In that uncanny way they seem to have, Anna and Matt once again picked a perfect day weather-wise, though it was very cold. We arrived in very good time, as the last of the morning service people were leaving, and sat in our cars until the principals arrived. The church itself (St John, Pentrobin) is quite delightful and we were warmly welcomed in every sense. Service was exactly right for the company assembled; similar to the C of E liturgy that we are used to (this being of course, the Church in Wales), but the vicar(ess) extended it a bit with material she had obviously just used in the morning service (Feast of Epiphany). Afterwards, repaired to the Golden Lion in Rosset for a splendid buffet lunch. Lesley and I stayed overnight with A&M, to be on-hand for baby sitting duties the next day.
Working back from Sunday, we have had a very nice New Year and Xmas …
Saturday 2nd January, Rosemary and Mervyn came to stay in preparation for the christening. We had a nice family meal with (as expected) a couple of excellent wines from Mervyn’s well-stocked cellar to accompany our Rib Roast, raspberry meringues and cheese board.
New Year’s Eve we fetched Mother-in-Law from Garstang in the morning – very easy travelling both going and coming (door-to-door in and hour-and-a-quarter each way). In the evening we cooked the Lidl goose, served with trimmings and followed by creme caramel and cheese.
Christmas Eve, we were bidden to Anna and Matt’s for lunch with Peter and Valerie. A nice sociable time was had by all. Returned home in the evening for our customary mulled wine and a supper of chicken drumsticks and fried rice.
Christmas Day it was just the two of us, which was really rather nice. Began with 9.00am service at St Luke’s (sadly no very well attended) followed by coffee and mince pies, to make up for a light breakfast. About 2.00pm we fed upon a good-sized duckling (also a Lidl bargain!) which I cooked in a kind of Asian style using a recipe of Alex Mackay’s, with coriander seeds, honey, lime and port; accompanied by roasted roots and M&S potato gratin; Xmas pud to follow of course, with rum sauce and clotted cream.
Boxing Day we had Anna and Matt and The Boys to stay overnight. Cooked a gammon roast with a coating of honey, cloves etc that we got from Waitrose, in response to heavy pre-Xmas advertising; quite nice, but not as good as I’d hoped.
All-in-all, an excellent ten days or so, with many good things enjoyed, but not too much of anything.
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