Christmas 2025

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Here’s my annual jottings for Christmas week, 2025…

After what seemed a manic period taking us up to this week, we somehow managed to get ourselves really well-organised this year, where in the week before this one, it all seemed very relaxed – just what retirement should be about (but it seemed to have eluded us in previous years)! I’m not sure what we did differently, but long may it continue!

Monday, 22 December

5.25am: Up with the birds this morning!

8.45am: A early start on the road and probably our final business-type get-together, as we headed for the opulence of the Holiday Inn Express near Oxford! The reason? Our annual review with our IFA, Chris.

10.05am: As the traffic was light, we enjoyed as hassle-free journey, and meant we arrived in record time.

2.31pm: The journey home was uneventful, and although ‘Doris’ took us on a different route home – via Buckingham – adding about 20 minutes to our overall journey time, we were soon indoors and tucking into cheese & biscuits. With the grotty weather outside (cold and wet!), we caught up with some jobs inside the house.

4.55pm: Heard from Jo, my walking buddy, and we took a quick walk around the immediate area.

5.35pm: Curry Night, thanks to some additional bits from Jo and Janet

6.25pm: Slumped in front of the TV watching Beyond Paradise and then the finale of The War Between Land and Sea.

Tuesday, 23 December

5.30am: Another early rise!

6.20am: Ann’s off to the Spool

10.35am: A busy morning followed! First job? Brief the Plasterer who will be sorting out our bedroom ceiling as part of the decorating project in early 2026. Then a shed load of ironing and a thorough vacuuming of the house. Ann got stuck into the packing for our few days away, whilst David and I pursued more manly challenges! That challenge began my first foray into installing the new TV bracket in the Bedroom.

It looked like a simple task, but turned out to be more complex than we thought (don’t they always!). Why? Just our luck that one of the support brackets that screwed into the back of the TV (that would eventually attach to the bracket shown above) was impeded by the various sockets on the rear of the TV. Cue some serious hacksawing! Thirty minutes later, it was mission accomplished, thanks to David’s superior hacksawing skills! 👍👍

Thanks David! Now all we needed to do was to work out the exact positioning on the wall for this serious piece of metalwork, that somehow also needs to conceal the Sky mini-box and other vital componenets – definitely a two-person job! 😳. Well, we made serious progress, but it’s definitely NOT a job I’m going to complete this side of Christmas, as I need to give some serious thought to the fact that the bracket sits on a plasterboard wall. Stay tuned, as they say, more DIY news to come!

12.45pm: After a quick Lunch, Ann headed off to Sue’s for her last piece of voluntary work before the big day. Meanwhile, I pottered about, attempting to complete some bits and pieces that seem to have been hanging around for ages – mostly paperwork.

4.45pm: Ann arrived back from Sue’s just as I was on my way out.

4.55pm: Walkies with Jo!

5.45pm: It was a cold one out there, much colder than Monday. Fortunately, Ann had prepared Dinner, and we were soon tucking into Bangers, Mash with Cauliflower Cheese. Yummy! 😋

6.30pm: A night in front of the TV – Cadfael, (S1, Ep 1) and Madame Blanc Christmas Special.

Christmas Eve

5.25am: Up before the birds again this morning for no other reason than (unusually) neither of us slept very well! 😕.

6.15am: Ann headed off to the Pool whilst I prepped Brekky and then caught up with tonight’s EastEnders on iPlayer – a worthy cliff-hanger for Christmas Eve! Who is she? 🤔

9.35am: Being Christmas Eve meant that today was mostly about cleaning – cars, house, bathroom… and even US! 😉. Weather-wise, it wasn’t the best day for sprucing up the cars, but needs must, as they say – and I dug out my thickest coat and a pair of fashionable Marigolds! It wasn’t a good look, but it was a practical one ❄️❄️

Midday: With the cars sorted, it was time to revisit our Bedroom TV bracket project! Having spent some valuable time with David yesterday working out what is going where, today was about precision. With the need to not only accommodate the TV, AND the new TV bracket, I also needed to fit in the Sky Q Mini-Box and my Amazon Firestick. That meant in addition to all that hardware, I’ll also need to factor in three mains sockets. I hate visible cabling, so it all has to fit behind the Telly, so that only the TV is visible from the front. Yikes! A real challenge – where even now, I’m not sure it’s all going to fit! Still, a bit more measuring, where at least on paper (or more accurately, wallpaper) it seems it might all work.

And then there’s the additional challenge of choosing the right fixings given that the bracket sits on a plasterbaord wall. Those who know me, know that I love a challenge (but also that any DIY job is NOT how I prefer to spend my time!) 😮. Enough of this for today.

1.15pm: A well-earned Lunch for us two, having cleaned the house within an inch of its life!

Some TV followed – a catch-up with the national and international News followed by the film: Babe. THEN, whilst Ann took a short siesta, I watched(for the umpteenth Christmas) National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation – excellent, harmless fun for a time when humour was a lot simpler! 👍🎅

5.35pm: Let the celebrations begin! We took the short walk down to Jo and Janet’s for pre-Christmas nibbles! What a perfect way to start things off before the big day!

