creating Christmas * enjoying the festive days

Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and the Christmas walk

We finally all arrived at my younger daughter’s new house for our Christmas Eve celebrations. It is her first Christmas in this brand new house and she had decorated it beautifully. Elder daughter with partner, Master Freddie and Baby Chocolate had been delayed by over an hour so we ate in two sittings. It was a simple meal of baked potatoes, beans and cheese – which suited everyone’s pickiness, followed by a homemade (by Little L) chocolate log. I had my slice with icecream.

When tea was over we cleared the table, assembled the children and brought out the iced Christmas cake ready for decorating.

The characters had been patiently waiting in the wings.

Baby Chocolate was eager to join in this year and soon got the hang of coating the bottom of the characters with icing and once a gap was located on the cake, splodge it on, no accuracy required!

Once all the characters were in place, the Christmas sprinkles are added and even more eaten.

The remains in the bowl all tipped on for good measure at the end!

And the cake frill put around the sides – then stand back and admire.

Master Freddie’s homemade snowman took centre stage this year.

Once tea was cleared away we went into the living room to open the Christmas Eve boxes, with Master Freddie’s surprise crackers inside.

They were rather tough to pull open!

As the children were engrossed in the contents, DH crept out of the back door with the Elve’s present to leave on the front doorstep, then rang the bell and crept back in. As soon as the children heard the doorbell there was a rush to open the front door with anticipation and excitement as they saw the present with a big tag saying ‘a gift from Santa’s Elves’.

This year I had chosen a 50 piece jigsaw with a Christmas Scene that they would all be able to do, as our age range is from 2 to 11 now.

The pyjamas were on straight away and all fit well.

With the children suitably occupied and ready for bed we went off to our hotel for the night at Preston Park to relax for an hour and watched the end of Love Actually – it was to be the only TV we would get to see over Christmas.

The next morning we had breakfast and then prepared for get-together no 2 at my sister’s new bungalow and we would meet up with both our daughters, their partners and grandchildren, plus my mother and brother would be joining us…14 of us in all.

The Christmas Day walk

We had an hour to kill before we drove down to my sister’s house near Northallerton, so we decided to stop in Yarm on the way through and have a walk by the river. It was absolutely freezing and we had to wrap up well, but the cold air was very welcome after being in the airless hotel room.

The river Tees dominates and loops around the market town of Yarm. We parked in the empty Sainsbury’s carpark and headed out on the path going towards the old road bridge, known locally as True Lover’s Walk (though at this point we didn’t know that).

We came across many unusual features starting with this 19th Century Mill Wheel.

Decorated Christmas trees lined the route for part of the way.

And just before the railway arches we came across this tiny King Charles Coronation Garden full of woodland creatures.

We couldn’t make out if this was a quirky house or a cafe maybe?

A few steps later and we saw this sculpture and began to realise this was True Lover’s Walk.

There are many houses that line the route, their back gardens face the river and can be accessed from the pathway. Strong black metal gates are placed at the end of every garden to prevent flooding. We noticed quite a few decorative touches by the owners, creating a path of interest for passersby.

This one is obviously a Disney fan….

…and some time has been spent to decorate the rather ugly block concrete steps with heavy metal handrails that prevent the banking slipping into the river when it rises above the banking.

Other people have chosen to protect the wildlife along the route with bug hotels…..

and yet others have made a feature of their gateways.

We followed the path for a while longer as it runs behind the old church. It suddenly comes to an abrupt end with a notice that prevents you using the next part and you are oblidged to turn up this alley that will lead you, eventually, back into town.

A little way along the alley we came across this door in the wall which had a notice above saying ‘True Lover’s Library’. How I would have loved to have seen inside but we dare not try the handle – I suspect maybe it is like the mini libraries you find at the end of people’s drives sometimes.

I just love the bold colour of the door, the wreath looks quite stunning against it.

Emerging from the alleyway we were back beside the railway arches again and these houses are built, not quite underneath, but close enough.

Turning to our left we walked up through the old churchyard of St Mary Magdalene. It is said that the graves of the True Lovers, to which the story originates, are laid in a medieval table tomb inside the church against the west wall. It was only through good old Google later that we discovered more of what we had missed.

We crossed over the road and turned to the right, admiring some of the unusual houses and features along here.

This is one of them below with a stone model of the Town Hall (to the left) and Yarm Castle on top of someone’s gatepost. This castle, or fortress, no longer exists and refers to a site where a castle once stood, now occupied by St. Mary Magdalene’s Church. The current building incorporates parts of earlier structures, including a 12th-century Norman church on the same spot.

Many of the houses have only a tiny outside space between pavement and front door, but I rather liked the simplicity of this one.

As we came upon the end of the row, the house on the very corner displayed this plaque – ‘Hope House is Elizabethan. Probably the oldest dwelling house in Yarm’

I was curious to know if it had always been a 3 storey house and once again Google tells me that Hope House, wasn’t always just three storeys (two floors plus attic); it was originally much larger, but the section containing its western part was demolished in the mid-19th century to make way for the railway viaduct, reducing it to its current two-storey (plus attic) size. 

As we were lingering at the top of this narrow street called High Church Wynd (I was actually waiting to take a photo without the pedestrians coming in view), a lady appeared with a cake tin and asked if we were looking for the Wellness Centre. She said it was only a few yards away on the right and we would be welcome to go inside and sample the free buffet that was laid on there. How lovely!

