Finding the Magic of Christmas

I often think that we have got it all wrong when it comes to Christmas we get so tied up with buying presents and   Christmas food becomes an ordeal from start to finish - shopping for it, to storing it, cooking it and digesting it! Despite all my good intentions Christmas crept up on me and I was as disorganised as ever. I had been stashing presents away for months, just little things for Robbie, he is a big kid when it comes to Christmas and it makes me so happy to watch him opening his presents. I had been reasonably organised about presents for other family members, our children provide lists now, so that's easy and buying for my young niece and nephews is a pleasure. Finding the money is a bit more of a challenge, but that is the same for everyone. 


The bits of Christmas that I find challenging include getting the Christmas tree and decorations out of the loft, putting the tree up - and tidying up the mess afterwards! Arguing about where best to put the tree and acting as referee in the annual argument about whose turn it is to have their angel on top of the tree this year. The food shopping is probably the biggest headache, affording it, making sure that we have enough food while trying not to buy so much that it will be wasted. It is just such an effort tackling the supermarket, unloading the shopping and packing it into the fridge and freezer. Then I have to cope with Robbie huffing and puffing because the fridge is not packed correctly and things are in the wrong place in the freezer. Last but not least is wrapping, I quite like wrapping up presents but suddenly everything has to be wrapped at once and however well prepared I think I am, I find that someone has 'borrowed' the scissors, or the sellotape - or both!


This year was like every other year,  by Christmas morning I was exhausted and it was a real struggle to get up and join in the fun of present opening, but the excitement of gift giving works it's magic and memories of other Christmas mornings fill my mind, distant memories of my own childhood when Santa always left shiny new coins at the bottom of my stocking. Then there are the special Christmas memories of my own children when they were little. One daughter asked Santa to bring her a sheep - that was one Christmas wish that didn't come true. There was the time when I was filming both daughters singing Christmas carols for their grandma and the little one (age 4) kept stopping to tell her older sister off for singing her part, it was so funny. My favourite memory of my son at Christmas was when he was a shepherd in the nativity play, he was 3 or 4 at the time and he walked up to Mary and Joseph swinging his knitted lamb around by by it's tail!


Like snowflakes, my Christmas memories gather and dance - each beautiful, unique and too soon gone. ~Deborah Whipp

In the end the food and the presents don't matter so much, it is being together that counts, family time taking pleasure in the special people around us. Christmas may be hard work but this year just as every other year, sharing the day with all the people I love made it all worthwhile.

A Turkey of Giant Proportions

I have written about our cat with two names many times. His Sunday best name is George but the children called him Dave, they think it is a cool name for a cat, he is named after Grandad because neither has any teeth but both cope admirably without them! I love that cat, so on Christmas morning I decided to cook the giblets from the turkey for him. At one point my son wandered into the kitchen and asked what was in the saucepan. I was busy and I replied absent mindedly "it's the bits from the turkey". Sam then lifted the lid of the pan and slammed it down again horrified, he had mistaken the neck for a completely different part! Sam must imagine that there are turkeys running around endowed with 'bits' that a horse would be proud of!!

A Family Christmas

We have had such a busy few days that we are both exhausted. We spent the day before Christmas Eve with my mum, stepfather, and my brother and his family, it was such a lovely day. My nephew is 20 months old now and he is so much fun, he was the centre of attention and he enjoyed making everyone laugh. We spent Christmas Eve at my mum's house, it is a family tradition to have steak and chips on Christmas Eve and it was wonderful. When I saw how much Robbie managed to put away I thought he would never walk again, but like the bumble bee he defies the laws of nature!

The evening of Christmas Eve was a mad rush of getting the house ready and the last leg of the wrapping up marathon. I seem to have been wrapping presents for weeks, why does it take so long to wrap everything up and such a short time to unwrap! On Christmas morning I think Sam broke the record for the fastest ever present opening and the girls were not far behind. Sam had a coat (the type he wanted), a graphics tablet, very expensive photography books (from his wish list), various DVD sets and a whole ocean of smellies - we will need breathing apparatus for months! The girls had GHDs, DVDs, books perfume and countless other things.

