If I've been a bit quiet on her lately, it's because on Friday of last week, OH and I packed up and headed north to visit family for the weekend before Xmas. LB was working over the weekend, so she couldn't join us, so was having some friends to sleep over instead.
Considering it was the last Friday before Xmas, we were lucky on our journey north. We did set off at around 12 noon though, so probably missed most of the traffic trying to get out of London for the Xmas exodus. We were there by 4pm and met OH's mother at his brother's house. We then later retired to her house for a spot of supper and a catch up of the family news, before OH and I ventured out into the nearest village to a social club to watch a live band. It was a totally impromtu and spontaneous outing. We walked there, which is about a mile along a busy road and then settled in and had a good few drinks. We saw a few familiar faces from our school days and the band was really good, so we ended up having a really nice evening out.
On Saturday, we had to be up early, as we had a busy day ahead. I did a bit of shopping in the morning, whilst OH ran to his brother's house. We then went from there to meet with my sister and her daughter for lunch at a local pub a few miles away. It was good to see her, as I'd not seen them both since April. We all had a good catch up and a nice lunch and eventually went our separate ways, with us returning to OH's mum's for an hour to relax before then heading out to OH's sister's house for the evening. She made us a lovely curry for supper and we all had a good chat and a catch up, but we needed to leave at a reasonable time, as it was quite foggy out and we didn't want to be too late getting back to OH's mum's.
With most of our visiting done on Saturday, Sunday was slightly more chilled. I had arranged to take OH's mum and his brother's partner out to Dunelm Xmas shopping, mainly to buy his mum's present. His brother's partner hardly gets out of the house at the moment, so whilst OH sat with his brother, she got to come out with us for a while. I wanted to treat her to something nice too, but she didn't really want anything. I bought her a few bits, but I think she was a bit embarrassed to accept another gift from us, as OH had already sent a food hamper to them. They need spoiling though as they've had a horrible year since his brother had a stroke in February. His mum, however, did choose a few select items that she wanted/needed and was more than happy with her Xmas present and we all had a nice outing with brunch in the cafe to boot.
The remainder of Sunday, was spent at OH's mum's house spending the rest of our stay with her. We had pizza for supper and I watched the final of the Game of Wool. We packed up and returned to London on Monday morning, after one last visit to drop off a floral arrangement at the local churchyard where my parents are buried.
On the way home, we stopped off at a local Lidl and did our Xmas grocery shop, well most of it, bar the refridgerator/freezer foods. I had a 10% off voucher that was expiring that day and it seemed stupid not to use it. OH managed to get some beer and some smokeless coal too, for the woodburner, in case the weather turns colder.
We were lucky again with our journey home and didn't have too many delays. When we did get home, OH had received a lovely hamper from a work associate and a really good bottle of wine from a neighbour, whose cat we are checking on over the Xmas holidays. I received a card from my sister in Australia, which was lovely and a parcel I'd been expecting, which was a great bargain that I'd bought on eBay from a charity seller, as it was just too good to miss. It was 15 large packs of xylitol chewing gum that usually cost at least £4 each pack, for £14 in total. It will keep me in chewing gum for most of the year ahead, at a super bargain price. The last time I bought this on eBay, it cost £27 for just 6 packs.
We were glad to get home, unpack and relax in our own home. It's lovely to visit family, but we love being at home for Xmas In the evening, OH and I caught up on an episode of Landman and then LB and I watched the movie Bridget Jones Diary, which was good. Christmas starts here.
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