What an unimaginative title! Maybe I should offer a prize for a better one …

First event since the last entry, and since I was able to drive again, was the annual garden fire party at Oakleigh Court Close – I notice my sometimes mocked confusion between Court and Close goes back some years! There’s an uncorrected reference to ‘Court’ in the Diary from January 2013. As Shannon’s circle of schoolfriends expands, the early part of the event involves ever more children, but later on little ones and parents disappear and adult carousing round the fire takes over. Rachel and Sean provided an ample supply of jacket potatoes etc, as well as sparklers for little people – and me. (Second childhood, you know!)

Harry hasn’t moved for a few months, but he’s been a comfortable bedroom after weekly babysitting commitments.

The timing of the hip replacement made me think again about joining in the Meltham G & S group’s “Sorcerer”, but I agreed, when asked, to be a programme seller on the Wednesday evening, then saw the show again on the Friday, as a paying customer with Chris. They’re very good. Instead of a last night party they have a post-show Sunday Lunch at the golf club, so I went to that. A good do, and a superb venue. Sorry no photos.

I saw an advert for last-minute deals on pre-Christmas river cruises and thought – “why not?” I’ve always fancied a trip on the Rhine on a floating hotel, and I’ve never been to a German Christmas market, so I booked four nights on the Regina Rheni, seen here moored at Dusseldorf and Cologne:

There were a few ‘unfortunately’s about this, but I did enjoy it overall. The first ‘unfortunately’ was that the coach transfer from Folkestone was fully booked, so I had to take the ‘fly from Heathrow’ alternative, which put the price up of course, but the worst part was the walking, both at Heathrow and at Amsterdam. I felt as if I’d done more walking than flying! But all travel plans went smoothly, including driving down to Surbiton, parking at Heathrow next morning and the (mini) coach transfer to Arnem. And it was good to spend the night at Porton Court (Yes – Court!) and enjoy a Cafe Rouge meal with Christine and Carol.

Unfortunately, any thoughts of vineyards and fairy-tale Rhineland castles making for scenic cruising were quickly dispelled! The section of the Rhine from Arnem to Bonn is flat and uninteresting, with much of the riverside given to industry and power stations:

Ports of call were Dusseldorf, Bonn and Cologne – nowhere near Berlin, and the news of the tragic outrage there came to us late on our last evening – and I visited the markets in all three places, but again, unfor …… , there was so much walking from ship to market that I was really too tired to enjoy them, and Gluhwein and Bratwurst on your own isn’t all that ‘festive’, so I didn’t bother.

(Click on the pictures to enlarge) There’s always a big wheel! A gingerbread house (centre right) and, in Cologne, a group playing Alpine Horns.

Back in England, a drive straight, well, sort of, to Yokshire from Heathrow, to be ready for a full day’s Shannon-minding the next day. She played happily all morning and slept most of the afternoon!

If only babysitting were always that easy!

And so to Christmas! I’d invited Chris, Michelle and the family to the flat for dinner and tea (rash!), and got up early on the 25th to be ready for them.

After dinner and presents, the flat was switched to ‘disco’ mode:

Chris and Michelle enjoy a brief moment of relaxation; Grandad dances with N., who then persuades her brother to have a go, before doing a ‘spooky one of her own!

Curiously, my little twiggy tree makes for the only festive window in the close!

Four days later, there was a present exchange at Oakleigh CLOSE

followed by a family meal (10 of us: 4 parents, two teenagers, two children, a toddler and a grandad) at a Toby in Huddersfield.

It’s New Year’s Eve … 2017 could see big changes, personally and nationally; this time next year I might be cancer-free, have a new home and two good legs, who knows? As for Brexit (and Trump), again, who knows, but my thoughts on such issues belong on my other site, not here. I’ll end with a ‘Ghost’ of Christmas past (it’s not Grasmere, but you get the idea):