Poor old Robbie has his head in his books as he revises for his mock GCSE exams. He had two today, and seems to think they went well. He is far more relaxed about taking exams than Nikki ever was… not that I am saying that is a good thing. We will wait and see the results.

I have agreed my leaving date. I will finish on the 25th Jan, and start with BP on the 28th. My mind is getting into gear about all the things I need to complete for then. I don’t want to leave anything open ended.

Tricia is up to her eyeballs in cakes, marzipan etc, as she processes orders that have been coming in. Ellie is counting days until Christmas, and Nikki has a cold. Me, I am tired after a long day which started with a gym session, so off to my bed.

Ghosts of Christmas past. Part 2

These are the headlines from the Eighlem News, Christmas 1981. The drawing is of my Mum and Dad, myself and my two brothers, Stephen and Mark.

It had snowed that year. A rare occurrence at Christmas for us, despite all the popular imagery. As was tradition for us as a family we had walked up to midnight mass. On the way back Dad lost his footing in the snow and went over. In true Christmas spirit, my brothers and I laughed instead of helping him up. As a family we always had a great time at Christmas, and going to midnight mass was really the start of Christmas for us. Back home we would devour mince pies and drink sherry, and get to bed late.