24 December

We have been sticking close to home these last few days. As we draw closer to Christmas traffic and crowds become more of a problem.
I had to take a break from writing this post and take J.J. out for his morning you know what. J.J. has one of the most curious noses I have ever seen. He must make the rounds of the orchard, checking for anything new since last night before he gets down to business. A good friend, Doug Wigle, refers to this morning sniffing as the dog reading his newspaper.
It may be cheeky of me, but I have to tell you that I was quite comfortable outside with just shorts and a T shirt.
Monday afternoon was occupied with a quick dash into Peterborough; quick until we hit the city limits and then a slow crawl into the city centre. We picked up last minute things for Christmas and beat a hasty retreat back to Abbots Ripton.
Monday night we went to the Village Hall for the weekly get together of badminton and ping pong. As there were Christmas decorations hanging from the ceiling, we had to give badminton a miss. In lieu of badminton, a WII (pronounced wee) was set up and projected against a wall. In teams of two we played doubles tennis. Although it was an electronic game that required only small movements of the handheld sensors, one soon got into the spirit of the game with true to life serving and bobbing and weaving.
Just to keep Maeghan happy (and quiet) I wrapped Christmas gifts Tuesday morning. The afternoon was spent at the cinema with Maeghan and a friend watching the just released Twilight, a movie based on a series of books Maeghan has been reading. Louise, Alexander and I had planned on seeing Australia, but as it was not to be released until Boxing Day. We settled on Madagascar 2, a really fun movie.
Tuesday evening was spent in front of the telly watching the International Darts Tournament with Jeff. For some reason Louise, Maegan and Alexander found this "boring". Louise went to the kitchen, to begin preparing for a Christmas Eve party; and Maeghan and Alexander went to their respective computers.
I have been remiss in not introducing my family before this. From the photos you see Maeghan, maybe not looking directly into the camera, but had she seen me taking the photo, I would have captured an excellant photo of the back of her head. Alexander is a little better as he simply lowers his head when he sees a camera. Louise can be seen slaving away in the kitchen, while Jeff and I relax over a pint at the local pub.