That was Christmas

Well slightly belated but I hope you all had a great Christmas. We headed down to Manchester for a week of food, drink, shopping and a bit more. Our great plan of leaving early on the 23rd December were shelved when we woke up to the most snow I have ever seen in Dunbar. The traffic news reported that the A1 near Dunbar was closed and on the bypass near Edinburgh, there were 2 hour delays. So we decided to stay put. Obviously the kids were out in the snow, and before long so was half the street. The neighbours were calling for me to come out and join them in a big snow ball fight, and so I obliged. There was no order to it, just hit anything with a pulse. Stuart got one smack in the face from his PE teacher, but I managed to get revenge and landed one on her head. We also built a snowman. Here is ours in the back garden (below)

By 11.30am the roads were open again so we headed south. It took a while driving from East to West, but I hate driving in snow and for once i didn't mind being stuck behind that driver who only goes 40mph. Once in Burnage we discovered that the council had not gritted the roads. Arterial roads were like farm tracks covered in ice which caused a few problems for the buses.

The bulk of the holidays were spent meeting people, eating and drinking. Christmas Day itself was a bit like going back in time, as for the first time in a long time for me I was sat at the Christmas table with Uncle Frank & Aunty Dorothy, plus 16 others. Before all that we opened a few presents and headed down to St Margaret's Church for the service. Fog had joined the snow and ice, making for a pretty Christmas scene. Not quite Spott Parish Church but it was good to see people I have not seen in ages. Back to the food, it was yet another extravagant feast for all. My mum and dad stock up well for Christmas including the box of dates. Who eats them? Nobody seems to..perhaps its the same box used each year. Photos: St Margaret's and Burnage in the snow.

The rest of the day was spent on the X-Box and watching the Royle Family, Dr Who and a few other things. It was soon all over, but with a few more days ahead of us in manchester the holiday was just begining. Photo: A few other Christmas photo's