Come hell or high snowdrifts I was determined to get back home for Christmas this year and in the end my journey home was pretty smooth. As I travelled via Amsterdam and Teeside Airport I managed to avoid all the trouble down south. My return journey on the other hand turned into a bit of a nightmare. Just as I was arriving at the airport I heard on the taxi’s radio that my flight had been cancelled (presumably due to fog). My trip was rescheduled and I was put into a taxi to Manchester from where I flew to Qatar and from there on to Japan. This added 7 hours to my journey time and almost added more as my plane into Qatar was late and I had to literally run to catch my next plane. On arrival at Kansai airport though I dicovered my luggage hadn’t made it though and was still in Qatar! Hilarious eh? Well I got my suitcase back again today, thankfully, and have been happily munching on the British chocolate and sipping the Yorkshire tea that I’d packed.

Here are some pictures from the old homestead in the Boro. Here is the view from our house on Christmas morning. Notice the For Sale sign by our hedge in the foreground. This may well be the last time I spend Christmas in the house I grew up in. Sometimes though, you just have to let go…

Sycamore Road in the snow Christmas morning 2010.

Here’s our back garden:

Christmas morning at Sycamore Road

Lovely, isn’t it?

Christmas morning at Sycamore Road

This is only the second time in 40 years I’ve seen snow like this in Middlesbrough at this time of year. It’s not just due to freak weather conditions either. Things are changing…

Christmas morning at Sycamore Road

Every year my dad would put those lights up in the garden. This time my mom had to do it on her own…

Christmas dinner

As I don’t eat meat my sister makes me a special nut roast every year. It’s gorgeous!

Tucking in. Left to right, my sister Christina, her husband John and a little bit of my niece Charlotte.

Left to right, my sister Bernadette and my mom

Boxing Day. A view from the Avenue of the Holy Name of Mary church.

Munchkins: my nephew Joseph and niece Catherine.

My family December 27th.

The reason we are all scrunched in like that is that I made the mistake of saying "little ones at the front" forgetting completely that we are all quite little in my family.

A brisk walk on Redcar beach.

The view from Redcar towards Marske and Saltburn