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It’s been a lovely Chelmsford Christmas, but an eventful one if catching a cold was an Olympic sport. I woke up yesterday with a sore throat, and an achy head, while today, a blocked nose and an occasional cough both signify the start of something. Quite what, I don’t know.

It was inevitable, though.

With Nik’s nearest and dearest having suffered in the run-up to the Yuletide week, and during the two days that mattered most, I’m not surprised that whatever bug it is didn’t passed me by.

But, although they may have been a sniffly two days, they were full of fun and laughter, and the most enjoyable Christmas for quite a while. Mum and Bart even came down from the wilds of Suffolk to visit, en route to the Netherlands.

Card games old and new were played and learned, new introductions made, and curled up cats tickled. As for the food and presents; well, the amount of both bordered on the obscene.

And the festivities aren’t over yet.

Of course, 2008 is now just around the corner, and what with my 34th birthday on New Year’s Eve, preparations for a quiet celebration are being made, and resolutions are being pondered. With more cards already sitting on the sideboard waiting to be opened, that Christmas feeling is set to last for a couple more days.

Merry Christmas to all, and best wishes for a Happy and Prosperous New Year!

Time has been so short this week what with enjoyable Christmas preparations, so this is just a quick blog check-in. The festivities of 2007 are shaping up to be full of fun, for all sorts of reasons.

We’re cooking for seven fully-grown mouths on Boxing Day (with Will eating, too), and are quite pleased with ourselves that we’ve prepared most of the food for that day in advance. Menus have been planned, Sylvia’s biscuits and desserts have been baked, main courses have come out of the oven and gone straight into the freezer, and peppermint creams have been laid in the outhouse to harden off.

Food shopping on Saturday morning was fun. Sainsbury’s shelves resembled a post-apocalyptic bombsite, with pensioners and stressed housewives elbowing other organised shoppers out of the way, in the rush to get to the freshest fruit and vegetables first. Anyone would think war was breaking out, and the country was on rations.

The last presents have been wrapped tonight, and the sprouts have been picked for tomorrow’s late-afternoon lunch with the rest of the family. We feel so tired, but after dinner tonight, we can sit and relax, and look forward to a family-orientated and fun-filled few days.

Meanwhile, lucky Oscar has been oblivious to all the preparations, and has been mooching around the house finding his bearings, curling up on dining room chair cushions, helping to wrap presents, and lap hopping for festive tickles.

…tells its own story. The car has been away for the last two days. It’s not sick now, though. An MoT refusal on Monday prompted some unfortunate (and much needed as it happens) remedial work.

A sticking rear brake, a low headlight aim, and, more worryingly, a spot of bulkhead welding necessitated a stay in a local garage for a couple of days.  Although not needed at this time of year, in a way it was good thing, as I took the opportunity to get the new clutch fitted, and have the oil changed ahead of a minor service, which will be due at the turn of the year.

Elm Garage (01473 830470) came recommended to me, and they offered a very good service. The car was collected, the work done, and then it was returned at the time and on the date stated, all ready for me to start my seasonal festivities as planned. I thought it might have been touch and go at one point, though.

Encouragingly though, I believe it was the car’s first MoT failure in its 14-year and 151,000-mile life. With these niggles fixed, a much happier heater (now with three – yes three – speeds after eighteen months of only having one), and a Christmas wash, ‘Evo Car’ can resume its much-reduced driving duties and enter 2008 with a refreshed and renewed vigour.

This has Eurovision entry written all over it. Released in February 2006, it wasn’t, but DJ Bobo who makes up half the double act on this single did represent Switzerland in 2007’s contest, although he didn’t get through to the grand final in Helsinki.

Sandra on the other hand, has enjoyed a long and varied recording career since 1985 – in both her native Germany and the rest of Europe – and is married to the man behind Enigma, Michael Cretu. She’s a sort of German Kylie.

Discovered on MP3 download site emusic, ‘Secrets of Love’ sounds like a Mike Oldfield-produced dance anthem. And with a gothic-style video very similar to the one which accompanied Bobo’s ‘Vampires Are Alive’ Eurovision contender, kitschness is guaranteed.

Euro-goth-pop-rock-tastic.