose from Jan who spent much of the time beneath the large red umbrella featured in https://derrickjknight.com/2021/10/02/108208/

Jackie enjoyed the antique Victorian mother of pearl and Brussels lace fan I gave her.

Next, was Christmas dinner at 6 p.m.

By the time I had been served with Yorkshire pudding, roast potatoes and parsnips, Tess’s homemade stuffing, pigs in blankets, mashed swede, carrots, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts and chestnuts, I wondered how I would add any turkey to my plate. The problem was solved by carver Tess and her helper, the Culinary Queen, stacking the meat on top of the rest. Regular readers will know of Matthew and Becky’s penchant for Grandma pepper. We now have my Mum’s own cruets with which to sprinkle the white pepper on our dinners. We drank a toast with Marlborough aerated Sauvignon Blanc 2018. Other white and red wines were also imbibed.

Afterwards we all decided to have a rest before trying Tess’s Christmas pudding. If it is anything like her Christmas cake it will be worth having left room for.

99 comments

  2. Merry Christmas, Jackie, and Derrick! Your dinner looks so delicious. The first photo with the sea behind you guys is a great photo too, be well, be safe! β€οΈβ˜ΊοΈπŸ‡¬πŸ‡§

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  3. Thanks for sharing your family get together, Derrick! What a feast you all had. And Santa left a Hula-hoop for somebody. Some classics never go out of style.

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  4. Aha, I must look up the Queens speech. Looks like you all had a marvelous day and night. Expect you’ve now sound a sleep, and of course there is the Boxing Day food that the culinary Queen was preparing a week or so back.
    Thanks for sharing your day with us.

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  7. Oh, I missed the Queen’s speech. Getting time zones right is not easy. 3 grand teenagers and their parents will be invading our little house soon so I have time to read and comment on one post. πŸ™‚ These grandchildren have had enough of Christmas food so we’ll disguise it all in Norm’s pizzas. Jackie, I love the owl. It looks like one of those wooden construction kits. I received a white sparkly owl ornament from Norm which I’ll need to find a place for it. Merry Christmas to you both.

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  12. What a magnificent Christmas Day!
    The Queens Speech was indeed memorable. We missed it as we spent the day on a long hike, as is our tradition, but caught up this evening!
    Your post today today demonstrates so perfectly the joy of those family Christmas traditions that The Queen spoke of. Precious times πŸ™‚

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  15. Thank you for sharing your family Christmas with us, Derrick. What a feast you had! I love Jackie’s fan.Just the thing in the event one is overcome by the vapours.

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  20. The bitter-sweet idea of one familiar laugh being missing will resonate with many of us. It’s lovely to see and read about your happy family day.

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  30. Merry Christmas, Jackie, Derrick and family!
    πŸ””πŸŽ‰πŸŒŸπŸŽ…πŸŽ„πŸ¦Œ
    (((HUGS))) <3 and wishes for peace, joy, love, good health and laughter in the days and months and year ahead!

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  37. The warmth is apparent in the color and narrative of your prose. I never dreamed we would be ducking yet another variant of covid two years in. We enjoyed our small family of four, along with my son’s dog. We later visited my sister, Sharon, who’s no longer able to drive due to advancing MS. Cheers to you and yours, Derrick.

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  38. What a delightful Christmas you had! Your photos inspire lotsa smiles! Merry Christmas to you and your darling family. So glad our book brought happy memories to you, too! πŸŽ„β€οΈ

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