Awakened in the wee hours of the morning to
pounding rain against my window pane. I LOVE the sound of rain – happy
Christmas (as I am learning to say)!
Or, ‘have a very pleasant Christmas’: that’s the
adjective the counselor in the branch presidency used in his talk on Sunday to
wish us a merry Christmas. But predominantly here in England, the term used
most traditionally is ‘Happy’ Christmas. (And that’s not the ONLY thing that’s
all turned around, because in the fifth stanza of 'The Twelve Days of Christmas,
they sing, 'Five go-old rings' – really messes with the rhythm. Sick and wrong
- both of them!)
This was the busiest day of all that went before
it, and will be the busiest of any to come – with one activity after another
planned. I feel kind of like I am back at Conferences and Workshops – with one
conference on top of another. For instance today, Christmas, there was
breakfast service, beginning at 830; then tea, coffee, and mince pies (a very
common holiday dish – mini mincemeat pies – the best with a teeny holly leaf
out of pastry on the top) served at 11 in the bar (because that’s where all the
chairs and tables are upstairs, on the ground floor); complimentary cocktails at
noon, also in the bar area; a main sit-down meal (lunch) served at 1 in the
dining room, downstairs); tea, coffee, sandwiches and cakes at 430, again in
the bar; with a glorious buffet, all arrayed and laid out in the lounge at 7.
Each of these involves arranging the tables and chairs, setting the table service, preparing the food, serving, then clearing away the dishes and leftover food; and lastly, washing up all the dishes, pots and pans, etc. (Many times, as you can tell, this involves packing trays of things up and down the stairs.) It’s a big operation, believe me – and that’s just the food part. We have about 30 guests – very nice, mainly older people who I’ve enjoyed conversing with. Oh, yeah – that is another of my unspoken responsibilities – chat up the guests. Make them feel welcome, anticipate their needs, to assist them in enjoying their respite at the Richmoor Hotel.
Each of these involves arranging the tables and chairs, setting the table service, preparing the food, serving, then clearing away the dishes and leftover food; and lastly, washing up all the dishes, pots and pans, etc. (Many times, as you can tell, this involves packing trays of things up and down the stairs.) It’s a big operation, believe me – and that’s just the food part. We have about 30 guests – very nice, mainly older people who I’ve enjoyed conversing with. Oh, yeah – that is another of my unspoken responsibilities – chat up the guests. Make them feel welcome, anticipate their needs, to assist them in enjoying their respite at the Richmoor Hotel.
For the aforementioned reasons, and others to be
revealed, I must say that this has not been the most peaceful Christmas I’ve
ever had. The mistress of us all has the most glorious ideas of the wonderful
potential of how things can be; unfortunately, she fails to share her heavenly
vision in an orderly, step-by-step fashion, with the rest of us down-to-earth
peons – distressingly leading to the fair amount of bedlam, madness, brouhaha I
witnessed going on behind the scenes today, in opposition to the ‘oh, so
serene’ exterior. Sad to say she has the ‘not so great’ habit of not letting
her wishes known until the last possible moment, at which time she explodes
that ‘no one is helping her,’ while the decibels of her voice raise
substantially. Not at all conducive to the hoped for ambiance of the day. Just the tiniest of confessions_
Random bits:
I have noticed that vegetable soup in England is
very similar to the consistency of Chinese egg drop soup, (minus the egg
rivulets), gelatinous, with a teensy bit of itsy vegetable pieces floating
around - nothing at all like the hearty variety, almost to the point of stew,
we’ve come to know and expect.
Had an encounter with a sharp implement (knife)
and got a nice little slice to the finger, happened while rummaging through
some kitchen utensil drawers looking for a certain kind of serving piece. (Oh,
mother!) All I can say is, smart! (Not me – whoever chucked it in there in the
first place!)
Two Christmas events worth mentioning took place
today – neither of which I was able to observe, unfortunately. (Hey, I’m a
working stiff – and besides, there’s always that other thing, concerning which I
am further behind than ever.) One was the Lions’ Club Christmas Day Swim where
participants in fancy dress (Santa, etc costumes) tear across the harbor in
freezing cold water. (Sounds delightful to me!) The other was the ‘Chase the
Pudding’ foot race event, to aid the British Heart Foundation charity, where a
‘giant pack of Santas, elves, and fairies’ run in hot pursuit of the leader, dressed as the Christmas pudding (this year, Niall
Laming) – with two unrelated goals: to catch the pudding and/or to be the first
over the finish line.
Speaking of vigor and good health, oh, I have
eaten horribly today! With all the bad stuff around – infused to the max with
sugar and butter – how’s a good girl to resist?!
The Call the
Midwife Christmas Special was on tonight (taken from the book I read, and
loved, and as a sequel to the much-heralded BBC series). Too busy to watch, as
much as I was dying to see it! However, the cool thing here in the UK is that they
have what’s called iPlayer, where you can stream pretty much ANYTHING that’s
been on a BBC channel, for several months to come, by the very next day. (Last
year Call the Midwife was a BBC series, and there is no question but that one
day it WILL come to Masterpiece Theatre on KUED {who knows, maybe even KBYU –
they do have Downton Abbey, after all). When it does, you mom’s – and soft-hearted
dads – will NOT want to miss it. I read the book – couldn’t put it down. (
Ready to share when I get home – let me know!) It’s the true story of a young
obstetric nurse in the 1950s who worked in the poorest of the poor of London
neighborhoods, the East End. It is all about families, all about the birth of
babies; in fact, all about humanity – a perfect Christmas scenario! The main
actress, Jenny Agutter, remarked, ‘there is always something extraordinary
about a new baby. At that point in their lives, anything is possible and you
hope for only good.’
Though it wasn’t much of a Christmas – away from
the ones I love and cherish – in the manner in which I’ve come to expect Christmases
to be, if I was able to help bring cheer to any of the older persons, or help
Loraine with any of her many challenges, or lift the burden of one of my
co-workers – also away from their families this day – then it has been a true
Christmas and I will hold it in my heart along with the memories of all the
other Christmas I’ve spent in this life.
Today, especially, my heart is full of gratitude
for friends and family and for the gospel of Jesus Christ. May YOUR Christmas
season be filled with His love and a bit of Zion – wherever you are.
Photos_
1- Christmas magic
2- what I
wrangled with/slaved over to create for my grandbabies for Christmas, with an extra special teeny one for 'in the oven' grandbaby #10 (not my
best workmanship, for sure, as it was done on the most decrepit sewing machine I have
ever seen in my life, but remained thankful throughout the long process that I
had access to one at all!)
3- my
favorite – and most difficult – pieced together from bits and bobs of all the
others
4- what
Santa brought me for Christmas
5- one of many things the Godwin family got for Christmas
5- one of many things the Godwin family got for Christmas
6- Loraine, all smiles, in the lounge
7- guests enjoying the Christmas evening
buffet, sans Christmas pudding
8- Ella as
Christmas pud(ding) – one of her Daddy’s favorite terms of endearment
9- ‘I spied grandpa kissing honey bee - underneath the mistletoe last night'
10- the
crux of Christmas celebrations everywhere – a very special baby in a manger
(The birth of Jesus, Carl Heinrich Bloch, 1890)
(The birth of Jesus, Carl Heinrich Bloch, 1890)
