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| Saoirse in her Christmas jumper |
We should have been in Soham – Sam and Lucy’s
first Christmas in their new house – and we were a little disappointed to miss
out. My sister was expecting to have Alex up for five days or so, but he was
also caught up in the late lockdown, so we said she would be our bubble and she
could come round for Christmas dinner.
Plenty of people are breaking or seriously bending
the Tier 4 rules and you can hardly blame them. There’s no proper strategy from
the Government, they just react late to every new development and the rules
have changed so much, it’s hard to know what you can and can’t do. Some people
don’t even know which area they’re in!
In the morning, we set up a Zoom online meeting
for Sam and also for Max and Inna to join us [you can see it here: https://youtu.be/Occ97KGJHBA]. It actually worked pretty well and it
was good for Sam to be able to have a chat with Max and to see baby Alice, who
had slept through most of the night. Arthur was keen to show off some of his
presents. He’d got some toy soldiers and had set them up in a defensive line
across the kitchen door. Lucy and Sam could step over them, but they took a few
casualties when Saoirse needed to get by.
I think Christmas was a little overwhelming for
her. She hid her face and burst into tears when we started the video link, but
soon settled down. She had a pair of swimming goggles on her head (and over her
eyes) for much of the time.
Max and Inna seem to be managing well. Alice had
been sleeping very little during the night and has been either feeding or
crying. She was awake and happy enough to be jigged in Max’s arms while we were
all talking. It’s a shame that we’re not able to see and hold her.
First taste of Christmas pudding. It
seem to be going down well.
They are getting some support from Marina, Inna’s
mum, who has formed a child support bubble with them and had been bringing
food, shopping and helping with the dog. Ollie stayed with her while Inna was
in hospital and now considers Wigston his second home. Max says he gets so
excited when he sees Marina that he does backward somersaults.
Later in the day, we linked up with Tom on Zoom
[link: https://youtu.be/pFfCGraF3w8]. He was in Ambato and we
were able to see Julia and Aureliano open presents we’d got for them. Quacker
had a book and Julia a loom, which seemed to offer no instant pleasure, just
frustration, as it needed to be assembled and would require some supervision.
She cheered herself up by scooting very fast
around the deserted hospital corridors. Lucy and Florencia were in the house,
so we didn’t see them. I did get a look at Pink and Hatchi, however.
There was no white Christmas, but it did freeze
overnight and there was a bitter north wind when I took Holly for her walk. I
bumped into Thornton Holmes in the park, who was walking his two spaniels. They
were very pleased to see us (well pleased to see Holly, and then me when they
realised I had a biscuit in my pocket). He’d been told off by a couple with two
pugs because his dogs were “not under control” and he was a bit grumpy about it.
“They’re just being friendly,” he insisted. I didn’t need to be convinced; I
have considerable experience of owning “friendly” dogs!
There were other dogs in the park, and I was
mobbed by a terrier and a small lurcher. Margaret has been walking Holly most
days and is ingratiating herself with the local dogs by feeding them biscuits.
They saw Holly and thought “treats!” but hadn’t accounted for mean Eric being in
charge today.
We also bumped into Pauline and Chris at the
traffic lights. They had probably walked Jasper around Toneham. He was very
excited to see Holly and she to see him. Like us, they’d been talking to
children and grandchildren via video links and were set to have a WhatsApp
meeting with Rebecca in California that evening.
It has been a strange day, not like any previous
Christmas, but then 2020 has been a year like no other.
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