Julie Goucher ~ Anglers Rest

I often do my Christmas grocery shopping in the middle of the night, or at the very earliest just as the day turns midnight. Due to our domestics we planned to go to the supermarket just after midnight on Saturday 18th, which would have been my Grandmother’s birthday (see yesterday’s post).

Over the last three or four weeks we have had very cold weather, heavy frosts and the odd sprinkle of snow, so I was not overly surprised to find a heavy frost as we left the house at midnight on Saturday. We live half way on a hill in a cul-de-sac and the car was pointing the wrong way. Which meant that we had to drive down and turn. There is always a horrid bit in the middle of the turning area which has a tendancy to get very icy and Saturday morning was no exception. So there I was at midnight trying to push the car. Just when it seemed hopeless we managed it and set off. I spent the next hour or so pushing the trolley round gathering groceries. We made it home and I collapsed into bed at abou 2am, planning on sleeping until 7am when I needed to be up and away for work. Imagine my horror when I saw this at 7.00am

About 8am this was the real picture.

I went to leave and we tried to move the car and made it to the turning point, then….. Lots of wheel spins and Anglo Saxon. We managed with the help of a neighbour, some carpet under the wheels and sand to get the car back outside the house which is halfway up the hill. I have worked muscles that perhaps are new or have not been used in the last 20 years! Anyway, I didn’t make it to work.
Monday faired no better. We had no more snow here, but we had dreadful icy conditions. Driving was not an option and actually neither was walking.
We did make it out today (21st Dec 2010) and this was the view across Haldon – lovely on a Christmas card, but lethal to drive and walk on.

I don’t recall ever having a stocking as a child, just this pillowcase into which my presents were placed. Since I have been married to what can only be described as the biggest Christmas baby of all time! Stuart’s birthday is on the 21st and he simply LOVES Christmas, I have always prepared a stocking for everyone.

Traditionally, I know that stockings always contain fruits and nuts and perhaps a small toy, or at least that is what my Grandmother always said was in her stocking. This year I went to fill the stockings to struggle to find them. I sorted through the Christmas decorations box several times to no avail, and resorted to having the wrap the stocking gifts on Christmas Eve. Note to self to buy some nice new ones for 2011.

Oh my, I was doing some Christmas shopping today and pondering on some small bits to go into a couple of Christmas stockings. I was overwhelmed with the incredible amount of expensive nothing presents, and wonder just how we got to be such a society.

I can’t remember going to Santa, but I guess I did. I asked Mum if she could remember and she said she took me when I was between the ages of 3-5 to see the Santa at the Debenhams department store in Guildford. I was apparently not keen to go and was unimpressed and she didn’t take me again. Mum went onto say with a bit of a smirk that I was fairly antisocial!

Me, antisocial, surely not! Anyway, I went onto explain to Mum why I was probably unimpressed with Santa. I can’t recall exactly when, but I recall waking up one year in the early hours of Christmas morning to Mum in her red dressing gown putting my stocking come pillowcase at the bottom of the bed. I guess then, my thoughts of a man with a red gown and white, bushy beard were shattered. I can though still remember this red dressing gown with small flowers on with green leafy bits and yellow petals. It was the early 1970s and I am sure Mum is delighted that there is no photograph of the said dressing gown! What is amazing is that I had never actually confessed to seeing Mum that Christmas morning until we discussed it for me to write this blog post.