My start to the winter festivities began early.
At 06:00 on 15 December to be precise.
That's when the alarm went off and I rocketed out of bed so as to meet up with Roland at our Merseyrail station. We were heading in to town to catch a London bound train so as to be at Covent Garden for a dress rehearsal.
Our promised fairytale experience was to be Englebert Humperdinck's Hansel and Gretel and it proved to be an absolute delight. Back in 1998, I saw the much lauded David Pountney ENO production and thought it rather fine. In December 2008, I saw the previous Covent Garden production in my first ROH cinecast and thoroughly enjoyed the experience.
Roland and I both enjoyed Antony McDonald's production and Mark Wigglesworth's handling of the score. The cast were excellent. The show had both charm and an edge where necessary. We both left well satisfied and gave it two thumbs up.
Michael in New York asked how I felt about the announcement that, in future, ENO would base itself in Manchester with guest seasons in the London venue which it owns, the Coliseum on St Martin's Lane. This is a nonsense which has been rumbling away for a while now.
- I think that it's yet another scheme/plan/venture put forward by a political grouping that has run out of time and energy.
- I think that there is more chance of refugees being flown to Rwanda than there is of a successful outcome to this particular scheme.
- I think that the whole sorry mess is unlikely to survive the next general election.
- I think that it will quickly become clear that the practicalities of making the transfer work will cost more than going with the status quo.
- I think that no-one has thought through how basing ENO in Manchester for part of the year will affect the ecosystem of the current provision - most notably concerning Opera North: a fully regional company based in Leeds.
As a teacher, I had to attend yearly staff meetings about child abuse, the different forms it takes, what to do if you are unhappy about something and how young lies are devastated. All of this was accompanied by graphic (and I do mean graphic) images of what adults are capable of inflicting upon the young.
Then Christmas came along with its attendant Christmas play/presentation. This would inevitably include a dance routine featuring a troupe of pre-pubescent girls clad in tightly form fitting Lycra posturing lewdly in front of an adoring crowd of parents.
Nobody seemed willing to acknowledge the disaffect.
Ross and I have had a pleasant time of it preparing the house for our stay-at-home festivities. Ross created a radiant decorative display in the hearth in the Kitchen.
And our tree was as splendid as you could wish for.
Ross enjoyed non-alcoholic fizz and baked many mince pies.
Ross supervised the preparation of our meal and roasted a boned shoulder of lamb.
Both of our meals were more than enough for the two of us.
The Prescotts and the Budzinskis made merry...
...opening presents and eating a feast.
Over at Sam and Tom's, there was competition for the title of "best dressed sentient being" between the two dogs and Trevor.
Festive splendour abounded on Sam's and Megan's Christmas tables.
Joy was to be had in many other households - notably Ian's, Liz and Julian's and Leo's.
The most intriguing aspect of Ian's Christmas photograph was not the fact that his 18-year-old son was out of bed before 11am but the dog. Over the years, they had been guardians to a number of rescue greyhounds. The canine in the photograph was a very odd looking greyhound and so I probed.
Ian explained that, indeed, Hugo the Frenchie did not meet the classic greyhound specifications.
My curiosity was now even more piqued and so I inquired as to what manner of canine this Frenchie was and whether they were also renowned for their kissing? Ian responded that Hugo the Frenchie is a French Bulldog and that yes the breed is well known for giving lots of kisses. On the plus side, he also noted that this breed is incapable of licking their own bums.
So, I imagined that tonguing was OK then. Ian agreed with the proviso that the dog had not been licking another dog's bum. This, he emphasised, could not be ruled out. And, d'you know, I've been to parties like that.
Liz and Julian cut a much more conventional image by contrast to all of that. Leo offered up an image of his favourite breakfast of the year - an amalgam of all manner of left overs from the main feast.
Leo also impressed the nation with his astonishingly life-like testicular impersonation of a gobbling turkey.
Moving on. This stark, Parisian Christmas Tree might present a challenge to anyone who immediately sees it as an over-sized butt plug.
Mind you, this guy looks as though he's getting in some serious practice.
Maybe, he's the person who wanted to show off their Lynx Africa but forgot to check the background of the photograph.