My mum and stepfather spent Christmas Day and Boxing Day with us, the cooking was hard work but we all had a lovely time. Robbie behaved himself except for the little interlude on Boxing Day afternoon when he has a tantrum about somthing so trivial that I can't even remember it. He sat on the kitchen floor with his arms folded an his lip sticking out, he looked just like a toddler with an attack of the 'terrible twos'. We just closed the door on him and enjoyed a cup of tea while he regained control of his inner child. I have just remembered what caused the strop, it was because we wanted to make a cup of tea before we did the washing up and it messed up his routine!!

I have to make a bit of a confession, I bought Robbie two railway books because I wanted to read them! I knew that he wiould like them too. I scoured the town to find his favourite aftershave for him and I also bought him some other things, but I think he will write about that later.

The Incredible Sulk!

I have been feeling really rough, I just don't seem able to get better despite antibiotics, steroids, inhalers and various other pills and potions, I am so frustrated with it. I would have liked to postpone Christmas, but it wasn't to be. I wasn't as organised as usual and we had a number of last minute preparations in order to be ready for the big day. Robbie had a strop because he wanted to set the kitchen out slightly differently and I wouldn't let him because it just wasn't practical. Robbie is so closely in touch with his inner child that he is capable of a 'terrible two's' style strop whenever the need arises, and since I have no need of an extra child I usually just leave him to it until he manages to recapture his inner child and behave like a human being again.

Unfortunately when Christmas Day dawned Robbie was still in a strop, he had most of the bed, and the whole duvet with covers pulled over his head and his rear end sticking out. My attempts to communicate were rebuffed so I left him in bed while I went down to watch the family open their presents. I knew it was going to be one of those days when I found the treat left for me downstairs – a pile of dog sick! Meg had stolen some chocolates the day before and obviously it didn't agree with her. Not only had she chosen to target the only piece of carpet on the ground floor, but everyone else seemed to be wearing blinkers, they managed to avoid stepping in it without even seeing it. After that glorious start to the day I stank of disinfectant as I settled down to watch them open their presents, but it was still very special. I had put hours of effort into wrapping everything up, but in a matter of minutes everything was unwrapped and the lounge was a covered in wrapping paper – more cleaning up! When sanity was restored to the lounge I plodded upstairs to see if 'the incredible sulk' had become human again, but he was still talking out of the only visible part of his anatomy so I left him to it and after a bath to get rid of the disinfectant smell, I got on with the cooking.

We had my brother and my parents with us for the day and we had a lovely time. It was tiring and by the end of the day I was so fed up with listening to Guitar Hero on the Wii, but it was a very special day and there is nothing nicer than being surrounded by your family. Thankfully Robbie got his act together by lunchtime, and he joined in with the day. He had to wait until everyone had gone home to get his presents, but I think they were worth waiting for. He gave me several nice things including a signed copy of Pete Waterman's book A Train is for Life. It is nice to have the adult Robbie back!

A Near Death Experience!

I have been suffering (not exactly in silence) with a chest infection that refuses to get better, it hurts to breathe and my cough is so bad that I end up choking. I have struggled to keep up with even the simple tasks like feeding Robbie, so I was annoyed on Tuesday evening when he arrived home late and then went to bed in a huff because he didn't want what I had cooked. I left him to it and got on with my evening, but when I went to bed he had managed to occupy the entire bed and my efforts to shift him proved futile. I gave up and took up residence on the sofa with a whole duvet to myself – luxury! My cough makes it hard to sleep, but I was warm and comfortable and I must have drifted off to sleep in the end. I woke again to the gradual realisation that I couldn't breathe and it felt as if there was a crushing weight on my chest. My thoughts seemed to be in slow motion, I wondered briefly if I was dead, or perhaps it was the start of a heart attack. Finally I was sufficiently awake to work out that the cat was asleep on my chest!!

You Know You Have Lost The Plot When .........

