Family

Ellie was dropped off soon after 07:00. She had only just woken up and was still only semi-conscious. I gave her a cuddle, then put her back on the living room sofa, covered her in a blanket, and promised she could sleep as long as she wanted. It was a good theory, but in practice, she only lasted about 5 minutes and then decided she wanted to go up and see Nana.

The morning was busy. We had to remove the excess chairs and Christmas detritus from the Orangery and prepare it for lunch today. Jane, Trevor and Mark were due to spend the day with us. I prepared the vegetables and put a leg of lamb in the oven. While the cooking was underway, I prepared the starters and Diane and Ellie laid the tables. I was finding it a bit of a struggle. My cold/cough had returned with a degree of vengeance and it was making me lethargic and I was finding concentration was hard.

Jane, Trevor, and Mark arrived and we had a splendid few hours. Mark is so good with Ellie and they played with her various Xmas presents until it was time to eat. After lunch, we all retired to the living room and had a few hours of chat. Zoe got away from work at a sensible time, so was able to pop in and chat with us all before collecting Ellie and taking her home.