Thursday, 24 December 2020

Christmas Eve

 Good morning.  It's wet.  It's cold.  And it's Christmas Eve.  Yay!!!

Yesterday was one of those days where everything worked out really well

I have 'me new front teef' for Christmas and very nice they are too.  They feel a bit odd but not a bad odd, just because it's a new thing.    Also, my old teeth were very crooked while these are nice and straight so it is an entirely new feel.
As soon as I got in, I had an apple, not cut up first.  I've been looking forward to that for simply ages!

Bang on eleven the turkey arrived and, much to my relief, it isn't huge.  It looks pretty big for two, but it isn't as ginormous as I feared.  I couldn't remember what size I had ordered but, obviously, common sense had prevailed!
It's now all ready, in the roasting tray and sitting peacefully in the fridge.

Personal training with Lindsey was as much fun as ever.  We chatter such a lot as we work and it's always nice to catch up on what's been going on through the week.

And, finally, the cleaner (just one this time) came, did the necessary and departed, card and gift in hand.  Lovely.

Today, I don't really have an awful lot to do really.  I have some left over ironing to get out of the way, I will prep as many veg as possible this morning and this evening I have a fair number of things to get out of the freezer.

Apart from that I have a couple of Santa trips to make this morning and some recordings to catch up on.  The highlights are the Slimming World Zoom Christmas party, Carols from Kings and Jolobokaflod.  I know some of you have heard of this which is Icelandic and translates as 'Christmas book flood'.  The link below explains it simply.

https://www.countryliving.com/life/a46204/jolabokaflod-iceland-christmas-reading-tradition/

I only decided to do it on Tuesday and was lucky enough to be able to order a book I have wanted on Prime one day delivery.  It arrived yesterday morning so that's me set.  Doing Jolobokaflod was impulse; the book was not!

So the party starts at five, Carols from Kings is at five thirty so I am going to have to record it.  I will celebrate Jolobokaflod in the afternoon as I'm having a day by myself.  I think it will all be lovely.


Today's Advent Calendar music is two of my favourite carols - In the Bleak Midwinter and O Little Town of Bethlehem.

The former is an arrangement of the Holst music by two of the Kanneh-Mason family, Sheku and Isata.  It's a theme and variations structure and is rather lovely, I think.  This wonderfully musical family is one of the best things to come out of this year - they are amazing.


The latter is a traditional performance of the Vaughan-Williams arrangement from - Kings, of course!


Both carols have two, equally popular melodies and in each case, I've chosen my favourite.

Have a lovely Christmas Eve.


28 comments:

  1. Have a lovely Christmas eve with your new book and cocoa.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It will probably be chocolate, not cocoa, but it'll be lovely, all the same. Thank you - I hope today is lovely for you too.
      xx

      Delete
  2. Have a wonderful Christmas Eve doing whatever takes your fancy. Or even nothing at all. These are two of my favourite carols and have set the mood nicely for Christmas. Have a great one Joy. x

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's very cold but it's a lovely bright morning and that is so cheering after all the rain. A good start to the day. Thanks; you too - have a lovely day.
      xx

      Delete
  3. Snap! I'm having my own version of Jolobokaflod today. Which book have you chosen for the occasion?

    I hope you have a fantastic Christmas, Joy xx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I've got the Nigel Slater Christmas Chronicles. Really looking forward to it.
      Have a lovely day and a good relax.
      xx

      Delete
  4. Have a great day and may it all go well tomorrow. Today I am going to play Thermomix

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I bet you're having great fun with it. I wonder what you will make first!
      xx

      Delete
  5. Merry Christmas
    Your blog is the first read daily
    Thank you

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you too, Brenda, for reading. Merry Christmas; have a lovely day.
      xx

      Delete
  6. Merry Christmas!

    On this Christmas eve, I will savor my coffee. I will go out to buy that one last present. (Which will probably wind up being three) I will come home and bake a half batch of sugar cookies (we don't need a lot of cookies around, but it is nice to have decorated cookies for Christmas). We will skype with my youngest and her husband for a while as they open their gifts from us. It will be a quiet day. It will be enough. Tomorrow will be quiet as well, but I am greatly looking forward to it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh, that all sounds really lovely. I know what you mean about it being 'enough'. Appreciating what we have rather than bemoaning what we can't have at the moment makes such a difference.
      Bless you.
      J xx

      Delete
  7. Merry Christmas from Kansas USA. We will enjoy a quiet one and look forward to Christmas in July with our family.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. A July Christmas sounds good to me! Enjoy tomorrow and enjoy Jly as well.
      xx

      Delete
  8. Happy and Blessed Christmas Joy and the very best for the new year. If I'm still in Suffolk in May and you get to Suffolk we even meet!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. WHo know how things will be come May but it would be really nice, wouldn't it? If we can . . we will.
      xx

      Delete
  9. PS. I love the finished owls.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks. I need to get them mounted now. :-)
      xx

      Delete
  10. Have a lovely Christmas.You sound very content.Love the owls.Love anything owlish.Have dozens of them,collected over 50 years!!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Despite all the restrictions, it has felt content this year, not something I expected really. I hope you've had as lovely a time as I.
      Owls are gorgeous, aren't they. I know very little about them but I love their shape and the way they move.
      xx

      Delete
  11. Replies
    1. And a merry Christmas to you too, thank you.
      xx

      Delete
  12. Wishing you a very Merry Christmas Joy....enjoy! :-) Amanda x

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I did, thank you very much. I hope you did too.
      xx

      Delete
  13. Joy, I hope you enjoyed your Christmas Eve and have a happy Christmas Day! Our day has been wonderfully quiet. It has poured rain all day and is expected to turn to snow overnight so we are anticipating a truly "White Christmas!"

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. How lovely is that. I do hope it was white enough for beauty but not too deep, crisp or even!
      We had, officially, a white Christmas in the UK but nothing here.
      xx

      Delete
  14. The carols are beautiful, especially O Little Town. It reminds me of my childhood Christmasses. X

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I love that one too, especially that tune. As you say, it reminds one of childhood.
      xx

      Delete