Day Eighty Six

Festis 

We had another uneventful patrol this morning. Which was fine with us.

There is a certain elegance in the boringly usual I have discovered over the years. 

When we got home everyone was awake. Well except for Craig naturally.

Even Miss Tarryn was here, as she had had a sleepover.

So everyone had a relaxing morning, taking advantage of the trove of Christmas treats. 

But for Emmet who was writing a chapter for that very very expensive book. 

Then Niamh drove Tarryn to her home. 

But she got stuck in our driveway. Oh my.

Even with snow tires. 

So Zita, Niamh, Tarryn and Alex from across the street got the big snow shovels and dug the car out.

Zita drove it away while everybody cleaned the driveway so it would not happen again. 

They had successfully excavated the car before we had got our boots on.

So we just went on our afternoon walk around the neighbourhood.

It is slightly warmer today but the snow is sticky and it turns walking into trudging. 

Good thing we Blackthorn-Badgers are unusually fit. And well supplied with rum toddies. 

We suspect that Zita and Niamh have been in communication with our Miss Poppy.

As they have been on the computer all afternoon looking for just the perfect Bouvier addition to the family. 

Oh my goodness that is exciting. 

Lord knows Furrgus and I are quite overwhelmed with the ongoing responsibilities. 

And are looking forward to a far more sedentary life, let me tell you. 

As the time away from serving Her Majesty increases, lounging in the local cafés has had an increasing appeal to us. 

Especially if they have patisseries available. 

But later this afternoon, when we returned from patrol, the undeniable smell of cooking ham wafted through the house.

Now that is a proper welcome home.

We now understand that second Christmas with all the Mahoneys will now occur on Friday. 

But the ham could not wait.

So Zita got her famous ham recipe out and the ham was popped into the oven. Much to our delight.

While the ham progressed we had our secondary nap.

When we awoke the ham was sitting on top of the oven relaxing. 

We had had hopes that we would do some quality control testing tonight. 

But Zita said the carving of the ham is a decades old ritual which cannot be set aside.

And that all would have to wait until Friday. 

But fortunately we were invited to share a scrumptious stuffed veal dinner with the whole family.

And we received an invitation to Friday’s dinner also. Ahhh. Christmas time.

Then Niamh went downstairs to start cleaning her bedroom. A daunting task at the best of times. 

And Emmet took advantage of being home to luxuriate at some length, in an Emmet sized bathtub. 

Craig and Zita went to the den to watch their mystery program, leaving us to decipher the Sunday Times crossword.