Holiday happenings

For the first time in many years the family were able to be together over Christmas. With us all being so far-flung around the world, it is invariably a challenge to please family members who all want to see us and have us ‘home for Christmas’. This year we made it a Canadian Christmas, a first time for John, Katy and hubby Richard. John’s wife Maria flew as far as Heathrow with John where she went on her way to be with her family for the holidays and John continued his trip onward to Ontario. Katy & Richard were the first to arrive on Sunday and then the following day we all went back to the airport to pick up John. Being my brother, and him being famous (because he is in a band, you know) he was ‘accosted’  by a microphone wielding young lady accompanied by a big man with a big camera on his shoulder, proclaiming to be from the CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) and doing a spot on the news that night about travellers coming from the snow-bound UK.  She had a hard time grasping that John, having flown in from the Middle East, was not at all delayed trying to get to Heathrow in the snow as he merely swapped ‘planes and never even saw snow!! Nobody got to see the newscast so don’t know if he became even more famous on Canadian TV, but I doubt it, although she did want to come home with him for malt whiskey by the fire.

The first order of the day was to go and find a Christmas Tree – John had always expressed his desire to chop down a tree, a la Canadian lumberjack mode. We sallied forth on Monday afternoon after John had been kitted out with appropriate Canadian winter clothes, to Drysdales Tree Farm where we did indeed hunt down, round up and duly chop down the perfect tree.

Chopped and placed in car we shopped in Drysdales Christmas shop for our (Jen and mine’s) traditional ‘buy one each year’ ornament so that we could remember this special Christmas each time we decorated the tree in future years. We took turns the following day to place decorations on the tree and transform it to a shiny and sparkling display in the living room. Once presents were placed underneath it there was hardly room for people in the room!

The ‘kids’ went to meet Jen’s friends in Barrie and got all dressed up for a meal at Oscars, while John and Lin did the same, going to a local hostelry to meet up with old friends of ours. All that remained was a final round of shopping for John, which was accomplished on Wednesday, followed by a family meal out at a ‘posh’ rezzo down the road where we kept the waitress in hysterics most of the evening with our puns, jokes and merriment, as only the Hawks can do. Thursday was an at home day although we did walk the dogs, then Christmas Eve we all went to Sheena’s home for dinner and drinks with her and some of her friends, rounding out a pre-Christmas day run up of non-stop eating, or so it seemed.

Christmas morning was a riot of opening gifts, much ooohing and aaahing, followed by allowing the dogs in to play in the huge pile of wrapping paper before we cleared up to start preps for dinner. In true Hawk style we eschewed traditional food and opted instead for roast beef, Yorkshire pud, roast potatoes and veggies etc. accompanied by largish quantities of red wine and followed by traditional Christmas pud. Replete, the afternoon and evening was spent lounging and watching newly acquired videos and playing poker, which I won!! he he.

This was the best Christmas ever, made so by the careful planning of Katy and Jen. Let’s do it again next year, please!!

Tagged as: christmas, christmas tree, family