Me: What’s Harriet doing on the stairs in a Santa hat?
Nell: Waiting for Christmas.
Me: She hasn’t long to wait now.
Nell: In some countries they celebrate Christmas today.
Me: Yes, they do in Germany.
Nell: Herr Hoffmann is boiling a ham for dinner tonight and is serving it with different pickles and salads.
Me: Lovely.
Nell: David says some of the pickles are a little sharp so we need to use them sparingly.
Me: We always celebrate the German and the English Christmas and open a few presents on Christmas Eve.
Nell: That’s presuming you have more than one.
Me: The Royal Family celebrate on Christmas Eve too.
Nell: I know. The Queen and I used to wish each other a Happy Christmas.
Me: You telephoned with The Queen?
Nell: Of course not.
Me: I thought it was unlikely.
Nell: We exchanged texts in our WoofsApp group.
Me: You had a WoofsApp group with The Queen?
Nell: We were friends.
Me: I suppose you were.
Nell: I rarely hear from Charles nowadays, but then he’s awfully busy.
Me: King Charles III?
Nell: I promised his mother I would keep an eye on him.
Me: I see.
Nell: Talking of keeping an eye on things, Poppy has a very long list today.
Me: I bet she has.
Nell: Top of the list is collecting the turkey.
Me: The butcher is delivering it, Nell. I thought it would be easier as the queues can be so long.
Nell: Well, he’d better get it here soon.
Me: It’s not even 8am. Oh, I just had a memory of collecting the turkey with my mother and sisters and the excitement of it all.
Nell: This is bound to be an emotional time for you.
Me: Yes. Sorry.
Nell: No sorries. Not today.
