So yet another Christmas has come to us and gone from us. A New Year now awaits us and, who knows, what it will bring to our lives. All we wish is that the world will start to become a fairer place and that Peace may find a foothold in more parts of this troubled planet so that mankind may redirect time and energy to protecting Mother Earth.

Our Christmas festivities have a pattern we have traditionally set down for some years now. Midnight Mass was celebrated in the beautiful neo-classical chapel of the Convent of the Angel founded by the Passionist fathers and now the home of the Montegral Music School.

This was the night’s program:

Our Christmas lunch consisted of Sandra’s amazing lasagne, followed by turkey and ending with my fruit Madeira cake which bakes wonderfully well in our Nordica cucina economica. (Aga’s Italian equivalent).

Of course, presents were opened, none of which were given by us but all from our cats Carlotta, Cheeky and Archie.

We had guests after Boxing Day and enjoyed a Christmas pudding (located in Barga) with them.

Christmas films included my rediscovery of that greatest of all, Charlie Chaplin, especially his later films including ‘City Lights’, Modern Times’ and the wonderful ‘Limelight’.

We did a bit of wooding, a lot of washing up and even more relaxing. We even received a postal Christmas card from my cousin which was a treat. Otherwise we produced our own cards and, of course, I wrote my festivities poem which is as follows:

You are my Christmas my rebirth;
From you all new hopes spring.
You are my wife, my lover’s earth.
All this planet can sing.

From this shortest day springs new hope
From winter’s darkness light
And all from you my horoscope
My ultimate delight.

The tree colours our little lives,
The crib brings a new hope.
We sit and await what arrives
What news, what brighter scope?

A year past. Another to come
And will we see again
The spangled tree, the star
The carol’s familiar refrain?

We can but believe it’s all true
And in the night’s darkness
And the day’s brighest blue
Hold fast in endlessness.