Boxing Day, the 26th of December

Nothing to do with punches and jabs … it was originally the day when the ordinary folks would be “gifted” with necessities such as clothing and food in boxes by the more affluent. Although these days, the day after Christmas is the first day of sales – as in SHOPPING SALE – so one would box her or his way through the shops to find great deals and bargains!

I had a tradition-filled Boxing Day. Ludlow has 2 traditional events on the 26th of December. First, the fox hunt and second, the tug-of-war.

Although hunting had already been made illegal here in the UK, Ludlow managed to get a special permit to carry on this tradition. So, at 11am, me and P went down to the castle grounds for the send-off. We saw the horsemen in their riding suits and of course, the real reason why I wanted to see this event, the hounds! Never thought that a hound is a big dog! But even with their size, they do love the occasional ear-scratching as evidenced by the picture below on the left. That is me, by the way, having a sweet time with the doggies!

Photos taken with SPV C-500 cameraphone.

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Now, the tug-of-war I immensely enjoyed! The 2 pubs, The Bull and The Feathers Hotel, stand almost directly across each other on this narrow street and pub-goers and locals tug for a best-of-three pulling action. For the last 5 years (according to P), The Bull had been winning. This year was no different. For us, first-timers, we thought that the first tug was merely a practice as The Bull easily won that one. The second one was tougher (see photo below) but again, The Bull pulled it off, making it 2 out of 3 for the win.

After a quick drink with people I met on Christmas eve, we headed off to a lunch party at O’s golf buddy. Only one word to describe the meal they had prepared for us – succulent! As we were too bloated to roam around, we headed off back to the house and napped for the rest of the afternoon.

New Year’s Eve and Day

Chilled out, is the word. Me and P were by ourselves at his place. His housemates were still away for the holidays. During the day, we went hunting for my Ugg boots but to no avail. We went back home for tea and watched one DVD after another. Closer to midnight, I was really trying to keep awake. P popped open the bottle of champagne and 2 glasses in the bedroom around quarter to midnight. By the time 2006 crept in, we were already clinking glasses. Of course, we had the traditional New Year’s Eve kiss.

The next day, I cooked a special meal for us. Well, special for P because he hasn’t tasted this one before. I prepared chicken afritada. It was a struggle to find the chicken though as the supermarkets did not have some in stock! In the end, we managed to find frozen ones.

In the evening, one of P’s housemates was back and he joined us in watching the Pirate of the Carribean – The Curse of the Black Pearl.

It was a nice holiday indeed! HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL!

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