Lesley starts to worry about Christmas

Posted: 16th November 2007 15:10

'Not one present has been bought and I'm feeling a bit panicky...'

The weather continues to be conducive to building work and we've welcomed all these crisp, frosty mornings and cold, dry days. Back at the cottage we're having fun building log fires in the wood-burning stove. The kids tend to get a bit distraught each time a wood louse (or 'Granfer Gray', as they are called in this neck of the woods) gets cremated accidentally, and a few rescue missions have had to be mounted.

At the project, the windows are still being fitted and there's a kind of a lull in the frenzied activity of the past few weeks while we wait nervously for the slightly more major developments to happen, such as the installation of the large pieces of glass (which are making their way majestically down the M5 as I write) and the fitting of the under-floor heating. Both of these events are scheduled for early December.

In the meantime, on the inside of the house, walls have been plastered and ceilings have been put up. Before Christmas, we need to order the Aga and the flagstone flooring for the whole of the ground floor. Gulp. When you add the price of these to the assorted costs of Christmas, plus the birthdays of two children who inconsiderately chose to be born just before and just after the festive season, it's beginning to look like an eye-wateringly expensive time for us. I might just phone up the Guinness Book Of Records and ask if our household could be in the running in the 'quickest and most effective draining of a bank account' category.

During our customary stroll (or, more accurately, stumble) through the house last weekend, for the first time I felt impatient for things to move on and for it to start to look even more like a real house. For me, it will only start to feel like a potential home when the staircase goes in, the front door goes on and the glass on the south-facing side is all fitted. Admittedly, some of these things are still quite far away, so I'll just have to be patient.

As yet there's not one single present bought for Christmas and I'm feeling a bit panicky about it. There are so many different 'to-do' lists running in my head at the moment that they are threatening to merge into one big nonsensical lump. The end of term tends to turn into one long endurance event of nativity plays, carol concerts and choir recitals. Theo has bagged the challenging role of 'Second King' this year, which will hopefully bring with it a slightly less skimpy outfit than last year's bum-skimming toga for the Roman soldier's part, which made him look like an extra in Carry On Cleo.

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