Bella and the Norwich 12: The Castle

Not a bad picture - a reasonable amount of the Castle in the shot -  and Bella seems happy!

Why was it a rush this year?

Every Christmas we have loads to do to get ready and with both of us working it often took until exhaustion set in in the small hours of Christmas day before we were finished. 2008 would be different: I was no longer working so I could have everything ready in plenty of time and LJ could enjoy the lead up to the festivities. We got to bed at 3:30 Christmas morning so what went wrong? I didn't consciously take things easy. In fact I seem to have been working towards Christmas for over a month and still there was a mad panic. Perhaps I tried to do more preparation this year because I had more time but I don't think so.

After sombre if not sober reflection I have to conclude that the preparation for Christmas starts today. It's not really preparation for Christmas after all: it's a checkpoint for the assessment of progress with the house and our lives over the year so trying to cram everything into the last month is never going to work. So I'd better get started. I'm not even sure I have time to write this - oh no I'm behind already!