10th December - Grandmama's Christmas Visitors

We're off visiting relatives today, armed with mince pies and ninjabread men.  This visit is in honour of my daughter's sixth birthday, and the next time we'll see them all will be Christmas Eve (not long now).  It was always a major component of Christmas when I was growing up, to visit my Grandma on Christmas Eve, a bit of a ritual, and so it seems right and proper to take Lily up to see her Grandparents and her cousins on Christmas Eve before we entrench ourselves at home.  It seems that we're not the only ones and for many people the visit to relatives was a precious part of the Christmas period.  Take this picture, for example...

Grandmama's Christmas Visitors George Adolphus Storey

Ahh, look at their little smiling faces.  Every Grandma's heart would swell with happiness at the sight of such a jolly party.  I'm not sure if the dog came out of the coach or belongs to Grandma, but I'm guessing the latter, and I suppose he represents the faithfulness of the children in their visit.  Or Grandma has just set the dog on her grandchildren.  Lordy, how many of them are there packed into that coach?  God, one of them has a trumpet, there will be no peace this afternoon.  The coachmen are smiling in a particularly evil way as if to say 'Yes, happy Christmas Grandma, you don't know it yet but the one at the back has a tin drum...'

The first time I saw the picture I thought the girl at the front had one enormous sleeve, but of course it's just her huge muff.  Ahh, December is indeed Muff Month and hers is very impressive. It's almost up to her armpit!  In my extensive muff research I have come across this very special item...

This, my friends, is a muff pistol.  Should you be set upon by rascals and vagabonds, you can whip this out of your muff and shoot them.  Now, that does seem a little harsh, but December can be a rough month with all that carolling and eating and endless shopping, so possibly it wouldn't hurt to be packing heat in your muff.  The young lady descending from the coach does look like she would be kind of handy with a piece, if only to keep her siblings in line, especially the one with the trumpet.

Who allows a child to take a trumpet to a relative's house?  The parents obviously hold a grudge.  Mind you, nothing says Christmas like developing a nervous twitch because of a child's toy.  We get to spend Christmas this year with Cookie the Animatronic Dog, the present that Lily so desperately wished for.

And remember, an animatronic dog is not just for Christmas, it's for life.  Oh joy.

See you tomorrow.