In the run up to Christmas 2019, Mum and Dad were insistent that they make a Christmas card to circulate to family and friends and much to my disgust, (and the girl dogs disgust!), they insisted on making us wear our Christmas jumpers. We did of course, oblige in this ridiculous fancy but I made them pay for it….
You may agree that the Christmas scene created for the card was pretty, if not a little cheesy. I however, did not approve of the wearing of the reindeer jumper so with the assistance of my able side kick, Zuri, we set about changing the Christmas scene. To be fair, many of the presents under the tree were for me and Zuri so I just helped myself to those presents. I could not wait for Santa to come and I love love love shiny wrapping paper so I succumbed to temptation. I took it upon myself to rip open all of the Christmas presents under the tree and I encouraged Zuri to help with this. 
We ripped off the shiny paper from all of the presents and for good measure, I double checked the stockings which had been hung on the mantel piece. I pulled them down and had Zuri check each stocking for their contents although Zuri may have got a little excited and attacked those stockings with great passion and vengeance. The Christmas tree unfortunately, became a casualty and somehow managed to fall behind the unit it had been stood on and Mum was heard to say that it was in three pieces when discovered…… oops.
To my utter delight, many of the presents we opened were edible. Thank you Schmako‘s! Zuri and I munched our way through EVERYTHING. I did leave the socks though, and the pyjamas so Mum and Dad should be grateful for this small mercy. We also got to play with our new squeaky toys ! Santa came early! This all made up for the indignity of the jumpers. However, Mum did not agree and when she came home, I welcomed her at the front door with a bauble in my mouth (unbroken I have to add) and she was NOT happy. I felt very proud of myself and of Zuri for her participation, but after a severe telling off, and being banished to my bed for longer than anticipated, my tummy did not feel well. Dad had gone away that night and he didn’t have to deal with the ensuing carnage so Mum had to suffer my diarrhoea and Zuri’s vomiting and I’m not sure that she was impressed at cleaning up such a mess at numerous points through the night. No regrets though! I told her I didn’t like the jumper!
So Mum and Dad went all out on Christmas day to make it special, and despite our previous misdemeanours, Santa still visited and this time, I was allowed and even encouraged to open more presents. It was strange to me that it was hot and sunny and part of the amazing Christmas dinner was cooked on the barbeque by Dad. Christmas at home in England is usually icy cold and a very grey affair but Kenya was beautifully warm. Dad had invited numerous work colleagues to join us for dinner, those people who otherwise would have been alone so we were joined by 12 people. Mum confessed that she had never cooked for so many people before but both Mum and Dad achieved a minor miracle and the dinner was the BEST ever. Zuri and I certainly appreciated the barbequed chicken breast, slow cooked beef, pigs in blankets, cauliflower cheese and the marvellous marmite roasted potatoes along with my firm favourite of carrots. It was a wonderful day, and we got so much fuss and so much food! It was quite exhausting but fantastic to be surrounded by so many people. We even got a bit of sunbathing in.
To see in the New Year, Mum and Dad took us to our friend’s house that we had been to before, hidden away in the African bush so we got to run around the glorious garden with Ace, Teaser, Tazzy and Hector once more. Zuri is in love with Hector so they rolled around in the grass, and I continued to sniff and sniff and sniff, taking in all of the sumptuous smells. Mum and Dad brought with them all of the very same work colleagues to celebrate the New Year with our friends and they did at one point, disappear out into the African bush to enjoy ‘sundowners’ on the plains.
Although I stayed behind to keep an eye on the other dogs, and the smouldering barbeque, Mum and Dad said they couldn’t think of a better place to be, watching the sun going down on 2019, closing another year, and welcoming in the new year of 2020. It was again, wonderful to be surrounded by friends and we partied into the night, enjoying a barbecue supper. Zuri and I and our furry friends feasted on steak, chicken, sausages and burgers and Mum and Dad drank copious amounts of alcohol and stayed up late into the night, or early into the morning, whichever your perspective may be! Mum and Dad and other friends clambered up onto the roof of the house to gaze wistfully at the stars and I joined them too, much to Mum and Dad’s surprise. Who knew I could climb so well!
Mum was terrified I would fall but I found my inner mountain goat. Zuri did try to follow but she is not quite as sure footed as me so stared at us from the ground, along side Hector. I was disappointed when Dad carried me down. I got up there with no drama but struggled on the down wards bit (the roof was like a slide!) so Dad had to carry me while trying to negotiate a rickety spiral staircase and while he was full of beer. We did however, reach terra firma with no issue and I was firmly told not to climb on the roof again.
Christmas in Kenya had been wonderfully warm, and not just with the weather. Being surrounded by people made it special for everyone concerned and really encapsulated what Christmas is all about. Seeing in the new year was entertaining and exciting and again, made special by the friends around us. The year of 2019 had met with the tragic loss of a very special person, although it brought the arrival of Princess Zuri into the Nomadic Family Unit and Mum and Dad welcomed 2020 in style and full of hope that the forthcoming new year would bring happiness to all.
#partyinto2020
#bringonmoreadventures
#itsaboutthepresencenotthepresents
#livelongandprosper
Nomadic Family Unit 
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