Tuesday 6 January 2015

Happy New Year!

It's the 'twelfth day of Christmas' today and our first day of back to normal. The alarm clock went off at its usual time of 6.29am this morning, and to my disappointment it was still dark when I opened the curtains and the kids were just as reluctant to get up as they were before Christmas. It feels like December, the midst of winter, but without the warm glow of Christmas lights. At the moment I can see why January can be such a depressing month!

We had a lovely break though, and it felt like much longer than just two weeks. Lots of lie-ins, pyjama days, endless cups of tea, knitting, reading and plenty of good food - for me that is what the Christmas period is all about. 

The Christmas holidays aren't complete without a trip to Holland to celebrate New Year's Eve and my mum's birthday on New Year's Day. So on Tuesday last week 12yo and I set out very early in the morning to catch the daytime ferry to Hoek van Holland. We almost missed it because of an unexpected flat tyre, but the AA delivered fabulous service and half an hour after ringing them, we were on our way again - phew! 

When I go to Holland with 12yo, we always visit the Hoge Veluwe - I'm sure photos of the National Park have featured on my blog before. It doesn't matter what time of year you go, it's always a special place to visit. This time we went on New Year's Eve, hoping it would be quiet as people were busy preparing for the festive evening. We managed to grab the coveted seats in front of the fire with a coffee before we set off on a bike ride

Twenty miles in total in a frosty, snowy, foggy landscape

We normally pack quite a lot into our trips to Holland, but this time 12yo came down with a bit of a bug (probably just a little overtired) so we were forced to slow down a little. Not a bad thing and we still managed to do the things that made me feel that I'd been 'home' for a few days.

12yo is such a good travelling companion for my trips to Holland - he just loves being there and is enthusiastic about all the things I want to do. A few years ago my dad bought us two little folding bikes from the Hema (my all-time favourite shop), very basic but light and easy to manoeuvre. We love riding these bikes into town, which means being a proper part of traffic - cycling is very different in Holland from the UK and much more fun really. Another favourite ride is to cross the river with a little ferry and then cycling back and riding over the bridge across the river.

All too soon it was time to head back to Britain again. A very busy ferry and 12 hours later and we were home, and at the moment it looks as though I won't be back till May. At least I have our week in Lyme Regis in February to look forward to, else January would really be a very depressing month!

Wednesday 17 December

Last night was our Christmas get-together for my knitting group. We meet up once a month, taking it in turns to host, and we all bring something to eat. We start off with a nice meal, trying to stay fairly healthy since one of our members was diagnosed with diabetes type 1 (sometimes we fall off the wagon a bit and have naughty desserts such as meringue or strawberry mousse cake!), and then drink copious amounts of tea and knit or crochet amongst lots of chat and laughter. It's the one night out I always look forward to, as we just get on really well in so many ways. I feel I've gained several friends, rather than just 'knitting buddies'.
Last year we decided to do a Secret Santa and that was so much fun that we did it again this year. I loved seeing how different the presents were - F. was given a book about sock knitting as she's just discovered how much fun it is to knit socks, S. received a display box with balls of yarn inside and a note on the back 'break in case of emergency'. There was a knitted Christmas decoration for new member C., J. was given a vintage needle gauge in a lovely knitted bag, and I knitted fingerless gloves for H.  And H. knitted me this fabulous pink tractor.

A week to go till Christmas and there is still so much to be done. Parcels to be sent, knitting deadlines to be met. One year I'm going to take the whole of December off and just enjoy preparing for Christmas. The tree is up though, the house is decorated and the kids come home every afternoon telling me what film they've watched at school. And although I would love to have a house that looks like it's walked straight off the pages from an interior decoration magazine, I'm secretly very proud that so many of our decorations are handmade. With all that lack of time that I moan about every year, I'm obviously still doing something right somewhere along the lines.

Saturday 4 January

Another day and the Christmas holidays will be all over again for another year. I'm back at work on Monday and 14yo and 11yo are back at school on Tuesday.

The run-up to Christmas was the usual frenetic chaos, with to do lists as long as my arm and possibly even more things not getting done. (I can't remember the last time I managed to sit down and actually write all my Christmas cards.). Christmas Day itself goes by in a haze of cooking smells, and whether the kids are with me or with J. (we take it in turns), generally by Christmas Day evening I collapse in a heap on the sofa in my pjs. This year 11yo was actually off school on the last day of term and although he recovered pretty quickly, he kindly passed it on to 14yo and then to me on Christmas Day, which I ended with the worst sore throat I've had for a long time. We had 12 people around for Christmas Day and out of those 9 have now had (or still have) the same cold - my sense of taste and smell have only just returned.

As it was my mum's 70th birthday on 1 January, and as New Year is a much bigger thing in Holland than it is in Britain, I booked the ferry on Boxing Day to spend a few days in Holland. But I didn't actually much feel like going until last Monday. Fortunately by Tuesday morning, when 11yo and I saw the sun come up and reveal the familiar Dutch landscape, I finally felt happy to be 'home' again for a few days, and it turned out to be a good visit.

We tried to stay awake till midnight on New Year's Eve (and didn't all manage it!),

 We watched some fireworks

And we did a bit of cycling at our favourite place, the Hoge Veluwe

We made the most of the little bit of sunshine we had

We did some 'alive boarding' down the cycle path in the woods near to where I grew up

We did some admiring of the light

We played with dog and ball

And we did a bit of sentimental journeying (this is my university city)

Today's the last day where I can relax on the sofa, in my pyjamas and my pink 'fluffikins' (very pink and very fluffy jacket that was a Christmas present from B. as a joke but has turned out to be super comfortable), woodburner lit, tea and computer and lots of Dutch magazines nearby. Tomorrow is bike ride day and then back home to the kids and normal life.... but I'm ready - 2014, roll on. Happy New Year!