It’s been quite a weekend.
The Christmas Concerts were marvellous and got us off to a great start. Friday night’s full house audience received one of the best performances ever according to popular opinion, so when a handful of our oldest friends decided to join us for Saturday, we kept fingers crossed that the choir hadn’t peaked too soon. No worries, because it was another triumph and once again, the audience were thrilled.
Still on a high, we got ready to welcome a bunch of friends and neighbours and prepared to set the scene for a jolly Sunday lunchtime. We assigned a few jobs: Edward assumed control of the roasts (we’ve trained him well!) and our resident guests navigated their way around various playlists and the mysteries of itunes to put together a seasonal soundtrack for us.
The glasses were out on the table and a couple of wines opened for a “quality check” (so important to make sure that it meets the standard don’t you think? 
We switched on “little urn” for those friends who prefer a cup of something to a glass. Surprising how welcome a quick cup of tea is when there’s hot water on tap like that. One of those boiling water taps would be such a good idea, if only we could summon up the courage to consider drilling a hole in a thick granite worktop!
So, the carving station was ready, the Christmas tree was lit and the chocolate fountain was ready to whirr into action when there was a knock at the door. Surely, a bit early for guests, but no matter, we were ready…
But, remember this?
It seems as though since Thursday night’s power cut, we have been getting our electricity from a generator nearby and a group of chaps from the power company were about to make a permanent re-connection. They’d come to tell us that our power was to be turned off in half an hour.
For a while, my supplies of seasonal jollity and good humour were severely depleted. Suddenly, a few small disappointments prioritised themselves in my head and rather than focus on the good things, I despaired at everything which wasn’t going to work and found myself missing one or two special people who weren’t able to join us. Even though all the roasts were done and ready, that no-one would notice the lights on the Christmas tree because it was bright sunshine and if we had to manage without the chocolate fountain, well, it wasn’t the end of the world. Our sweet friends volunteered to sing their playlist (aaagh!), we lit a few candles and in no time at all, our jolly neighbours had pitched up bearing beautiful flowers, pots of homemade goodness and in no time those negative thoughts were gone. The house soon filled with lovely sounds of people enjoying themselves, our smaller friends in their party finery did their best with the chocolate and no-one noticed when the Christmas tree lights came on again, because we were all too busy having fun.
And later on, when nearly everyone had gone, one sweet friend sat down with us to explain her gift. You see, she’d heard of our electrical problems in the last few days and had chosen the most enormous candle she could find, because as she said, we could not only light the room with it, but we could warm our hand and toes against it for the whole of Christmas, too.
Have I ever said how lucky we are?
