Plenty of Christmas cheer!

Back in London today after a lovely time at Graeme's parents in Bedfordshire. The flat is freezing and I'm sure it's colder here than it was in Bromham!

I'm glad I decided to take Christmas Eve off work, as it was enough of a struggle getting everything ready in time to meet Graeme after he finished work at lunchtime. We were up so late getting all the cooking done the night before, that I would never have managed to do all my packing as well before going to bed! It was nice to arrive in time for Graeme's Mum's "open house" without being all flustered.

I got loads of nice presents on Christmas Day - the highlight being an astrolabe from Graeme. I adore old scientific instruments and had commented during a visit to Greenwich that I would love an astrolabe. The clever soul obviously started looking there and then! It really is beautiful and is functional. I just have to decipher the little booklet that came with it now!

The rest of Christmas and the following days seemed to involve a lot of eating. Our culinary efforts with the starters were appreciated by all. They were uber tasty if I do say so myself! In between all those meals (just as well I lost weight during the wisdom teeth thing) we managed to fit in some lovely walks to Stowe Gardens and Ampthill. Stowe Gardens is amazing and I'd love to go back in the summer.

So, all in all, I had a wonderful time over Christmas. Graeme's family were as lovely and accommodating as ever. I am sad that I didn't manage to spend time with my family over the festive period but hopefully we can find a solution in 2009!