Jaye Marie and Anita Dawes

“Salmon? Of course!”

Not that I needed any encouragement to join them on Christmas morning, of course, but when your younger son throws smoked salmon into the equation it really would be churlish to refuse. I had been twiddling my thumbs, still at a bit of a loss… what do you do with Christmas Eve once the children are grown and you are no longer expected to take charge of Christmas? Then Alex phoned and asked if I would like to come over for breakfast.

The small dog and I greeted the silence of Christmas morning together then came home to her delight at a new batch of tennis balls. Not that they were a surprise, of course, she’d sniffed them out days ago, hovering in their vicinity with heavy sighs, reproachful looks and occasional pathetic whines. I, however, had refused to be out-manoeuvred for once and declined to give…