And that was 2014

What’s in a Name?

People in our family have been living with names I gave them over a decade ago.  We have decided that some of them need updating or made more appropriate and into titles that better reflect current interests and skills and philosophies of life.  Unfortunately no one has actually come up with a new name as yet.  So I have decided to give them each a temporary new name and see if they can suggest better.

These new names will become apparent over the next few blog postings.  And for a few postings I’ll give both the old and new names to help avoid confusion.  

What’s been going on…

We opened our presents on Christmas morning.   Son-who-watches-films (hereinafter known as The Chef) got quite a few DVDs and BluRays and we also (rather cruelly) gave him this puzzle.  There is a ball inside it and you have to get the ball out and then reassemble it.  

I had a try and after looking at the solution I knew the theory but hadn’t a clue how to do it in practice.

Washington looked over my shoulder but wasn’t much help.

Partner-who-loves-tea (hereinafter to be known as Partner-who-tends-minds) received some jewellery including a blue topaz ring, and amber ring and bracelets of crystal and aqua aura.

 

My presents included a lot of books and notebooks (no surprise there) and this super post box.

It goes well with my postbox collection which, you will notice, includes a US postbox thanks to Friend-über-special.

But an even bigger present was the announcement a few days later that Partner-who-tends-minds was prepared to agree to getting another cat.  (She would prefer a dog and has been against the idea of getting a cat since Ivy disappeared.  The death of a pet is bad enough but Ivy’s disappearance and the subsequent search and worry about her proved even more upsetting.)   So after the holiday period has died down we shall be off to the shelters to see which cat or kitten was made for us.

 

The Chef cooked Christmas dinner (leg of lamb) and it was as beautifully cooked as usual. 

It was only after I’d taken this photo that I thought about all the beautiful gravy boats and tureens that we have and here we are serving the gravy (two different types) in measuring jugs. 

On Boxing Day it rained heavily for much of the day but then around 4 pm it started to snow.  “It won’t stick on this wet ground,” I said, authoritatively.  

 

 The snow didn’t hear me.  And this was the scene twenty four minutes later.

The next day Elder-Daughter (formerly Daughter-who-likes-food) and Computer-and-Railway-Guy (formerly Son-in-law-who-cooks) called in and we swapped presents.  Elder-Daughter wore a super Polar Bear jumper – it even had a tail!

One of my Christmas present books, “When Findus was Little and Disappeared”, proved popular.

Three days later Daughter-who-Cares-for-the-Cosmos (formerly Daughter-who-takes-photographs) and Friend-and-Son-in-law=who-Clears-the-Clouds (formerly Friend-and-son-in-law-who-loves-otters) arrived.  

Oh goody – more present swapping.

And even the postman was in a good mood, delivering seven postcards. 

On New Years Eve we lit the fire in the living room and listened to Queen (as opposed to The Queen who was on Christmas Day).   

Big Ben struck twelve and 2014 was over…