Robbie went off on another rail tour at the weekend while I stayed at home and rushed around like a headless chicken. My step father is still in hospital and as well as my normal routine I have been driving my mum to and from hospital, taking her shopping and helping her with all the jobs that she can't manage to do on her own. When I got in on Saturday evening after visiting David and then doing my food shopping I was trying to get on with the washing while preparing a meal. I must have had a senior moment because I suddenly realised that I had filled the washing machine soap dispenser with frozen peas! It is much harder to get them out than to put them in, but eventually I got the meal and the laundry back on track.

My step father is making good progress, mum said that you can tell he is getting better because he is moaning all the time. When I went to see him on Saturday treated us to a monologue about his waterworks, eventually mum got cross with him and insisted on a change of subject, he started to tell us about his bowels instead until mum gave him a murderous look and he decided to discuss his laundry instead. I am so glad he is getting better, but it is hard work at times!

Robbie arrived home on Sunday afternoon, and on the way home he popped into Morrisons to buy meat and rolls for his lunch at work. He made an unauthorised purchase, a frying pan. I was furious because it was expensive, he hadn't consulted me and it was so small that you could only fry one egg at a time. I told him he had to take it back because I didn't want a frying pan, but when he told me that the carpet hadn't been hoovered for days (I did it yesterday!)
I decided I may have a use for it after all – he can wear it!

Why Are Men Such Slow Learners?

Why are men such slow learners? You would think by now that Robbie would have learned that certain behaviour provokes a negative response, but when Robbie finds himself in a hole he just keeps on digging!
He rang me at about 4.30pm yesterday to say that there was a problem with his usual route home, and he would try to get back via Nuneaton instead. I know he can't help it but it drives me mad when I am left in limbo, either everyone has to eat late or I have to cook several different meals. We were having roast pork and it wasn't something I could cook in stages, so everyone had to wait.

After several more progress bulletins Robbie hoped that he would be home between 6.45pm and 6.55pm but they encountered further hold ups and the train didn't get in until 7.30pm. A journey that should have taken an hour took three hours and by the time we sat down to our meal it was well past 8pm. I was irritated about him being late, not so much cross with him as frustrated by the situation because it happens so often. I'd had my own frustrations in the afternoon so by the time Robbie got home we were both tired and frustrated. That really wasn't the best time for him to start getting critical about the cooking! He came into the kitchen and started to tell me that I had cooked the peas too soon, he even tried to tell me how to fill the kettle! These are all trivial things, but I have told him about it so many times and he just will not learn that it winds me up. A few words were exchanged, but instead of backing off he started to micro manage how the plates were set out when I dished up the meal, I told him to be quiet and leave me alone - something he seems physically incapable of doing!

After our meal I was trying to get some work finished on the computer and I just needed to be left alone to get on with it. The others were watching the Soap Awards but Robbie did his usual thing, he started flapping his arms and demanding to know what he had done wrong. I tried to focus on my work but with Robbie flapping around like a cross between a dodo and Why Bird! Do you remember Why Bird from Playdays? he had such an irritating voice. In the end I couldn't ignore Robbie any more and I told him to go fry his face, everyone has their limits - even me! The children thought it was hilarious, but I wished I hadn't reacted. It had the desired effect because Robbie took himself off to bed leaving me to tackle the washing up.

This morning he was sorry, but still annoying, I wasn't cross anymore, just exhausted. He sent me a text in an attempt to get back into my good books, a simple sorry would have been fine, but it was a typical Robbie approach. The text said Excellent and rather touching piece on Gwyneth Dunwoody in Rail by Nigel Harris. It is a good thing I can read between the lines! Gwyneth Dunwoody was a bit of a rarity in politics, she said what she meant and she meant what she said, and she would stand up for what she believed was right even if it didn't always suit her party. You have to admire a person with that sort of strength and independence even if you don't always agree with her politics. She will be missed especially by those involved in transport.

