Once again, I was honoured by being invited to join Jonah, Catherine, Holly, Poppy, Carla, Paul, Carol and Barry for Christmas Day. I arrived after midday through my losing track of time despite being woken at just after seven, having only retired to bed after two the same morning! For the first time for a very long time it was a Christmas Day that was bathed in bright sunshine, so the journey over was very pleasant and rather than having Classic FM on, I was treating myself to a CD of varied recordings that were my personal favourites.
The last track had not finished playing when I reversed in through the lodge gates, so since this was one of my all-time Rock greats, there was no way I was going to cut off Free as they played ‘It’s All Right Now’ full blast with plenty of Bass, so I continued with my rhythmic pounding of the steering wheel, and foot stomping till the very end, little realising I was the subject of an iPhone movie directed by Holly from within the house!
I gathered all my presents and gear, and tried ringing the bell, and knocking, but finally opened the door and joined the family throng. There were hugs all around, followed by a swapping of gifts and we soon found ourselves gathered in the kitchen which glowed from the bright winter sunlight streaming through the windows. We later moved out to the lounge to chat and watch Holly and Poppy practised playing a game of table netball, and excited chatter soon filled the air as many of the presents were opened and discussed.
To make way for the repast to follow several of us took a walk to view a new housing estate then back to the High Street, where I grabbed a shot of the words beneath a statue to Jonas Webb before continuing to follow other public rights of way and along the side of the fairly fast flowing Granta river, passing a both a bridge and weir before crossing one after the Babraham main house and entering a churchyard. The principal reason for taking the shot of the statue’s inscription was in case I could somehow use it in relation to Jonah, however Paul and I were both intrigued as to who this man might be; it turns out he bred a new strain of the previously rare Southdown sheep he had bought from a Sussex farmer which seems to have become one of the predominant breeds in this country and around the world. In wandering amongst the graves we came across members of his family buried in the churchyard.
Noting the flow of the Granta beneath the nearby bridge, it behoved us to play Pooh Sticks, before choosing to walk further along till we reached a security gate for the Institute – there was a contemplation to walk beyond and through the grounds, but we resisted the temptation, though nevertheless this still attracted the interest of a security patrol, so we had a friendly banter with him before returning the way we came. By the time we arrived back at the lodge, Carol and Barry had arrived and Jonah and Catherine had the table laid so after further present-opening we sat down to savour the fruits of their labour. There is nothing like a brisk walk in the fresh air to work up an appetite, which made space for us to eat our fill and enjoy the spread before us and the sounds of much laughter soon filled the room.
We played games such as Articulate and Charades to more hilarity, and I continued to take pictures and display them on the iPad as they were taken, this may have let the lads down through a lack of total concentration on my part as the Lads lost to the Lassies after a close fought battle. In Charades, it rapidly became the Carla and Paul Show as the rest of us were no match for either of them. Sadly all good things come to an end and Carol and Barry were soon bidding us farewell, and I was concerned that Holly and Poppy were due to be up very early the following morning, and the lounge was to be their bedroom, so it was not long before I was doing my round of thank-yous and heading for the door and the drive home; this time to the more sedate sounds of Classic FM and the increasing amount of rain.
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