Christmas Holiday

I am a creature of habit, which includes posting on this blog each week, almost always on a Sunday.   The only exception to this is rare holidays when I am separated from my trusty desktop. 

On 19 December we returned to the UK to spend Christmas and New Year with our family, as we have done each year since we moved to Spain in 2006.   The only year we missed was 2020, due to the Corona virus travel restrictions.   My daughter in law is a great believer in a traditional Christmas, with extensive decorations from 1 December and our three grandchildren ensure that there is lots of excited opening of presents on 25 December.  

When we arrived we were informed by our 8 year old granddaughter that we had to be up at 0600 on Christmas Day to “watch Father Christmas”.    Apparently there was expected to be good views of a comet, which was the Father Christmas in question.    The whole family was gathered in the back garden at 0600, but could see nothing due to extensive and very thick cloud.   Any disappointment was soon forgotten as we all regrouped in the sitting room to open the large piles of presents.

It always surprises me how easily we adjust to leaving sunny Spain for cold and often wet England.   We adjust to the drop in temperature and are fortunate my son lives in a lovely Northumberland village called Rothbury.   It is a very popular walking area, and even in December we are able to take advantage of the many walks around the village.

Even more surprising we don’t really miss our daily wargames.  

However I do miss the busy routine of our life in Spain, and particularly the almost daily administration on the computer.    We run a weekly walking group for our local U3A, and this includes preparation and recording of each walk on the computer.   In particular I post a blog each week of the walk.   Over the past year I have made short video of our various walking groups since we moved to Spain.   These are posted on YouTube as a record of our walking experience, and also a reminder for the members of the group and our friends and family in the UK.

Then there is the weekly post for my two Wargaming blogs, this one and the 1813 Campaign Diary blog.  Plus of course running the campaign itself, wargaming the battles and recording them on the diary.

Strangely I don’t miss the walks and wargames, but I do miss the busy daily routine.   We soon settle into the family routine, but have no routine of our own.   For a couple of days it is nice to visit the shops in Morpeth and Newcastle, but one day in each, particularly at Christmas time, is more than enough.   Rothbury itself has a good selection of pubs and cafe’s, plus a lovely river walk.   And we were fortunate that the weather was kinder than usual this year.  Only two days of rain, and as many sunny days of sun.   Very cold, but very enjoyable to walking.

It is lovely to be able to spend the holiday with the family, but after a few days I start to miss our normal routine and long for the warmer temperatures.   I can follow the holiday activities of our friends on Facebook, and am envious at their sunny days and temperatures of 18c.

So we were very happy to return home to the mass of emails waiting and to organise our first group walk on 2025.   Not to mention clearing the last game of 2024 off the wargames table and updating the campaign for the first one of the New Year.

Happy New Year to you all.