A couple of generous glasses of G&T got things off to a great start where the pre-nibble, err, nibbles got a hammering. Thanks, girls, you remembered I like ‘Bugles’ 👍😘

…followed by the main event!! Yum yum!!

The M&S novelty chocs raised a festive smile. As you opened the lid to plunder the contents, it played a Christmas tune (thus preventing any secret pilfering at a later date!)

The good food and plentiful drinks allowed us to easily put right all the world’s problems! 😁. Our various ramblings discussions resolved topics as broad as: the pros and cons of Tattoos; the trustworthiness of Facebook and also answered two key questions: ‘Why Botox?’ and ‘Who will replace Tess & Claudia on Strictly’?. Lofty stuff, ehh?! 🤔

Christmas Day

Morning all! Merry Christmas to you and yours!

6.05am: A lie in this morning! 👍😉

6.30am: Today, I am mostly being a taxi!

7.17am: I dropped Ann off at the Park Hotel for her daily exercise.

8.20am: Mrs P safely retrieved from the Hotel!

8.55am: This year, the unwrapping of gifts was a game of two halves! We exchanged pressies and cards to each other, and left the remaining gifts for when we get back tomorrow.

9.50am: Later, we taxied down to Roger, Jane & Oliver to spend Christmas Day and Boxing Day with them.

11.20am: Unsurprisingly, there was hardly anything on the road today as we headed south – and we arrived in just under 90 minutes.

After ‘hellos’ and hugs all round, we were soon tucking into some traditional Christmas fare and catching up with everyone’s news.

12.45pm: Nice touch! 👍. Roger served up some Pre-Lunch bubbles!

2.10pm: Christmas Lunch 2025! Wow! What a feast! You just can’t beat Christmas Lunch with the Gambles organising things!! 👍. Super-tasty!

Absolutely delicious and we’re stuffed! The Cheese Course can wait! 😮

5.10pm: Present swapping with an open fire and a cuppa! – Perfect! 👍

Let the paper ripping begin! 👍

6.05pm: A great selection of gifts – thanks folks! 👍😘

Unwrapping presents was thirsty work! Time for a liquid break. Roger introduced me to the Palmer’s range of Ales (brewed in Dorset). I’d not sampled their wares before, and the Dorset Gold went down a treat. Even Mrs P liked it! 😮. Ann? Beer? Surely some mistake!? 🤔

7.35pm: More food in the shape of the ‘paused’ Cheeseboard from Christmas Lunch was now on offer, and I somehow managed to squeeze some in.

7.45pm: Film Night!!! Paddington 2.

A good choice and perfect for this over-full, somewhat lethargic audience! I don’t think I need to eat for another week (yeah, right!)

After the film ended, we spent the rest of the evening just chatting. This and that, but in the end, our conversations turned to an extended natter about EVs and the current market.

10.55pm: A late one for us, but it had been a really enjoyable day just catching up with, and enjoying the whole ‘family gathering’ tradition – surely that’s what Christmas is for! 😍😍. We made some brief plans for tomorrow, including a walk around the local area punctuated by, as usual, some really good food.

11.10pm: 🥱🥱💤💤

Boxing Day

7.55am: Morning all! We both slept well and didn’t get up until just before 8 – it must be Christmas! 😉

10.00am: We decided to take a walk before any more food passed our lips!

We wandered in the direction of The Maltons (‘Ware’s finest Gastro-Pub’) – but didn’t stop – and then onward to the iconic Hanbury Manor with its stunning views out across the countryside.

10.55am: Phew! That was a cold one! Colder than it looked ❄️❄️😬

11.15am: Brunch is served!

12.25pm: Is there such a thing as ‘Boxing Day’ presents? There is, in our world, and we followed the tradition! 👍😉

As always, some useful gifts to us all – from us all! 👍👍

Before we said our goodbyes to our Hosts, there was just one last ritual to enjoy. This was the unveiling of Jane’s Christmas Cake (always a yummy treat!)

1.05pm: With a generous slice carved from this year’s festive masterpiece to take home, we then said our goodbyes and headed home.

Saturday, 27 December

A lazy-ish day today with Ann playing to her strengths and busy in the kitchen, and me doing some odd jobs around the house. As I sat down to complete this Christmas Post, I realised that technically, something was wrong! 😕. Adding text was fine, but for reasons unknown, I now couldn’t upload any new images (images already uploaded were fine!). I spent a significant amount of time attempting to resolve it, but nothing seemed to help. And, with my web host’s technical support team not available until January 2nd, things were unlikely to improve in the short term 😬

I decided to give it all a rest and have another go tomorrow.

3.05pm: Elsewhere, with most of the domestic tasks now completed, we decided to have a marathon ‘Festive TV’ catch-up session, watching as much as we could that had been recorded over the Christmas period.

9.15pm: By the time we went to bed, our eyes were completely square! 😉. Still plenty left though!!

