Wednesday 24th December - Christmas Eve

Yesterday's post never got further than just the title - I'm not sure what happened - I must have been distracted and then forgotten...

But today - We've made it all the way to Christmas Eve! 

On Tuesday I wasn't too sure we'd clear the table; it still looked like this;

Improved, but a long way to go.

This morning, however, not only was it mostly clear, but I was able to get out the Christmas tablecloth, faded now after perhaps twenty years since my mother made it for is one year;

We even have a few early snowdrops for Christmas. I watch for them every year; sometimes there are only one or two barely open buds. This year is a bumper year, I've never seen so many in flower before Christmas Day.

The little Advent calendar house is complete

and the amaryllis is astonishing. I was standing staring at it, wondering where all that green stalk had come from. A few weeks ago it was a dry bulb pushed into some compost. Since then I've merely watered it a couple of times, and from somewhere it has grown those long stalks, and large buds. I've found a larger, heavier pot to stand it in as it looked liable to topple over any day now. 

I wrapped the last few presents for friends, and we delivered them after lunch. For years now we've had salmon for our Christmas Eve meal, and this year was no different. I roasted onions, peppers, tomatoes and sliced potatoes in the oven for 30 minutes, turning them half way through, and then added the salmon fillets for another 10 minutes. So easy, and very good!

We've watched Carols from Kings - if you missed it, find a quiet hour and catch up on iplayer or BBCSounds. It was beautiful. 

It's heading for bedtime now. I wish you all the best for Christmas Day, however you are spending it, with family and friends, or on your own.

Here's the choir of Trinity College Cambridge singing Balulow from Benjamin Britten's Ceremony of Carols