In the greater scheme of things, and compared to many other people’s Xmases this year, I think Hubby’s was ok. Mind you, I haven’t asked him what he thinks about it yet; if I did, him being an accountant and all, he’d probably list the goods and the bads in two adjacent columns and dwell on how much longer the bad column was.
Pre-empting that, here are the bads that I can think of:
1. He ordered and paid for a new bike months ago, just because. Ostensibly an indulgent pressie from him to him, it was repeatedly delayed until a D-Day before December 25th was no longer on the cards.
2. Having previously agreed that the new bike was so expensive that he shouldn’t expect anything else from Santa, I then had to scrabble around for something to put under the tree for him. Initially I thought I’d been successful: a lovely warm gilet from John Lewis for one thing, but when he tried it on after Xmas lunch, it was too small. The Xmas lunch was not to blame; John Lewis’ inaccurate size guide was the culprit.
3. I also bought him a box of posh crackers for the dinner table except, because all our guests cancelled, because of the pandemic, we used a couple of crackers left over from last year for our dinner-à-deux – as squashed as they were – and have kept the posh box for next year.
4. The third last-minute pressie I bought him was a table lamp for the snug area but, as you can imagine, it was chosen to match my aesthetic tastes rather than his.
5. The final gift from me was a 1,000-piece jigsaw, something he loves to do with his Mum over Xmas but, as she didn’t come this year, he struck a lonely figure rummaging through the box on his own for border pieces
6. His Mum didn’t join us for Xmas this year because of the pandemic.
7. If it’s one thing Hubby looks forward to on Xmas day it’s a proper roast turkey dinner, which he didn’t get this year because I wasn’t going to be left with two-weeks’-worth of turkey. Instead I prepped sausage-stuffed turkey escalopes encased in pancetta. A turkey dinner, but not as he likes it.
8. If it’s another thing he looks forward to on Xmas day it’s a rich, fruity Xmas pudding, which he didn’t get this year because I don’t like it much and fancied giving Delia’s mini-mincemeat souffles a whirl, which I did and they were delish, but it wasn’t a Xmas pud as he likes it.
9. He loves going to the Boxing Day hunt. It was cancelled this year because of the pandemic.
10. He loves cold gammon on Boxing Day after the hunt. I’ve got the gammon but for New Year’s Day, just for a change. Hubby doesn’t like change, especially where food traditions are concerned.
11. Every year, Xmas means two weeks until skiing in Austria. Not going this year, because of the pandemic.
On the other hand, he’s Covid-free, has a warm, peaceful (when I’m not stropping) home with loads to eat and money to buy an expensive bike just because.
Not a bad Xmas then.
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