On the Feast of Stephen
Dec. 26th, 2014 10:49 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shewhomustI have celebrated Christmas by catching a cold. I resent this all the more because I did the same thing last time we were away from home, in New England. It isn't a fun thing to have yourself, and it can't be a fun thing to have in a guest, and I wish it would go away. I had an early night last night and a long hot shower this morning, and feel better, but still snivelling.
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valydiarosada cooked a turkey, and while it was in the oven we drank champagne and opened our presents, which were many and very acceptable. Then valydiarosada grappled the roast potatoes while I dealt with the sprouts and the parsnips. Neither D. nor valydiarosada likes parsnips, but there were two in the vegetable box, and durham_rambler regards them as God's own vegetable, and I like them fine from time to time, and these were particularly good parsnips.
All of which adds up to a very traditional Christmas dinner. We accompanied it with two bottles of Château Musar, one 2007, the other 2005. (Since I didn't diary last year's two bottles of Château Musar, we have been unable to recall their dates, but I won't repeat that mistake.) Neither of them had that overcooked fruit flavour which I had started to find, and not like, in Château Musar: the 2007 was full, fruity and spicy, the 2005 almost unctuous in its richness, with just enough spice at the finished to stop it being over-rich. We had enough of it left after the main course to feel that a little cheese was in order (especially as some cheese and crackers had been discovered under the tree), and when the decanter was empty we moved on the the Mission port whichdurham_rambler and I had bought at the vineyard in Amador County: not port, without the complexity of port, but sweet and smooth and almost creamy. All these rich fruit flavours had satisfied any craving anyone might have had for Christmas pudding, so we agreed to save that for another day, and retired to the sofa with coffee and chocolate and television.
Doctor Who was actually better than I expected: my heart sank when I heard that it would have Father Christmas, but he wasn't too painful, and I enjoyed his elves. There was a twist towards the end which I thought was emotionally exploitative, ran counter to the logic of the episode and spotlighted an aspect of the Doctor / companion set-up which it might be better not to look at to closely, but I won't spoiler the story by saying more.
The only other news is that in the few days we have been here in Ely I appear to have become more frightning to the cats. On our first evening, Amber actually deigned to walk across my lap on her way somewhere. Now they both scatter at the sight of me. Since one of their preferred nesting places is the rug outside the bathroom, they do quite a lot of scattering.
valydiarosada cooked a turkey, and while it was in the oven we drank champagne and opened our presents, which were many and very acceptable. Then valydiarosada grappled the roast potatoes while I dealt with the sprouts and the parsnips. Neither D. nor valydiarosada likes parsnips, but there were two in the vegetable box, and durham_rambler regards them as God's own vegetable, and I like them fine from time to time, and these were particularly good parsnips.All of which adds up to a very traditional Christmas dinner. We accompanied it with two bottles of Château Musar, one 2007, the other 2005. (Since I didn't diary last year's two bottles of Château Musar, we have been unable to recall their dates, but I won't repeat that mistake.) Neither of them had that overcooked fruit flavour which I had started to find, and not like, in Château Musar: the 2007 was full, fruity and spicy, the 2005 almost unctuous in its richness, with just enough spice at the finished to stop it being over-rich. We had enough of it left after the main course to feel that a little cheese was in order (especially as some cheese and crackers had been discovered under the tree), and when the decanter was empty we moved on the the Mission port which
durham_rambler and I had bought at the vineyard in Amador County: not port, without the complexity of port, but sweet and smooth and almost creamy. All these rich fruit flavours had satisfied any craving anyone might have had for Christmas pudding, so we agreed to save that for another day, and retired to the sofa with coffee and chocolate and television.Doctor Who was actually better than I expected: my heart sank when I heard that it would have Father Christmas, but he wasn't too painful, and I enjoyed his elves. There was a twist towards the end which I thought was emotionally exploitative, ran counter to the logic of the episode and spotlighted an aspect of the Doctor / companion set-up which it might be better not to look at to closely, but I won't spoiler the story by saying more.
The only other news is that in the few days we have been here in Ely I appear to have become more frightning to the cats. On our first evening, Amber actually deigned to walk across my lap on her way somewhere. Now they both scatter at the sight of me. Since one of their preferred nesting places is the rug outside the bathroom, they do quite a lot of scattering.
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no subject
Date: 2014-12-26 12:37 pm (UTC)Oh dear. Feel better soon!
(and I am reminded that I, too, caught a cold whilst abroad. Apparently it's a thing.)
(and I really appreciated the tissues that you insisted I take with me)
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Date: 2014-12-27 09:04 am (UTC)no subject
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Date: 2014-12-28 09:46 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-12-28 05:52 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-12-29 11:30 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-12-29 12:54 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-12-26 09:50 pm (UTC)so typical
; ))))
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Date: 2014-12-27 09:04 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-12-27 09:23 am (UTC); P