Being Prepared

I got at text from Robbie ridiculously early this morning. He was very excited about the rail tour from Crewe to Weymouth and didn't seem at all bothered by the early start. I was less enthusiastic about getting up, but I couldn't stay in bed for long because I had to take Sam to a paintball party. Sam was very enthusiastic about it but I was more apprehensive, I wasn't convinced that the world was ready for Sam to be armed with a paintball gun. I still have vivid memories of my multi coloured garage door after he got a paintball gun from the Gadget Shop a couple of years ago! Hostile Fire the venue for the paintball experience, is in a part of the county that I am not very familiar with, so we had to leave plenty of time in case I got lost. I found it fairly easily in the end and it was a lovely drive through the countryside. Sam had a brilliant time 'under fire' and I enjoyed a very peaceful morning getting my work done.

My mum invited us for a meal at her house this evening, because Emily is going back to university tomorrow. It was a lovely evening and we all came home so full that we will not need to eat for a week. Mum sent Emily home with one of her legendary chocolate cakes to take to university. She is a brilliant cook and her cakes are best of all. The only problem is that she always cooks enough for an army! I wonder if the tendency to prepare for siege conditions develops with age, when I look at her kitchen I am sure she wouldn't need to shop for at least a year. She has even taken 'being prepared' to new limits in the bathroom, there were 16 loo rolls, 4 bottles of thick bleach, 3 varieties of air freshener, 2 spare rim blocks and a choice of three varieties of moist toilet roll. At least they will never worry about running out of anything! My step father David was in mum's bad books for misbehaving at the supermarket, apparently he told mum that she was packing the trolley all wrong - that sounds very familiar! He was trying hard to get back in her good books but he could have saved himself a lot of grief by keeping his thoughts to himself in the first place!

Running Late

I nearly had to put Robbie's dinner in the dog yesterday evening, he got delayed at work - again! Just being an hour later throws our whole evening into confusion, it gets very complicated to try to provide the whole family with a meal at the same time, usually there is always someone who has to eat later, it drives me mad.

When he finally got home Robbie got a bit huffy because I had bought myself a book, it was about railway history in Northamptonshire, it's really interesting, but he seems to think that all train books in the house have to be chosen by him. He was bursting to read it, but he wouldn't because he kept stressing that it was my book - what nonsense!

We overslept this morning, I remember waking Robbie up, but he must have gone back to sleep because he was racing around on 'fast forward' trying to get out on time to get his next train. He rang me later to say that he got the train with 2 minutes to spare. I am used to him giving me a detailed account of all his journeys with accurate timing, but it wasn't until this morning that something triggered a distant memory in my mind. Reginald Perrin! He used to entertain the women in his life with mind blowingly boring detail about his daily journey's to and from work. At least Robbie is rather less predictable than Reginald Perrin, but he is irritating sometimes, I have to beg him to stop talking!

Living Dangerously

The fact that Robbie has survived unharmed for 36 years is one of life's enduring mysteries. Sometimes he infuriates me so much that the urge to harm him is almost irresistible. The trouble is that he has no sense of danger, Robbie will 'boldly go' where angels fear to tread. When he got home from work on Monday he wandered into the kitchen to find out what was for dinner, within seconds he was telling me that I was doing things wrong! My warning stare didn't work and when he attempted to tell me how to do something else I couldn't contain my frustration, I stormed out of the kitchen and told him that if he knew so much he could finish cooking the meal himself. I went back a few minutes later because he can't make the gravy, but he was still trying to tell me that his way was the best way. He was standing there in his PJ's and I was armed with a scalding hot jug of gravy, only an act of supreme self mastery on my part prevented me from tipping the gravy straight down the front of his trousers!

Yesterday I played safe and made a chicken casserole so that by the time Robbie arrived home there would be very to argue about. Emily needed a lift so I planned to drive her to the station and then take Robbie home. I made the dumplings before leaving the house, but thankfully I left them on a plate ready to put in when I arrived home and I turned the oven down slightly. When Robbie got into the car his first sentence was to request that I would take him to Staples. I asked if we could do it another day because our meal was almost ready, but apparently it was an emergency - he needed to buy a new pencil! I took him to Staples and I'm please to report that he now has a pencil with lead in it! Thankfully our meal survived the delay.

