Monday and Tuesday

 Due to the Holiday season, I will be writing multiple days at once. My holiday is packed full with activity and I am enjoying the social scene!

Monday morning I awoke to a brand new carpet of snow on the ground. We were all anxious, as one of our oldest friends was arriving to stay for a few days that evening. |Like Sunday, we repeated the  spend quality time with Zelda and the days went very smoothly. We laid out some ground rules about not listening and speaking rudely and she has taken them on board quite well, providing we do the same!

I spent about two hours preparing food for Tuesdays Brunch. I made a baked honey mustard spiced ham, two smoked salmon strata, a winter salad of baby spinach and rocket, with raisins, apples, grapes and goat cheese, bacon wrapped apricots,prunes and feta and a dish of crudites with a horseradish dipping sauce. The pink champagne was chilling in the garage and the house was ready for a party!

Zelda went to bed around 9pm and then we watched a film until Jessica arrived. We stayed up late talking and catching up. 1am rolled around and we rolled into our beds.

Tuesday was a great day. The guests started to arrive at noon. We were 8 adults and 2 children. Around 3pm one group left and another group stayed so we became an intimate group of 5. We sat around laughing, talking and eating for the next 4 hours!  The Americans were " in the house". Three American women and two British men! It was strange for me to hear the American accent so strongly and so often. Also, it was refreshing to be around the American ease of chit chat and the feeling that one can fit in with out trouble. This is something I missed living in France for so long. Conversation just flowed and rambled.

By 7:30 everyone had left, except for Jessica who is staying until the 31st. We all played a board game with Zelda based on the book Going On A Bear Hunt. Zelda won! The it was up to bed to be read to by Auntie Jessie and put to sweet slumbers by me.

Two arms curled around my neck. Her hot breath lulled me to sleep. I reluctantly unwrapped her from me and went downstairs. I snuggled up adult style on the couch and enjoyed the rest of the evening.  So far so good!