Apparently, it is a charity who run mind and body wellness courses, with a drop in cafe, for the local town.

Unfortunately, we were at the end of our hour and, after thanking her very much for the kind offer, explained we would be having our Christmas dinner shortly at my sister’s house once we left Yarm.

And this is the Wellness Centre looking very welcome.

I have been down this wynd before and have been enraptured by the beautiful cottages that line either side of the street. All the traditonal cottage names like Lavender and Hazel displayed on decorative plaques.

And even more delightful, the little window displays in each one. Should one stare into the windows? – I wouldn’t want to appear too nosey, but there was no doubt these are done for the pleasure of the passerby as blinds and nets prevent any further intrusion.

This tiny cottage in candy pink is by far my favourite and their simple, but cute, window display of tiny hanging characters did not disappoint.

Across the way we noticed Flood Cottage which is a constant reminder of the great height the flood waters reached in 1881.

This was the tallest house – was it built like this or a storey added at some time in the past? I always have so many questions – that even Google cannot satisfy.

The stonework by the steps caught my eye here at Ruby Cottage….

….and the wooden star filled with pinecones in lieu of a wreath.

At the end of the wynd you have a good view of the Town Hall which has recently been renovated.

Going back along the town’s main street I just had to have one last photo of the window display with moving parts. It was like being a child again being taken to see the department store windows in Sheffield at Christmas (only on a much smaller scale of course).

The Christmas Day dinner

Back at the car with frozen fingers we headed off down the road to my sister’s house and arrived just as they were wheeling mum back from the local pub, where she would have indulged in a large gin and tonic. The idea being to get her relaxed enough to enjoy the day and see if we can get her through it without any complaints.

We knew it was going to be tricky as my sister’s new bungalow, which she only moved into 2 weeks ago, is like a 1960/70’s museum and half the wallpaper is missing as you can see from the bare plaster, and what decoration remains is a strange combination of print and pattern and clashing colours throughout.

And who knew you could have plain painted gloss walls teamed with woodchip covered coving around the ceilings (and then, as an added touch, painted mustard).

Mum must have felt at home because she never uttered a word about her surroundings. We reckoned that the huge stone fireplace and plastic wood panelling in the living room reminded her of the 1960/70’s bungalow that my dad built as the family home. That too had a similar feature fireplace wall, very fashionable back then, and very handy little shelves for accomodating the Christmas knick knacks.

It was a squeeze getting all 14 of us seated for dinner, we always have to have a long run of tressle tables to accomodate everyone and extra chairs are brought in from the local village hall. The tables had to run through the dining room and into a wooden (actually melamime) panelled vestibule type room that sits beside the two kitchens.

Yes, you did read that correctly, the bungalow has two kitchens – the old original one, completely covered in pine boarding, still equiped and in use by the previous owner, and the one added on the back, (the purple one – with purple perspex ceiling…I kid you not) also fully equiped with central style island and also in use, as a bonus!

Once seated there was no room for anyone to pass at the narrowest point so we rigged up a self-service servery using 3 hostess buffet servers spread throughout the two kitchens and devised a one way system, going into one kitchen and coming back out through the other into the dining area, selecting your choice of veg from the heated dishes on the way. So an orderly queue was formed starting with the people sitting furthest away and once you had your plate full you sat down and eventually the rows were filled. It was like a military operation on a roundabout, with a lot of commotion and laughter trying to sort 10 adults and 4 children into place with their meal.

Mum has to sit on the end so we can manouvre her walker and she was joined by myself and my brother so we had to plate our dinners up last. Once we were seated no one could get through the kitchen door behind me. Eventually, we were all settled and eating and a hush fell.

So, well done to my sister for cooking an amazing meal in two strange kitchens with strange appliances and having to try and locate her dishes and utensils in a new layout.

Of course, after the large dinner, the whimps amongst us had to have a snooze. (They will kill me for showing this!)

And the rest of us helped with the washing up. That is a story in itself as the old kitchen has a dodgy strip light, to go with the dodgy boiler and plumbing. Halfway through the light decided to give up and plunged us into darkness. The starter motor at the end of the tube needed taking out and putting back in (this according to my sister would bring it back to life). For this she needed the steps…the steps were in the garage outside, but to open the garage door she needed the scissors to prise it open….well of course she did!

Eventually, she found the scissors to retrieve the steps and the starter was taken out and put back and lo and behold….we had light and we all cheered just like the moment on the National Lampoon film when the lights come on at last. The steps and scissors were returned and all was well.

But only for 5 minutes until it decided to strobe frantically and then cut out altogether again. So the scissors and steps were called for once again, by which time we could not do anything for laughing with tears rolling down our faces. It felt like some kind of two Ronnie’s sketch. All the men had a go at fixing the light and then the electrician (snoozing on the sofa) was woken and brought in.

Did he fix it? Well no!

So that was our eventful Christmas – I hope you made it to the end of this post. We went to mum’s apartment on Boxing Day, cooked a meal, and as it was a lovely sunny day, wheeled her to the park. The cafe was closed, but we managed to get a Costa coffee and hot chocolate from the machine in the garage opposite. She had a good Christmas and a smile on her face most of the time.

We are safely back home now and making plans for the coming year.

I know a lot of bloggers have also had a lovely time, I have been reading along on my phone when time allows.

No doubt I will be back very soon to share the new year plans. x