Christmas has started!

[cosmolinguist]

After another slow morning, V and I tidied up some more of Gary's stuff and we rearranged the living room to make it less dog-focused and more ready for the guests that D went to fetch. And we did talk their ears off about Gary at first (they knew him from the internet, sadly never got to meet him) and I think we overwhelmed them just by being a less terrible living situation than they usually have, which is what we wanted to save them from.

I started dinner (shepherd's pies, or whatever they should be called; we still haven't figured out what that should be when they're vegetarian) while D braved Tesco for some last-minute shopping -- he said it was okay actually. Just as it was ready to eat, my parents wanted to talk before they headed off to Christmas Eve with my mom's family.

After we ate, the offer of a drink was met with "I don't know much about whisky...." so D and I dragged our umpteen bottles of whisky out and overwhelmed our friends again but they did both find ones they liked (one liked the Pendaryn ones, the other agrees with me that the Aberlour is the best one in the house).

We watched a Nunkie M.R. James story ("The Mezzotint", which I thought was a nice starter one for our guests who are unfamiliar with the Christmas ghost story genre). And now I'm going to do my usual Christmas Eve tradition of listening to Tom Baker reading A Christmas Carol.

Comments

[otter]

That sounds mostly enjoyable, except missing Gary.

[cosmolinguist]

Yeah considering the lack of Gary I think it was as good a day as it could be.

[rugessnome]

Hope you all and your guests have a happy Christmas despite the recent loss of Gary. (I know I rarely comment but I have enjoyed reading about Gary in following you for some time and I am sorry he is gone. <3)

p.s. if I'm remembering correctly, one of my cookbooks refers to vegetarian shepherd's pie as "gardener's pie", although I don't think that's a well known name for the concept.

[kshandra]

Gardener's pie was going to be my suggestion, as it fits in the same naming scheme. (Still not entirely sure how beef became cottage pie instead of farmer's pie, but I won't quibble.)

[cosmolinguist]

Thanks for the kind words about Gary. It's really lovely to know how far out his good effects have traveled out in to the world. :)

[barakta]

That sounds like a good start to Christmas to me.

And more than OK to talk people's ears off about Wonderdog (Buttface) Gary.

Hurrah for nice friends to have as company.

[haggis]

I am happy to volunteer to have my ears talked off next week. (I have a cold so will steer clear for now.)

[cosmolinguist]

Aw it'd be lovely to see you. Thanks for keeping your germs away, but I look forward to you getting to visit without having to separate the small mammals.

[silveradept]

That sounds like a good start to a Christmas season. (Even without Gary.)