Despite what I wrote about Christmas traditions and new things yesterday, my Christmas day was surprisingly full of new things!
I’d set myself the challenge of running a mile every day in December, something I regretted very much on Christmas morning but still went out after opening a few presents before putting my Christmas pyjamas back on the instant I walked through the door – this was definitely something new, but I’m not sure I could bring myself to do it again!
The next new thing was another cocktail, a French 75. I think that technically, it’s probably a German 75 as instead of the champagne required I used a sekt – sparkling German wine. The cocktail was delicious, and something I’d definitely drink again – the mix of lemon juice, gin, and bubbly was a potent combination, and just the right amount of indulgent to warrant an appearance on my Christmas day menu.
My main new thing for today, however was listening to the Queen’s speech, a British Christmas tradition that my family had never done. Every December 25th at 3pm British time, the Queen of England takes over the main TV channels and radio stations and gives a short speech to the nation about the year that has passed and her hopes for the coming year – at least, that’s what I think it’s about! I, like many British people, have complicated feelings about the monarchy, but I’ve always loved the Queen.
This year she spoke about how hard it was to be apart from family on Christmas, and how we all wanted a hug or a squeeze of the hand. Being away from my family at Christmas isn’t new for me, so I hadn’t been thinking about it but there’s something about the Queen saying it that made me have a little cry. I missed them and I knew they missed me. I didn’t have time to dwell on it however as just as the speech started my Christmas dinner was ready to be eating. We surprisingly stood for the national anthem at the end of the speech, before tucking into my husband’s delicious salmon en croute. Not a bad Christmas day all in all!
New Day, New Thing 