Thank you, Vee. Merry Christmas to you and Annpan and our entire RP circle of friends. I celebrated with my family last night on Christmas Eve, as is our tradition. Today will be a quiet day of eating, lounging, jigsaw puzzling, and due to unusually mild weather, perhaps a nice afternoon walk.

Merry Christmas to everyone on RP! I've had a lovely Christmas morning with everyone home and lots of books beneath the tree. Wishing everyone a lovely day!

Merry Christmas! I haven't been here a great deal but I do value my RP friends.

Christmas Day here in Adelaide was apparently the hottest in the world at 41.3°C (106°F) but we stayed inside and ate cold meat and salad for lunch.

No lolling by the pool in damp but mild England (temps in the low 50's F) but a few book-shaped packages under the tree.

DD gave me Colson Whitehead's The Underground Railroad which some of you may have read, The Far Cry by Emma Smith who has written some most interesting autobiographies 'though this one is a novel set partly in India. Finally one of those penny books, a new hardback via Amazon, a cheap present to myself Imperial Vanities by Brian Thompson which looks at those Victorian explorers/soldiers/madmen who's often foolhardy exploits expanded the Empire.

Vee, I'll be interested in what you think of Whitehead's book. I've read 2 by him, one of which i really liked. I stuck with the other all the way through the end, put it down and finally admitted to myself that I had no idea what it was about, despite all the rave reviews.

Too late to wish you a Merry Christmas, Vee, but many of us were never P.C. enough to drop that in favor of happy holidays. And let me wish you and your family a very Happy New Year, as well as all RPers.

We had two family Christmases this year since the Day fell on Sunday. My nephew, who has a new-to-him house on Lake Cumberland in the southern part of the state, invited us to our customary big breakfast and gift opening on Saturday morning since he is too far from the rest of us to give us time to reach him and then go to church. You can see the lake from their sunroom when the leaves have fallen and from their upstairs bedroom all year round, really a charming house with no close neighbors. All the men had their heads together planning fishing trips.

Then yesterday we went to my brother's house for 4:00 pm dinner. I took my now famous Sticky Toffee Pudding, which was well received. My sister-in-law's 18-month-old grandson was caught ladling the sauce over the pudding plate as he had seen grown ups do onto their dessert plates. Fortunately, no one got upset with him. He's a cutie, talking all the time but not in words anyone can understand, but he can say Ho Ho Ho quite clearly.

Among my gifts, I got chocolates, a couple of bookmarks, and $80 (!) of Barnes & Noble Bookstore gift cards. I feel absolutely rich.

Sticky Toffee Pudding? Please tell us more about that, Carolyn. I've never had any. (And congrats on those gift cards!)

Kathy, you have missed a treat! I like mine with dates included as well and a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Yum!!

I love anything with dates in it, Annpan!

Although I have mentioned that I didn't decorate my home this year I couldn't resist a lovely big bouquet of Christmas themed flowers which filled two vases. As the original price was $A25 and they were being cleared at $A2.50 it wasn't an extravagance to grab them!

Starry and golden lilies, white Mums, green pop-pom somethings, red berries on twigs, dark green leaves and babies breath filling in the gaps. Gorgeous!

Been ridiculously busy - and my wife even more so! - but just a quick pop-in here to say Merry Christmas (belatedly!) and Happy New Year to all. We actually had all our daughters and partners here for Christmas and both grand-children too. The one-year-old was well behaved, and the four-week-old slept through Christmas Dinner! What more could you ask for?

As the grandchildren get older, and more start arriving, our kids will want to stay in their own homes for Christmas - so it's very likely that this year was the last time all of us get together on the actual day. So it was nice that it happened.

Martin I am afraid that is what happens. My mother-in-law used to host a big party at Christmas for her three sons and all their families. It was so good for the cousins to catch up. When she moved into a retirement village that was the end of the family get togethers.

Now the same thing is happening as my son's children are mostly married with their families wanting to go away for the holiday. He used to host the big family parties which included my daughter and her children and grandchildren but he now just has an open house on special occasions so that anyone can drop in for a swim in the pool and a snack.

Next Christmas I plan to buy gift vouchers as it has been quite an operation to get gifts to the separate families. We had to drive around a wide area on Christmas Day and left one gift bag to be taken down to a country town which is about eight hours away!

