We decided to get a small one and then also make some Christmas tree sort of thingies out of Holly that we can gather locally.

I’m not too sure if this is to save money; I have a horrible feeling that the Girlie watched all too much Blue Peter when she was a little… well, Girlie!

This is the tree we decided on, it’ll be unwrapped and installed in the living room and then, tonight, the Girlie and Josh can decorate it.

I’m not getting involved. I know that my job will come every morning until festivities are over – putting the bloody thing back up after the cats have spent the night playing Tarzan and Jane, climbing all over it!

Still, I expect it’ll look pretty enough when it is decorated – it’ll just need a pretty little angel to sit on the top.

“Girlie, where are you – got a job for you! Might be an idea to clench your buttocks first!”

All the best

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I hope that you all continue to enjoy my little wafflings here and thank all of you who have contacted me about this site for your valued input.

All the best

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Christmas Eve: Breakfast will be Boudin Noir with mushrooms, Poitrine Fume and warm French Bread. I shall just have cheese and wine for lunch because, for tea, I am having Fruits be Mer. I have decided on a bottle of Gros-Plant de Nantais Sur Lie. This is relatively inexpensive but perfectly complements what I shall be eating.

Christmas Day: I shall eat at about 2pm. I shall start (as is only proper) with a dozen oysters. Then, for the last time in my life (on cruelty grounds), I shall have Fois Gras. I love Fois Gras but the enjoyment is tempered with the realisation of how it is made.

I shall then move onto a cassoulet of Escargots; cooked in a small terrine with shallots, mushrooms, garlic butter and parsley. This will be topped off with breadcrumbs onto which I shall spead some finely chopped olives. For the main course, I am having Duck’s Breast – served with roast potatoes, courgettes and chestnuts.

I’m not sure if I’ll have any space left after that but, in case I do, I am planning a fruit cake (ready made) with some warm spiced cream. After that, I plan on a glass of Framboise (on medical grounds), a nap in the easy chair and, of course, indigestion!

Every week, any loose change that I have in my pocket on a Sunday, gets put into a tin (my Christmas tin). I shall have to change this money up at the Post Office before I go shopping. I think that there is about 130 euros – I’ll need every penny of it – Christmas is expensive in France.

All the best

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The main problem seems to be the tree’s in-ability to stay upright (a bit like me after a few sherrys). I often wake up in the middle of the night to the sound of a crash. My immediate thought is that Billy the Burglar is paying me a visit and has tripped over the cats.

I rush into the kitchen (not a pretty site, straight from bed) to find the Christmas Tree on the floor with two bemused cats sat next to it (one with tinsel in his mouth – you know who I’m taking about, Sammy boy, don’t you?)

Cindy will then try to explain… “It just jumped up all on its own and then fell over on the floor. We didn’t touch it at all. It woke me and Sammy up, it did!”

Billy the Burglar, come and visit please – just take my naughty cats away, when you do! I just know that for the next 9 months, I’ll be finding tinsel and baubles hidden all over the house. It’s almost worth all the pain though, to see both of the cats snuggled up together in front of the tree, just gazing at the lights flickering on and off (and obviously planning their next ascent!)

All the best

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