Christmas Day.

We had a lovely Christmas, and hope you did too.

For the past few years we have taken part in 'potluck' events to celebrate Christmas lunch. This year we decided to pass. It is inevitable that at times, like holidays, cultural differences become highlighted and this year we felt that we wanted to celebrate our 'Britishness'. And to be totally honest nobody cooks Christmas lunch quite like we do!

So we planned a day around our own self indulgence. It was wonderful...

We had coffee early in the morning with our good friends over in the restaurant and then settled down to our own world for the day.We spoke to our children, all celebrating together at home, and spoke to parents and sister on the moors of Devon.

After cooking TBH's breakfast we read our Christmas books. I had a copy of Dervla Murphy's new tome on Cuba. The island that dared. It is fascinating reading and should be on the 'to read' list of anyone with even the faintest interest in Cuba. I love her travel writing, she doesn't hold back in her criticisms and observations and from our own experiences in that country we agree with the vast majority of the perspectives that she writes about.

Smoked salmon and a bottle of really excellent champagne gave us a break from reading as we sat in the sun in our cockpit. Just listening to the birds, the occasional slap of a wave on the hull and the scuttling buzz of outboard engines as the small boats flit around the river.

There are no roads here, all travel is done by water. Sometimes I forget that this is an isolated location and then you remember!

Back to the book interspersed with cooking. Roast chicken, roast potatoes, bread sauce, cranberry sauce, brussel sprouts(!), carrots, sage and onion stuffing and thick gravy. Oh it was good! No room for pud, which was a good job as I hadn't made one...

Then as the rain began TBH pulled his ace, he had managed to obtain a copy of 'Slumdog Millionaire'. I couldn't have had a better present if he had showered me with diamonds and furs!
We settled back in our cosy saloon to enjoy a simply superb movie. Accompanied by a box of chocolates . Bliss!

Every Christmas is different isn't it? We have has wonderful one's with the family, one's spent in the middle of oceans but this qualifies as one of the best. Sometimes the simple things in life, the company of your best mate and an unexpected pleasure add up to deeply satisfying times. This was one of them.