Ann and Martin, certainly as children leave the nest/spread their wings family events need to be cherished and made much of. The last time we were all together was in the Summer when our US 'cousins' visited and we had a long-lunch in the local pub!

Our DD is working over the holiday having left PR for hospitality and our older son was persuaded by his Japanese wife to take the family there for a non-Xmas experience (it is not celebrated there except for decorations etc). Our youngest son who has Down's Syndrome, still live with us and does miss his siblings but they have their own lives to live.

Ann, I don't know how far eight hours driving is in miles, but as you know we would have driven over the edge if we had tried that in England . . . unless we were stuck in a hold-up/traffic jam on one of the motor ways, when it would have been quicker to leave the car and walk. ;-(

Vee, we had a discussion before about how Aussies reckon distances in time!

It would depend on where one was going in the UK on whether one would drive over the edge though. We often did long drives up North from High Wycombe, where we lived, when we were doing courier runs. As my husband was accustomed to them, we used to go to Scotland and back which was around an 18 hour run.

We took food and a thermos each as the dog couldn't be left in the car so we could stop for a meal. She suffered from separation anxiety and would scream loudly which caused the dog-adoring British public to come over to see what we were doing to the poor animal! One of us had to stop with her on breaks!

She enjoyed the trips but we had to leave her at a friend's place when we went on the drives over the Channel, of course.

I don't know if you have much wildlife where you are but this hot weather has brought out some bobtail goannas who like to sun themselves on the paved area under my clothes-line. I have to make sure I don't tread on them. They are about a foot long and can get bad-tempered if you do! I also got a very dirty look from one who was eating a snail and thought I was competition.

"No, it is all yours." I said as I backed off quickly.

A belated Merry Christmas from central Florida! It was in the 80s here, too. We've been unseasonably warm most of the fall and winter so far.

We had a nice day with my in-laws (none of my remaining family live close by). We are going on a family trip to Alaska in August so we had fun planning and looking at travel books.

Happy New Year to you all, too! 2016 has been a tough year for many; here's hoping 2017 will bring peace and happiness.

Donna

Glad you dropped in, Martin. I miss your posts.

My family went to a nephew's for brunch on Christmas Eve. He bought and remodeled a house on Lake Cumberland in southern Kentucky, and some of us had not seen it. The men all had their heads together planning a summer fishing trip.

On Christmas Day, we went to one of my brother's for a 4:00 pm dinner. Then on the 26th, my youngest brother (who will be 73 in January) had an unexpected and no-symptons serious heart attack. He was alone but called 911 and was taken to the local small hospital who promptly called the Louisville hospital that they are affiliated with, gave him what they called a "clot-buster" and sent him here to the hospital by ambulance. The surgery people we standing by, and I'm happy to report that with three stents implanted, he went home yesterday afternoon and is doing well. He, who took no medicines at all except an eye vitamin, now has a bag full of meds and a lot of instructions to follow; but he will do as instructed. It was a big scare but a happy outcome.

Carolyn, I hope 2017 brings better things for your family and your brother takes all those meds. It is really wonderful how medicine/ops have 'come on' in the last few years.

On a lighter note, as today is a holiday and the weather is cold and wet I indulged myself with a surfeit of Pride and Prejudice . . . the one with Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle . . . which was showing on an obscure TV channel. Do you realise it was made over twenty years ago?

Annpan, I had to look up bobtail goannas and I can't say I liked what I read; I'm just not 'into' reptiles. ;-(

Thanks, Vee. At the moment, all is well.

Ann, my daughter and grandson leave for Australia for a two-week holiday next Tuesday, the 10th. They are flying by way of Tokyo--cheaper fares, evidently, and stopping in Fiji on the way home. It is his college graduation gift; father declined to go because he can't stand the long flights.

I finished The Trespasser by Tana French yesterday. It was good but not as tense as her others. This one features a different female Murder Squad detective who loves her job but is getting a lot of hassle from the fellows.

Happy New Year, everyone.

Carolyn, I hope your family have a wonderful time on their trip.

Vee, they might be unlovely to look at but the goannas are so useful and have cleaned up the ants that were coming into my roof and dropping through into the oyster light fittings. The maintenance man had to come every couple of weeks to climb up and empty them out! My cleaning lady isn't allowed to climb and I shouldn't in case I get a dizzy spell!

