The past couple of weeks have been so busy our feet haven’t touched the ground. After a fantastic weekend in Birmingham, the build up to Christmas has certainly started hotting up.

I spent a lovely afternoon catching up with fellow retirees for tea and cake. Chatting about our recent weekend breaks, one in Benidorm, another on a mini cruise and myself in Birmingham. How lucky we are to be able to enjoy such lovely breaks and feel blessed that we no longer have the daily grind of work.

Meeting up with a couple of other friends on Thursday, we finally got to see the acclaimed film Victoria and Abdul at the over 55’s cinema.  An afternoon movie, with a cup of tea and biscuits. The simple pleasures in life can sometimes be the best.

Then we hit December at full speed, going our separate ways on the 1st, me with a catch up and dinner, in Tunbridge Wells, with ex colleagues from my Midland Bank days, and the hubby on a boys birthday night out. We girlies had quite an adventure on the train, under the watchful eyes of a couple of lovely transport policemen. We opened a couple of bottles of bubbly, chatting so much we were oblivious to where we were, whizzing through the countryside. Fortunately someone was on the ball and we didn’t miss our stop. After meeting another ex colleague at the station, we noisily wended our way up the hill to the restaurant, guided by the twinkling Christmas lights.

We were seated at a table by the door, the staff probably hoping the noise would waft out of the restaurant each time the door opened and not annoy our fellow diners. We enjoyed the delicious and plentiful Turkish cuisine and the wine continued to flow, bringing out our cheekiness 😜 The waiters were polite and attentive and joined in with the banter.

All too soon it was time to head to the station for the journey home. After saying goodbye to the two ladies staying in Tunbridge Wells we made our way to the train. I’m not sure all our fellow travellers appreciated our raucousness after they’d had a long day at work, but we amused a young man with our banter and he came to join us for the last few stops, telling us tales of his work as a freelance cameraman and the celebs he had met. Not sure if either of the ladies who left the train at the same stop as him, managed to get parts as extras!

A couple of stops later and there was just two of us, so Vj & myself headed into town to meet the boys for a final drink and an escort home. Happy days 😀

The celebrations continued the following day when we poshed up to dine at the Wild Mushroom, with a group of friends we have known since our school days. Such a long time ago. We enjoyed “prinks” with Baz and Kaz before heading to the restaurant, for aperitifs and canapés in the conservatory. Very civilised. The food was delicious as always and although not as raucous as the previous evening, we had a great catch up with lovely friends.

After dinner, we strolled back to Baz & Kaz’s for a night cap and listened to music till the early hours, then camped at the besties house overnight, and were treated to a wonderful cooked breakfast in the morning, before heading home to our noisy, boy filled house.

Next stop my first HSBC pensioner association Christmas lunch 🤣. Felt a little o.t.t. dressing up for a lunch date. There were five of us first timers and we weren’t sure what to expect. However the meal was lovely, and it was nice to catch up with some old colleagues and meet some new faces. Lunch and speeches were done and dusted by three and no-one nodded off at the table. But most people headed home straight afterwards. Us newbies decided that having glammed up, it was too early to head home and continued the Christmas cheer for a couple of hours in the bar.

I just had enough time to sleep off the wine, before we were off on a day trip to France with our travel buddies. We headed off early to catch the shuttle. Such an easy process. Before we knew it we were en France, heading towards Calais Christmas Market. It wasn’t open when we got there, despite it being 11am local time. We thought it was a bit strange…….. Note to selves, we must check things out before we leave, Market didn’t open till two days later and was only open between 4pm & 8pm. Oh well off to a hypermarket to stock up with wine and cheeses for the Christmas period 🧀 🥂 before heading back to Cite Europe, for moules and a biere.After a long leisurely lunch there was a little more shopping for croissants, and more treats for Christmas. Feeling weary,  but happy we went back to the car for the journey to the tunnel and home. Opening the doors we were hit full in the face with the “fragrance” of different cheeses. 💩😣, despite them being in a cool bag!

We had been a little organised pre trip and ordered some wine from the “duty free shop” at the tunnel. Before departure we loaded up the car, then had a bite to eat & a hot chocolate ready for the final leg of our journey. The wine cooler is now fully stocked and the cheeses stinking out the fridge. Heaven!

Friday saw celebrations for the lovely Andy’s 50th birthday and the beautiful Jazz’s 40th birthday. I have never seen so much cheese and crackers! It could have fed an army for a year. At least it wasn’t stinky cheese 🤣🤣. I think they’ll have cheese filled packed lunches for the foreseeable future. Apart from the cheese, music was performed by the great Smoking Jacket, everyone dancing the night away. It was a fabulous evening catching up with friends and the birthday couple. Then our carriage, supplied by Granddaughter Megan, arrived, all too soon.

We continued topping up the alcohol levels, and carried on partying the next day at the annual Christmas Party at St Mary’s in the Castle in aid of local charities. This was the twentieth annual event, which has raised almost £160,000 over the years. The party had already started when we arrived and local band Funk and Disorderly were on the stage. We hadn’t heard them before, but they were great and already had some revellers up on the dance floor. They were followed by the Kytes, who we have seen previously and have played several times at the Christmas Party. They play well known covers and always get the party going. The finale was The Blues Brothers and Soul Sisters. Sixteen members including dancers filled the stage for an hour and a half of music and dance.

After couple of days of much needed rest and rehydration, the festivies continued, with the reception class nativity play. We had a shepherd and a traveller in the cast. They both had tiny speaking parts, which we hadn’t been aware of so it was lovely. Two cousins were also in the play, one as a narrator & one as a donkey. All the costumes were fab and the singing was great with lots of actions. The twins seemed to thoroughly enjoy themselves. Lovely memories 💕

After the excitement of the play,  I joined my daughters, sister and niece, for Christmas afternoon tea at Michalas Cute Cakes. It’s always lovely to catch up sans kids. As usual we ate too much and had copious amounts of tea. The enormous piece of cake included was, as always, brought home in a box, too large to squeeze into our full tums after such a feast.

Tonight I’m of to enjoy another dinner with my over 50’s Gang. Ex colleagues who have reached that special age. We have a new member, Helen who achieved the magic number a few weeks ago, joining us this evening. We will no doubt eat too much and drink a little too much, but we will definitely have a great time. The boys also have a night out planned, so a lie in is hopefully on the agenda tomorrow 💤💤

Then once I’ve surfaced in the morning, a cuppa and possibly a walk is planned with my girlfriends, to rid myself of some of the calorie intake and excesses of the past couple of weeks.

We are well and truly on the countdown to Christmas now. I suppose I ought to get organised, put up the tree, finish wrapping the pressies, and make sure the food is organised.

Then I am looking forward to a few days R&R with a glass or two of vino, so we’re chilled for the big day. 🥂 🔥 🎁 🌲

Good luck everybody in your preparations. I hope it’s not too stressful.