I went to bed fairly late, I was tired and it didn't take long for me to fall asleep. Sometime later 'Thunder Foot' came to bed. How hard can it be to slip into bed quietly without waking me up? In Robbie's case it appears to be impossible! He thumped and bumped around, talked to me, prodded me, flapped the covers about let the cold air in and worse of all he put the light on just to annoy me. You will not be surprised to hear that it worked! I was furious. Once again I was wide awake and it would take ages to get back to sleep, but within minutes 'Sleeping Beauty' was 'Z'ing away, oblivious of my simmering anger.

This morning I expected a 'sorry' and may be a bit of affection. Instead I was awoken by a searchlight and an inquisition, he was accusing me of stealing his knickers! I was quite insistent that I hadn't touched them but he wouldn't believe me. I was furious about not being believed, we are not exactly talking about the crown jewels here, I don't think there is a booming market in second hand drawers. To add insult to injury he then blamed Sam for stealing them - how ridiculous. If I find them before he does he'd better watch out because every pair will have a liberal sprinkling of itching powder inside!

Just in case anyone is wondering, Robbie went to work fully clothed, including underwear. He had been looking for a specific pair, for some reason or other he had decided that he had to wear that pair today. He told me last night that he had to go on a site visit today and he needed to have a high visibility jacket and safety boots. Perhaps he thought he needed his lucky pants as well!

The Way to a Man's Heart - Rice Pudding!

It will not surprise you that when not talking about trains one of Robbie's favourite topics if conversation is food. He often talks about his Grandma and the food she used to cook for him, and one day we got onto the subject of rice pudding and how much Robbie loved it. It wasn't one of my childhood favourites, I liked bread and butter pudding, but apple snow was my absolute favourite. They say that the way to a man's heart is through his stomach, so I decided to make him a rice pudding. I was really surprised that my children had never come across rice pudding and they had no idea what it was. Laura was unimpressed by the sight of it and decided not to try it, but Sam (who is very picky about his food) absolutely loved it. As expected Robbie enjoyed it too and asked me to make it more often. Emily was out, so she missed the 'experience' and she and Sam have been pestering me to make it again. I still find it hard to believe that the world has changed so much since my childhood that today's young people have never encountered something as ordinary as rice pudding!

Like a Bear with a Sore Head 05.02.08

Robbie was like a bear with a sore head yesterday. His laptop died on Saturday evening and he is so upset about it. There was no warning, nothing to suggest anything was wrong, it just turned up it's toes and died mid email. Robbie thinks it could be the mother board, but if you ask me there are two possibilities, boredom or exhaustion. His misery was compounded when he found that the only people who support Philips laptops in UK are PC World. I really mustn't share my opinion of PC World because it isn't printable, let's just say that I am deeply unimpressed. Robbie spent ages ringing round to various branches to find out which store had custody of the single brain cell this week, amazingly it was Coventry (I guess Coventry has to have something going for it). So Robbie will be delivering his laptop for a diagnosis (or possibly a post mortem) this morning. I have been very generous in sharing my computer, but he is absolutely lost without his laptop.

He had his first rant before 6am yesterday morning, and his first 'I'm sorry' text arrived before 7am! When he got home he managed to provoke a furious row by asking me not to cremate the peas! When I met him he hated peas, now suddenly he's an expert. Believe it or not we disagree about 30 seconds cooking time. He says that my extra 30 seconds makes the colour fade. I am adamant that I am not a rabbit and I like my vegetables cooked, I gave up playing marbles when I was about 9 and I don't intend to start now! He kept on about the peas until I got cross and decided that if he wanted to be the next Jamie Oliver he could do it by himself, and I left him to serve the meal alone.

I forgave him later, but I don't suppose it will be long before he is in trouble again. I suppose I had provoked him a bit this evening because I had mentioned a name that always brings the worst out of Robbie - Barry Doe. I love reading the Barry Doe page in Rail magazine, but I should know better than to mention it to Robbie because it always makes him swear. I am not sure if his page is meant to be humorous, but it always makes me smile.