Christmas

Christmas here is much less commercialised than in UK. The shops only seemed to get busy a couple of days before Christmas and there are none of the over the top decorations around.

Last Sunday evening we attended the service of 9 lessons and carols at the anglican cathedral which was broadcast and followed by mulled wine and mince pies.

Wednesday afternoon I again heard lots of sirens and wondered if there had been a major accident and then realised it was the police and fire engines on their way to Victory Green where the road was closed and father Christmas distributing goody bags to all the children of Stanley. This was followed by carol singing - planned to be under the whalebone arch outside the cathedral but as it was raining moved to the parish hall. There was a large group of musicians playing brass and wind instruments and a couple of solos from a bagpipe player. There was an excellent turnout and hearty singing of lots of well known carols.

I had left a turkey in the oven and Simon went out windsurfing after work so we enjoyed our Christmas dinner later on that evening.

Christmas day dawned calm and sunny and Simon and I exchanged gifts, in fact the same gift, a recently published book of photos of the Falklands. I did however manage a slight one-upmanship as I had obtained a copy signed by the author! Simon has generously offered to get me a second hand copy of Tony Chater's first book of photos which is now out of print and by no means cheap but which I had fallen in love with when borrowed from the library.

We went to the Christmas service at the Tabernacle, the church we usually attend and on our way home tried out the public glass crushing machine to recycle bottles.

We then drove out to Cape Pembroke east of Stanley and had a nice walk along the rocky coast, which is very reminiscent of Pembrokeshire. Some of the upland goose goslings are beginning to lose their down and get their adult feathers. We saw a lone gentoo penguin standing on a rock and a large flock of turkey voltures were enjoying the remains of a washed up elephant seal carcass for their Christmas lunch. The weather steadily deteriorated and we were ready for a late lunch by the time we got home.

Despite the phone lines being very difficult, especially for internet calls, we eventually spoke to all the family which was really nice.
Simon had been planning to go windsurfing later but as it turned very cold and wet even he enjoyed relaxing at home and in the evening we watched the DVD of The Nativity which made a very fitting end to the day.