Kah Peng and the Druids
A few weeks ago I had an e-mail from Kah Peng through the Hospitality Club/Couch Surfing that we do. Kah Peng is doing a PhD in Bath and is unable to go back to Malaysia for the holidays. Last Christmas he spent a miserable few days completely alone on a deserted campus. He didn't want a repeat of that, so he wanted to come and stay with us. Well, I couldn't let him be lonely, so of course he could come and stay with us.
Kah Peng turned out to be a lovely chap, very open and easy to get along with. He was great with the kids and happy to go along with any plans. We spent Xmas down at Mum's. Dinner was minus the roast parsnips, as the first lot went soggy and curly and the second lot burnt. We had to make three lots of gravy too, because the first two ended up on the floor (and we hadn't been on the sherry, honest!).
Boxing Day (or is it? Someone told me you can't have Boxing Day on a Sunday), we had been invited down to Stonehenge by my friend Veronica of the Cotswold Order of Druids. We all dressed up in cloaks and robes. The winter solstice was a few days ago so this ceremony on the treacherous ice inside the stones, was to mark the return of the sun. They released a helium balloon with a picture of the sun on it, at an appropriate moment, which I really liked. Kah Peng tagged along and said some appropriate words. Donny got to hand out the gold (chocolate) coins to symbolise prosperity in the coming year.
It was very atmospheric, standing in the snow, amongst the huge stones, though I felt somewhat like a goldfish, as about a hundred tourists were watching us from behind the roped off area! This is what those Buddhist monks must have felt like, when I took photos of them last year in China. Sorry guys.
I walked Pal round the Cursus Barrows (3500 year old burial mounds) while everyone else warmed up in the car. Then we drove Kah Peng back to Bath and went to Mum's for a second Christmas dinner - with roast parsnips this time!
Kah Peng turned out to be a lovely chap, very open and easy to get along with. He was great with the kids and happy to go along with any plans. We spent Xmas down at Mum's. Dinner was minus the roast parsnips, as the first lot went soggy and curly and the second lot burnt. We had to make three lots of gravy too, because the first two ended up on the floor (and we hadn't been on the sherry, honest!).
Boxing Day (or is it? Someone told me you can't have Boxing Day on a Sunday), we had been invited down to Stonehenge by my friend Veronica of the Cotswold Order of Druids. We all dressed up in cloaks and robes. The winter solstice was a few days ago so this ceremony on the treacherous ice inside the stones, was to mark the return of the sun. They released a helium balloon with a picture of the sun on it, at an appropriate moment, which I really liked. Kah Peng tagged along and said some appropriate words. Donny got to hand out the gold (chocolate) coins to symbolise prosperity in the coming year.
It was very atmospheric, standing in the snow, amongst the huge stones, though I felt somewhat like a goldfish, as about a hundred tourists were watching us from behind the roped off area! This is what those Buddhist monks must have felt like, when I took photos of them last year in China. Sorry guys.
I walked Pal round the Cursus Barrows (3500 year old burial mounds) while everyone else warmed up in the car. Then we drove Kah Peng back to Bath and went to Mum's for a second Christmas dinner - with roast parsnips this time!
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