Sunday, 28 December

Morning all! 👍. With our eyes returning to their normal shape, the day unfolded. Jo & Janet are joining us tonight for a TV Dinner, so there are things to do.

Disappointingly, absolutely no progress at all in resolving the technical issue with this Blog, so I decided to abandon writing the Post completely and publish what I have, as-is. It was hardly ideal, as I do like to keep a detailed record of these occasions, but my options were limited – pictures tell a thousand words, ehh? I may back-fill Friday’s content using the photos I took on Boxing Day once this all gets resolved, but for now, I’m not adding any new content other than what is already penned. On a positive note, this Post was due to be published at the end of today anyway, so there’s minimal ‘loss’.

In all the years I’ve been blogging (since 2004!), this is a first, and it’s very frustrating! 😲. I’ve got a big Post planned for early in January to celebrate a friend’s birthday, and I do hope it can all be resolved by then.

6.00pm: Jo and Janet popped round for one of our ‘Winner, Winner, TV Dinner’ get-togethers (like, we need even more food!) 😉. Tonight’s choice? F1- The Movie starring the ever-youthful, Brad Pitt.

Christmas TV 2025

As usual for us, Christmas TV played a large part in our Christmas celebrations. Our Sky Q box was therefore kept pretty busy – even whilst we were away.

✅ = Don’t bother
✅✅ = Only if there’s nothing else to see!
✅✅✅ = Not bad!
✅✅✅✅ = Worth a watch!
✅✅✅✅✅ = Loved it!

A Ghost Story for Christmas ✅✅✅✅✅. Top stuff, Mr Gatiss!

All Creatures Great and Small Christmas Special ✅✅✅✅✅. Aww! A real festive one!

All Creatures Great and Small (Behind the Scenes) ✅✅✅. A bit of a ‘Luvvie Fest’ for me, but it gave some interesting facts about the series

Amadeus (new series from Sky). Still to watch

Beyond Paradise Christmas Special ✅✅✅✅✅. A bit cheesy, but quite watchable

Call the Midwife Christmas Special ✅✅✅. Disappointing! Would they really send Nuns all the way to Hong Kong?

Carols from Kings. Still to watch

Death in Paradise Christmas Special ✅✅✅✅. Lost a tick for the uber-complex plot making it feel a bit daft.

EastEnders Christmas Episodes ✅✅✅✅. Higher production values these days. ‘Nigel’s’ dementia storyline, nicely handled. The Queen Vic continues to be the most dangerous Pub in the UK

Festive Pottery Throwdown. Still to watch

Gone Christmas Fishing ✅✅✅✅✅. Excellent! Simple format but so watchable!

Good Ship Murder. ✅✅. Only if you’re desperate. So bad, it’s actually, err,… VERY bad!

Great Festive British Sewing Bee. Still to watch

Great Peep Show Festive Bake Off ✅✅✅✅. Better than we thought it would be!

Madame Blanc Mysteries ✅✅✅✅. Even better than usual. Slight deviation from the usual ‘whodunit’ storyline

Return to Paradise Christmas Special ✅✅✅✅. Still not sure about this as an ongoing part of the ‘Paradise’ franchise, but this episode was quite watchable

Royal Institute Christmas Lectures. Still to watch

Royal Carols – Together at Christmas ✅✅✅✅✅. Very festive!

Stuffed (One-off comedy drama) ✅. Oh dear! I was really looking forward to this – an original comedy-drama with a Christmas theme. Really disappointing given the acting talent involved.

The Apprentice Christmas Special ✅. Dire! Gave up a quarter way through episode 1 (of 2)

The King’s Christmas Broadcast ✅✅✅✅✅. Short and to the point, it was well presented

The War Between the Land and Sea (finalé) ✅✅✅✅. Not quite as good as I was expecting. A bit clichéd and the ‘message’ as subtle as a sledgehammer

What We Were Watching ✅✅✅✅✅. Good nostalgic fun! They don’t make ’em like this any more (shame!)

Christmas Would I Lie to You? ✅✅✅✅. Very good!

Films
Double Indemnity ✅✅✅✅✅. A great film!
F1 – The Movie. Still to watch
Invitation To Murder – A Death in Cairo ✅✅✅✅. Better than we thought it would be
Mrs Harris Goes to Paris. Still to watch
Stargate Continuum. Still to watch
The Count of Monte Cristo. Still to watch
National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation ✅✅✅✅✅. Brilliant! Chevy Chase at his best

Plenty still to plough through, but for the first time ever, I think we were both underwhelmed with 2025’s Christmas TV offerings. Maybe it’s because we’re older and ‘we’ve seen it all before’, but there was a serious lack of originality for 2025. What we saw was mostly good, but it was ‘the same old, same old!’ 😕. Hopefully, 2026 will be better!!

Christmas Past…

2024
2023
(Christmas mostly cancelled
due to my hand injury!)
2022
2021
2020
2019
2018
2017
2016
2015
2014
2013
2012
2011
2010

…and so, probably for the last time in 2025…

🎅🎄😊
Merry Christmas!