26th December 2024 - Christmas '24
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Yesterday was rather mad. My brother, sister in law and niece appeared 
with their 2 schnausers. This meant there were 4 dogs along with a 2 
year old. Perfect recipe for chaos! 

Yet, there was little. My brother's dogs have improved greatly. Archer 
still demands strokes galore but Figgy has become a much calmer dog 
since his snip. All 4 dogs were much nicer with no growling or 
worrying about Figgy going for the others. 

My niece was very sweet. She kept playing with presents as she opened 
them. It made for a long morning but she was having a lovely time. It 
seems the Brio aeroplane I got her was a hit. She loved playing with 
cars too. I got to spend some time playing with her again. She is 
really nice to spend time with now. You can see the imagination coming 
into action as she plays around. Particularly when she opened the 
Bluey figures from my parents. They were a big hit. I managed to get a 
very confused stare when I didn't know the name of Bluey's little 
sister. It made me laugh. Turns out that is her favourite character. 

Plenty of food and drink was had. The TV was only turned on for the 
new Wallace and Gromit. That was a delightful film which had many a 
recall to previous films and spin offs. Once my brother's lot 
went home, my parents watched the King's speech (the yearly one, not 
the film) and the Gavin and Stacy special. Ol' Charlie was his usual 
self with standard themes. I still think Lizzie did a better speech. 
However, Charles is still early in his reign so needs the practise. 
The Gavin and Stacy special was a nice dip back with the daft 
characters. The story was typical and rather predictable in where it 
went. It was a nice ending and it is fitting. 

Boxing day has been spent clearing up and doing little. It is always a 
day of left overs and wondering whether to take down all the 
decorations. My dad recons my mum will leave the decorations up into 
the new year.I suspect not.