COUNTRY CHRISTMAS

Christmas morning brought with it a bright blue sky and brilliant sunshine,which caused the crystal hanging in my bedroom window to scatter the walls and ceiling of my bedroom with dozens of tiny rainbows. The air was still and cold and early as it was the village was astir,for young children seldom sleep late on Christmas morning and as I drank my first coffee of the day I watched several new bicycles and their proud owners riding up and down the lane.

A little girl was giving her dolly its first outing in a brand new dolls pushchair and somewhere in the distance the sound of a remote controlled car could be heard, along with excited shouts from it,s lucky owner.

I took the boys a cup of coffee, well laced with Brandy and very soon after we were all assembled in the drawing room for the ceremony of exchanging our gifts My son has presided over this event since a child and hands out the gifts in turn, he is quite the showman which makes for much merriment all round.

I received some beautiful gifts both large and small ,my favourite being a large mug decorated to look like an owl and with it's own knitted cosy to keep my coffee warm.

Breakfast was a cheerful occasion with lots of hot bacon rolls( we were too hungry for just toasted crumpets as we had planned) after which we squirrelled away our gifts and made ready for visitors.

Our friend arrived and we were delighted that her boy friend had been able to come after all, he is a great favourite with us and always makes us laugh with his funny stories and jokes, the next three hours passed pleasantly and so quickly that we were all surprised to discover that it was past four O clock and beginning the be dark outside. We parted with hugs and arranged to meet again on the weekend, as we waved them goodbye it was beginning to freeze so hard that we were glad to return to the fire again.

Later we enjoyed a relaxed dinner of cold meats and cheeses followed by wedges of Christmas cake, and iced cream and were joined by one of our cats who has been in seventh heaven since the turkey came out of the oven yesterday. With her own little of turkey snippets she sat like a queen next to my son whom she openly adores. I have never before known a cat so fond of human society as this little bundle of love.

We spent the evening quietly in the snug library talking over past Christmases and remembering happy time with loved ones no longer with us. I t has always been a source of sadness to me that my dear father died when my son was only a year old. In my heart I keep the memory of his last day with us which he spent holding his grandson in his arms ,and ,ill as he was amusing the little child with funny faces and funny songs.

He would be so proud of the young man who now loves to hear stories of the grandfather her cannot remember but who,s memory we have kept alive for him always. There was no sadness in these memories, my father laughed his way through life and even at the end his courage made the parting easier for us than it might have been and I bless him for this.

Three sleepy people made their way upstairs to bed and we all agreed that this had been one of the best Christmases ever, perhaps even the best and since none of us wanted it to end it was quote some time before we settled down to sleep.

It is now three a.m on Boxing Day morning and I have been awake for about an hour, thankfully the painkillers I took half an hour ago are beginning to take effect and soon I shall be tucked warmly in my snug bed and hopefully asleep again before long.

There is just time to take one last look out of the window across the frosted lawn ewto admire the twinkling fairy lights in the Rectory garden and the bright stars, made still more brilliant by the clear frosty air.

There will be time to count my blessing one more time before I fall asleep, or maybe not, there are so many of them to count. Goodnight.