There were about seventy people for the Midnight Mass I celebrated at St Catherine's last night. I was in bed by one thirty, and up again, breakfasting by eight thirty and on my way to Kenilworth by ten, to join the family Christmas celebrations. I enjoyed listening to Christmas music on Radio Three and Classic FM, depending upon signal reception during the journey, and arrived with plenty of time to spare before our annual festive banquet occupied us for the rest of the afternoon.
In addition to Kath, Anto, and Rhiannon and Clare, Owain and Anto's sister Viv were with us, as on previous occasions. Owain treated himself to a room in the nearby Holiday Inn, rather than camp out on an airbed, and he didn't leave until quite late. Rhiannon organised a quiz and a bingo session for evening entertainment, after a lengthy time spent organising the opening of presents. We missed the Queen's Speech, though I listened to the night's podcast of The Archers quietly on my own in the bedroom. The telly stayed off, as we found plenty to do, and talk about. It was a most enjoyable day in good company.
By the time we surfaced on Boxing Day, Owain arrived in time to join us for breakfast. Again, we ate and drank and talked, and went out for a walk after lunch, across Balsall Common, as far as Warwick University, a five mile round trip. During the night there had been heavy rain and our choice of route was determined by the fact that it had a proper metalled footpath so it wasn't just a muddy track. The sun shone, the sky was blue, and crisp fresh air did us a power of good. By the time we settled down to supper, it started to rain and by bed-time, it had started to snow. The radio is full of weather news and snow chaos. I wonder he this will affect our journey home tomorrow?
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