Not for them making Christmas Eve last as long as possible. They wanted to go to bed earlier than usual because that way Christmas Day would come quicker.
I was around the village on Christmas Eve, searching out those final Christmas presents ahead of heading home to spend a couple of hours wrapping (that's wrapping as in parcels and not rapping as in Stormzy). On the window ledge of the local Chinese takeaway was a small wrapped parcel with the words "From Hethersett Brownies - A Random Act of Kindness." It turned out to be a packet of Haribo sweets. What a lovely thought.
On Christmas Eve got round to watching a little bit of Christmas TV which primarily included bits of It's A Wonderful Life (my favourite ever film) and bits of Elf. The previous evening we watched "Last Christmas" and it took me a good 20 minutes to work out that we watched this a year ago. Suddenly the plot came back to me.
I also listened to one of my favourite and little known Christmas songs. I just love the feel and the words of When The Thames Froze by Smith and Burrows. It includes the lyric
God damn this Government
Will They Ever Tell Me Where The Money Went?
I make absolutely no comment!
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According to the local media, there are plans for an additional 50,000 homes north of Norwich. The situation is now becoming farcical. Services in Norwich and Norfolk are at breaking point and here we have plans for homes that will bring in another 200,000 people and over 50,000 vehicles. Somebody has to put a stop to this full scale development until the infrastructure is in place. Even then it strikes me as farcical.
I was born and brought up in Hellesdon which is three miles north of Norwich. Getting into Norwich from areas such as Hellesdon, Taverham, Drayton, Horsford and many more places is a nightmare now and that's before the huge influx this development would bring.
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Here's a quick thought. "If it was Christmas every day when would we do our shopping?"
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Does anyone feel that Christmas cards could soon be a thing of the past in their present format? When we were both working, we hit 300 cards on one Christmas. This year we have just over 100 which is still a lot. We sent out about the same number but also sent a load of e-cards where you could also send a message. I reckon we will be receiving more and more of these in years to come. A lot of people we know just sent an e-mail message of good wishes round and made a donation to charity. This is something I applaud.
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Had a lovely family day on Christmas Day itself. Lots of food and drink and games. So much better than last year. We went out to see the lights in Wood Avens Way in Wymondham. It's another of those streets where virtually every house takes part. Passed a lady who said to her partner "I believe they also have some fantastic lights in Hethersett." Indeed we do.
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Forgot to mention yesterday that the latest edition of Hethersett Herald is now online at www.hethersettherald.weebly.com. If you haven't seen a copy before please do download it.