'Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way!'  The bells are still jingling, but I will be very glad to stop the journey now.

In between working and travelling, I had a very productive day creating festive puddings and chutney.  Christmas would not be Christmas without either of these.  The recipe for the chutney never varies (it really is delicious) but the pudding recipe changes yearly.  If this one is truly delicious, I will share it with you. The recipe, that is, not the pudding!  Or if you are really wanting a slice of pudding, come round tomorrow, we should be attempting to eat it at around 8pm.

Last weekend saw us setting sail again, starting with Bristol on Friday night.  This makes me and Mr Cooper sound very adventurous, almost as if we were going out clubbing, but fear not.  
 We had a night far more suitable for those no longer young, but no less enjoyable for all that.  As we are getting on a bit, we have become creatures of habit, and the Friday before Christmas always finds us staying with Val, John's cousin, eating curry and putting the world to rights.  Ellen was there too, and this year we were also joined by playful Poppy.  She demonstrated leaping, and standing on high objects before being put into the kitchen, where she did a little sad whining (puppy, not human.)

Then onto Clifton, an area of Bristol that I love.  Each year, we walk round fascinated, enjoying the lovely shops that are there.  But each year also, we have to dine first. This year we went into the Somerset House pub, which was a lovely place to be.  Natural furnishings used really well.  We stood out a little, by being the only couple that weren't young professionals, but we enjoyed our lunch nevertheless.

 In our wanderings, we found a jewellers called The Dragon Workshop.  Luckily the shop was shut, and we had only had one pint (we aim to drink responsibly) as there was the most charming silver bracelet in the window, perfect for Christmas, as it was of jingle bells, and holly leaves.  Oh well.....

 Then off to Portishead, for an early celebration with little brother Mark, and his children.  We had not visited his new house before, and the builders had not long left, after completing an extension to his living room.  In fact, Mark had completed decorating in the early hours of the morning.  We spent a festive couple of hours cleaning and polishing the furnishings for the new room, then re-assembling the dining table, ready for the festive feasts to come!  Mark was so pleased as not only did the rooms look amazing, but he had been without a table since the summer, when the works had commenced.

Then off for a wander round Portishead, where we all had a reviving pint, this one in The Phoenix.
Not only was the pub really homely, but the beer glasses were delightful.

 This year we were joined by Mark's old school friend Philip and his wife Jayne.  Philip was in Bristol for a Karate event, so they were able to join us for Mark's early Christmas Day.  In fact, Jayne was lucky enough to join us for the cleaning afternoon the previous day!
We all got into the festive spirit, including Oakley, Mark's elderly cat.  As we all sat watching Elf (watching films really makes you thirsty) Philip captured the moment beautifully when Oakley had his own impromptu drink, whilst perched on the tin of Quality Streets.
Can it really get more festive than that?

 When we left on Monday morning, it felt very sad to be returning to the 'real world'  (Perhaps that is why I spend as much time as I can in my shed, creating paintings and my own world)
But the festive spirit lived on, and when I went to Trinity in the afternoon, we had an hour of art, then a small party, with presents!  It is just over a year ago that I decided to become a volunteer there, as a result of Juliette and Colin's wedding*, and I am so pleased that I did.
Thank you very much for my flowers, Ali, and I look forward to the next year with you all.  I was also very touched to be given a present, along with everyone else in the art group.  Everyone who uses Trinity was to receive their present during that week, and the pile of presents ready underneath the tree looked very joyful.  It was sad to think that for some people there, that would be their only present.  For some of us, Christmas is very far from a happy time.  I am so pleased to be involved with Trinity, and be a very small part of  all the work they do to make many people's lives better in many different ways.  Here are me and Mr Cooper wondering if we have made enough pigs in blankets, where, for some people, if it were not for Trinity, they would have no food that day.

I have been sitting here for a while now, not writing, but thinking how fortunate I am, and how we can sometimes take our good fortune too much for granted.
 But it's time now to return to the festive season.
Here are my flowers from Ali surrounded by unwritten cards, and clementines, next to my present from Mark, all ready for Christmas Day.  I am so fortunate to have many wonderful people in my life to share things with, so here is a big thank you to my friends and family.

And talking of friends........such a lovely thing has happened to me this month.
Earlier on, I had a friends request on Facebook from a name I did not recognise, but I looked at their photos and all seemed good, so 'request confirmed.'  How lovely to find that the name I did not recognise is the married name of Anne Shuttleworth, who was my best friend for an all too brief time at primary school.  Totally unexpected, but so lovely to be in touch again!  I think it must be thirty years since we last wrote to each other.
And then, another request.  I started to get excited when I realised this person had also been to Peterborough County Grammar, so request confirmed.  And now, after many years, I am reunited with my best friend from secondary school, Deborah Ellerby!  I am just so pleased.
I think I will be spending a large part of next year writing letters, as well as a blog.  What fun!

And whilst on the subject of friendship, yesterday I saw my friend Juliette, all newly returned from her 'honeymoon cruise', which was also a cruise to celebrate her and Colin's first  anniversary.

Here she is bearing gifts, as we won't see each other now till after Christmas.  It was so funny as when Juliette handed me my gift, the beautifully adorned flamingo umberella, pictured on the left, I handed Juliette her gift, a less beautifully wrapped flamingo umberella, pictured on the right.
We did really laugh, before making sure we had glitter in our hair, ready for an exciting day at work.
Best to get the laughter in early, as the days close to Christmas are more full of hard work than hilarity.

Whilst we were laughing, Cuddles and Snooty had entered Juliettes bag, where they found their own Christmas present, beautifully wrapped by Colin and addressed to Kitten 1 and Kitten 2.  They removed the present, then proceeded to open it! 
They are going to work on improving their manners next year!

Well, it is nearly here now......it's 4pm on Christmas Eve.  The ham is coming to the end of its cooking time, and the tree has only just been decorated.  Time to stuff the turkey, and finish a little more preparation in readiness for when we stuff ourselves tomorrow.

Last year the fairy stood out a little more, as our room was red.  Now she has a more conservative colour scheme around her, all ready to impress the people who will be flocking to view our house in the New Year, prior to making huge offers, of course.

Until that happens, we will happy to enjoy our last Christmas at 'The Gables', and a little excited to be wondering where we will be celebrating Christmas next year.

I must away now, as Mr Cooper has informed me that our Christmas tree lights have just stopped working.  I know just how they feel, I might come out in sympathy!

I hope you all have a most enjoyable Christmas, with very few mishaps.  In fact, it would be lovely if 2017 was also filled with very few mishaps!.

So I leave you now with best wishes for a wonderful day tomorrow, and a last picture of the fairy on the tree, who is even older than me!

HAPPY CHRISTMAS!

*  At Juliette and Col's wedding I sat next to Michelle, who worked for Trinity, and after talking to her about her job, I decided I would like to work there too, as a volunteer.