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Hello, Elle!
No arrangements made!
Nearer the time, perhaps.
I am not a great fan of Christmas but I go along with it, to an extent.
It is good to see the family though, and the girls all poshed up!

Hi, Rusty!
Yes, I do agree with you that it is a bit early to be making Xmas arrangements.
It was just because you had said that your family were talking about Christmas that I had wondered whether that included plans for the Big Day!
I found a call on our answerphone today from our builder and decorators, saying that they would not be starting our work on the back bedroom, and the two bathrooms until after the New Year.
I am quite happy with the delay, as it will be much easier for me to leave it until then.
Less rush in getting ready for our visitors!
I have just been talking with my cousin....all is well up there!

Hello, Elle!
My family just brought Christmas into the conversation because things will be different for them this year, at Christmas.
I think you are wise regarding the work on the bedroom.
Up here, the building trade often goes slack after New Year.
So, it should suit your builders, too.

Hi, Rusty!
We have had some changes to our own Christmas arrangements, too, over the last few years.
For very many years, all the family came to us for both Christmas and New Year, but for the last few years our younger daughter has invited me and my husband over to them for Christmas Day.
I am glad of the change, because I found catering for both that and New Year's Day a little bit too strenuous!
Fifteen people on both days involved a lot of cooking preparation (and I am no wonder cook!)
Now, we just do the New Year's Day birthday party!
I hope that your own family Christmas "changes" will work out well for you all.
I think our builders have a lot of outside work that they hope to complete before the festive period..... the bad weather has held them up considerably.
I am quite happy to wait.

Good morning, Elle!
Weather is wet and foggy here.
Not very nice!
I am home for the day.
I do no cooking at Christmas.
I buy a steak pie from the butcher and that's all.
I'm not sure what the young ones are doing, but I hope they visit me on Christmas Day.

Good morning, Rusty!
We have the wet.......but fortunately not the fog today!
It is much milder though.
I feel sure that your grandchildren will visit you on Christmas Day, Rusty!
They always do.....they will look forward to seeing you!
My doorbell just rang, and I was handed a big parcel....
I got excited for a moment and thought all my Christmases had come at once!
But it was yet another Amazon delivery for my son......I think we are fast becoming a parcel depot!
He and our granddaughter are coming to see us on Thursday, thankfully.....so they can take all the packages, so far amassed, away with them.
I've done some of the crossword....is it me, or is it rather an odd one today?

Hello, Elle!
I think you are correct about my grandchildren visiting.
I think your son is keeping the parcels secret from his family!
Probably a lot of that going on around the country.
I think the puzzle is fine, Elle?
I liked 25a!

Hi, Rusty!
The next two packages that have arrived are indeed for me!
I have a number of items on order at the moment.
My son is somewhat inconvenienced in his new flat by the absence of a concierge.......hence mum and dad as custodians!
I don't know, though, what will happen to any of his parcels that arrive when we are out......?
I have nearly finished the crossword now.
I've managed to get more of a grip on it...but to me some of the clues are decidedly "odd".
You mentioned 25a......that is one of those that I cannot do!
I have N?T?T?D
Also 21a: P?P?S and 7d: U?E?E?
I especially liked 12a: New Yorker; and 20a: spliff
It is raining quite heavily now.

Hello, Elle!
I no longer have my puzzle but from memory this is what I remember.
25a, is "not a ted". Teds or teddy boys were on the go in the fifties.
I had "popes" for 21a.
A pope is a fish, but I can't remember the clue!
7, is an odd one!
I have "uneven" but the only parse I could see was the clue number, 7.
Still wet here, too.

Hi, Rusty!
Thank you...I will look at these when I return.....and also tell you the requisite clue!
I have only just realised how late it is.... and I have to attend a PPG meeting at the GP surgery at 2 o'clock.
I shall get very wet, walking there!
Talk later.....