Belated Christmas

 The Gorse Fox was up and about around 8:00 and had his usual cousins' call at 9:00. It was nice to have a chat and catch up on their news. He feels sorry for Tim, the youngest, who is without heating at present and it won't be sorted until early February. He lives in Derbyshire, so we have to hope that the winter remains fairly mild. To add insult to injury he managed to break a tooth on Christmas Day and can't get any treatment until this coming Tuesday. He was definitely (and possibly rightly) feeling sorry for himself.

As our Christmas plans had changed due to Urban-Cub having Covid, today was the rearranged fixture. Lunch was organised at her house. The Gorse Fox loaded the back of the car with the gifts that had, until now, remained unopened then he popped into Chichester to collect Cousteau-Cub and the Coventry Hobbit.

We had a lovely (if very noisy) time... with Ellie's walkie-talkie going off, her iPad playing, the TV on, and the cross-chat between the adults. Christmas gifts were opened and Ellie was very excited as she ripped the wrapping off each package and examined the contents.

As a modicum of calm returned (only a modicum, mind you) and the Silver Vixen had cleared the festive wrappings, we sat down at the table for a wonderful lunch prepared by Urban-Cub and her friend Darren. It was the full spread. There was lamb, gammon, pigs in blankets, peas, carrots, parsnips, stuffing, and of course, roast potatoes. The Coventry Hobbit was a a bit of a let down. After his record breaking 16 potatoes on Boxing Day, we had been expecting something great from him - maybe a new personal best. But no, he whimped out. No stamina.

Though they had prepared a dessert, none of us could manage it... so settled down for a quiet-ish afternoon with some games with Ellie. (Note to self: Do not allow Cousteau-Cub to perform any brain surgery, based on her performance with "Operation")

We had a lovely day but left them to their own devices late afternoon. The Gorse Fox dropped Cousteau-Cub and the Coventry Hobbit back in Chichester then headed home for a quiet night with the Silver Vixen.