It has been too hot for me to fancy Xmas treats like pudding and mince pies but my thoughtful eldest GD made me up a hamper with all my favourite brands of chocolates, biscuits and a banana loaf so I am enjoying myself.

Would you believe that Woolworths supermarket put out Hot Cross Buns on Boxing Day? In response to the horrified emails, they explained that some people like them and not just at Easter.

Why not leave off the cross and call them Spicy Buns like the artisan bakers do?

Sadly I have been told by my optician that as my eyesight is getting worse (as I knew) I will have to see a specialist about having cataract removal. Not a nice thought!

I promptly went out to buy myself a gold bangle as a consolation, as you do!

I have enough chocolates from Xmas gifts, my other comfort buy!

Ann, cataract surgery is not bad. Here, the docs only do one eye at a time in case of a problem, but I've only known one person who had to wait a day or so for a new lens implant because her eyes are so large that there was no lens to fit. Wouldn't you think they would have measured beforehand? My own surgery and that of my husband's went perfectly.

Carolyn, thanks. It will be the same for me, I was told, the second operation is a couple of weeks later. I shall be seeing the surgeon after he returns from holiday and I get an appointment before we can discuss the actual operation.

Ann, as Carolyn says I'm sure your eye op will go fine and afterwards you will really benefit from improved sight.

I too have noticed Hot Cross buns for sale in the supermarkets! No doubt Easter Eggs will be hard on their heels. And then we need only wait 'til August for Xmas cards . . . and things are only just getting back to normal after the almost total shut-down over the Christmas/New Year holidays, 'though decorations wont come down until the Epiphany (Jan 6th).

Annpan - I will join others in saying the cataract operation (which is actually a lens replacement) is quick, easy, and a true miracle. No more contacts! Now I can see the alarm clock when I wake up, and I can see a bar of soap dropped in the shower. (I had pretty severe nearsightedness.) I had it done rather early (age 60 I think) because of some sort of problem developed with a cataract. Following the surgery, I asked for an explanation of the problem and the surgeon said, "You just had very bad luck." I told him "Au contraire! It was the luckiest thing that ever happened to me."

Kathy, my sister-in-law said she could see better after her cataract surgery than she had since she was 16.

You all are ahead of us with Hot Cross Buns. So far, I am just seeing Valentine candy for sale. I stashed the leftover Christmas candy in a bottom drawer that is not handy to get into. I usually get one HCB a year on Good Friday at my favorite bakery, along with a cup of cappuccino . Now I want one.

About Christmas, my youngest daughter, husband and toddler son were here for a few days over the holiday. As is the case with Martin and his family, it is very likely that will not happen again for a very long time. Before she started having children, she was content to come here or to her MIL's house for the holidays, but now she wants to start her own traditions. This is completely natural. I suspect she'll alternate between her own house and her MIL's house, given that our house is seven hours from hers and her MIL's house is just over two hours away. We have an open invitation to join them at either house. No doubt we will do it now and then, but the holidays are a huge festive party at either place. Tom and I prefer a quieter celebration, books by the fire, good music, a small gathering with friends a few days before the holiday, maybe a walk in the neighborhood to enjoy the view. How dull this makes us sound! But large crowds and lots of noise, even very happy noise, make us tired after a few hours. When we do go, I think we'll stay in a nearby hotel so we can retreat when it gets to be too much for us.

Rosefolly

I'm still reading, and enjoying, Coffin Road although it gets a bit ecology-preachy in spots.

Christmas is boxed up, and my son-in-law has carried it out to the garage except for the den where the Christmas tree and lots of other "stuff" is still waiting for me. I suppose I should say it is "tubbed" up since I've mostly gone to plastic bins.

I spoke too soon about Easter. I saw Cadbury chocolate eggs at the grocery this afternoon.

Rosefolly, I think you are doing the same thing as I do these days.

We were very social people at one time, my husband was a "media personality" and once held a public position in local government, so we had a lot of functions to attend in Australia.

When we lived in the UK in the 1990s, we were not in the public eye at all and were happy to have a quiet life.

These days I call on relatives by public transport as I don't drive and then leave after a while to go home. They are used to it thank goodness and not offended when I ask someone to take me to the train. I don't want a lift home to break up any party I am attending unless someone is already going my way.

I am just no longer comfortable for long in a noisy crowded environment.