Op, op, oppan, Gamgee style!

My last post featured my navy velvet jeans – well, here I am the day after Christmas in the teal ones. Mr Robot and I always go all-out for Christmas, and one of my gifts from him this year was a 'Hobbit kit'. Part one was this waistcoat, brown tweed with navy tweed lapels, and part two was a set of really high-end hand tools for gardening. Both parts were especially welcome as I managed to trash my old, knackered trowel planting bulbs just before Christmas. Pete did a good job getting the right size. As I've got ridiculous bosoms and narrow shoulders, off-the-rack button-up clothing is usually a nightmare, but this fits pretty well. I love the waistcoat. It's warm and smart, but allows me to move my hands and arms freely.

On Christmas day itself I wore the same dress I wore last year, and the year before. It's a teal one with silver and gold lurex stripes, and I bought it in a panic from Monsoon in December 2019 when I hadn't been planning to go to the work Christmas party, then changed my mind at the last minute and dashed out to Debenhams. It cost a fair chunk of cash, but I didn't have time to try it on and knew that size in Monsoon would fit. So now I'm determined to get my money's worth out of it and will probably wear it next Christmas too!

Like I say, we spoil each other, and another of my presents was this terrarium kit. How cool is it? Pete wanted to give me one that'd enable me to create my own dinosaur jungle, so he bought a tub of plastic dinos – those would determine the ideal size for everything else – and then liaised with a lady who sells terrarium equipment to get me just the right things to go in it. I'm always fascinated by tiny little worlds, whether that's dolls houses or miniature things or terrariums (terraria?), but the addition of the dinosaurs made it really personal and special. It came with rocks, but they weren't quite right. Happily, I'm the sort of person who brings pebbles home from the beach as souvenirs, so there are now pebbles from Dorset (yes, the Jurassic Coast where Mary Anning found her plesiosaurs) in there.

Everything else has been fairly traditional. We did goose, as ever, for Christmas Day, though I delayed our usual Boxing Day ham by a day as we had plenty of leftovers. I'm turning some more leftovers into Maunika Gowardian's goose biryani later today. Pippin loved her Christmas prawns; Ziggy turned his nose up at his but tried to steal Pete's prawn cocktail, so I guess he's really into marie rose sauce. 

I didn't mention it in my last post, but my nan was taken into hospital while I was visiting mum last week. I expected her to be out before Christmas, but she's still in, and I'm starting to feel rather concerned. And the washing machine has given up, but we've got a replacement coming next week, and honestly the fridge and cooker and boiler can all break down too as long as Nan's okay. I just have to trust the doctors to take good care of her, and I know they will, she's in the same hospital that treated Mum for pneumonia. 

Anyway, not going to leave you on that concerned note; I have a season ticket for the anxiety train and I'm always going to worry about something. On the whole we've had a lovely time, and I'm very much looking forward to a 2022 of Hobbitting around. Bring on the better weather and longer days!