2010 - been and gone

So, not a single post in 2010. Whoops! Well, let's see, what has happened?!

Llyando and I got engaged after Christmas 2009 - extremely romantic! In April I finally got a job, which was a relief... We also moved into our new house at the beginning of April and spent some time redecorating (and having a great housewarming party!)

In the summer we visited Llyando's relatives in the US. On our return we got a cat (a rescue cat called Buddy - photos to follow!).

We also started wedding planning and I continued with my Open University History course. Llyando's walked Hadrian's Wall with some friends. And we both came down with flu before going to Dorset for Christmas 2010. New year was spent at a black tie and tiaras event in a wonderful restaurant near home.

I'm sure I've forgotten loads of important events from last year, but that's a start. Now that I have discovered blogging from the iPhone I hopefully will be posting a little more frequently!

Christmas Cheer

For the first time ever I am spending part of Christmas day (and Christmas Eve) away from my family. Terrible, you might think, but I'm actually spending it with Llyando's family before heading to my family for the second half of the day. So it is definitely not terrible!

And with all the lovely snow and ice I'm feeling very Christmassy...

I love Christmas - people in the street are extra-friendly, families forget their little squabbles (excepting, of course, the traditional barney over the turkey/game of Monopoly) and small children run around with huge grins on their faces.

So I'm particularly lucky. This year I will have not one, but two lots of family and lots of Christmas cheer.

Hope you all have an equally wonderful Christmas!

A new look for Father Christmas

Apparently two thirds of people prefer a green Santa. Not an eco-friendly Santa – he achieves that already with his reindeer-drawn sleigh. Although perhaps not. Do reindeer suffer from flatulence?

I digress. Green Father Christmas. Meaning, of course, a Father Christmas dressed in green. According to a National Trust survey, members of the public preferred traditional, green costumes when they were trialed at grottos last year.

A green costume suggests links to pagan ‘Green Man’ and also to Odin. The red costume is a recent phenomenon created by Thomas Nash in Victorian times and then cemented by the hideous commercialisation of a lovely, family-orientated, winter festival by the Coca Cola company (among others).

Admittedly, I might be biased, but I think its brilliant! Hopefully this year we’ll see more green Santas...