Well ok, it was! For the first time ever, H & I were invited too spend Xmas with my brother and his family – which made for two days of 14 people, including the 4 'greats'. We set off at gnat's crack on Xmas Eve to avoid the traffic heading coast/ferry-wards, only to discover there was no traffic, lots of fog instead and we were eating brekky in a local cafe by 9am!
Then it was time to adopt the brace position, as we were all off to the Thanet Panto to see Peter Pan at 12 noon. Having expected this to last about 1.5 hours tops given that kids would struggle to sit still for that long, it was a surprise to still be there THREE hours later!! Damn good job we'd had a big break after all… And luckily, the people playing Peter, Captain Hook and Smee were very good – just the incredibly wooden Tigerlily/Mrs Darling being less than spectacular.
We snaffled a lightning kip at the Botany Bay Hotel (where H and I were holed up – peace!) and were back for a Xmas Eve chilli supper in Rick & Heather's big dining room before heading to the lounge with its whopping real fire. Very good to get the chance to catch up with his girls, including Grace, who we rarely see as she lives up in Stoke area these days. Although Rick was touting the rumour that they might all move back to Kent in the next few years… we will see!
Xmas Day was pretty good, partly as we were spared the 5.45am kids waking up for the first batch of presents. But we headed over to the house fairly early and – after a visit to church – were soon knee deep in vast amounts of sticking stickers, colouring houses, small people opening hourly prezzies and general mayhem. Good to see all the boys were managing the big lunch, Adam and Pat directing the rest on minor tasks – H scoring the gravy making and carving as his parts of the day.
Ended up – of course – massively full, having chatted lots, walked the dogs on the brilliant beach – literally over the road from their house, so fab, although why 2 year old Polly decided to take all her kit off an go skinny dipping was beyond all of us! Here still fully clothed, with Abbie. Finally watching the Gavin & Stacey Xmas special before we tottered the half mile along the spooky dark cliff edge back to the hotel.
Picked up Maddie on Boxing Day from the house (as couldn't get a dog friendly hotel room) and head back to Dora. Where we had our own mini Xmas on the 27th – Maddie proving a dab hand (or paw) at diving head first in the stocking sacks in search of her new toys.
Back in to the social whirl on the 29th as we joined Fi & Rich for a hill walk (including trying to find an invisible woman shouting for help in the mist – weird), a pub lunch and dinner at theirs. V v nice – the meal was a corker!
And finally on to our last stop for 2024 – of course, the cottage with J&R. A massively breezy beach walk followed by a halibut dinner care of us & Shoreham Poissonerie on the first eve. Dog walks then a video call with Dav & Mands and their chums Brenda & John to wish them a HNY and then our usual fizz, oysters, mega beef dinner, a few sparklers, Ross falling over a chair as we mis-sang Auld Lang Syne as usual and getting to bed about 3 hours later than every other night of the year!
We are very lucky to have such lovely people in our lives – happy 2025 everyone x