The love of family and friends

When I went to live in NZ in 2006 I went alone with a slight dread about my first Christmas there. I needn’t have worried, my sister and mum came out to visit and from then on for the next 10 years I had family or friends of one kind or another there.
When I returned to the UK I obviously had lots of family and friends here but the Christmas’s have always been a little bittersweet because my mum died on Christmas morning 8 years ago. But whatever the feelings nothing beats the love and joy of family and friends at Christmas.

Here is our day, present opening with my cousin, their kids and my aunt and uncle, Christmas lunch at my other aunts and finally a pic sent by a friend who caught Covid just before Christmas and so her children came to visit on the patio :-)

I feel very blessed to have such an amazing and loving family and even more so friends (who get to choose rather than get lumped with :-)))

I hope you have all had a joyous day with family, friends or even on your own.

The only downside? I can’t smell or taste anything still. Even to the point I accidentally doused my top lip with perfume today and couldn’t taste or smell it! Sis tried to get me to eat the devils food (Brussels) because I wouldn’t be able to taste them, but think I might have hurled even if I couldn’t taste them!

Merry Christmas to you all