St Stephen's Day

I think they really mean 'The 12 Days of Feasting'. But that's not the point. In the footsteps of Wenceslas (without the bitter cold), we strive to spread the cheer of the feast of St Stephen's at the hospice and the old folks' homes.

Earlier last month, the friends lovingly cured plenty of ham. Over the past 3 days, they roasted slabs of beef to be given away today. There was something about the hams. The girlfriend who did them definitely hit a good streak. This year, all her hams turned out so good! I didn't even have to eat it to know they were awesome. Look at the colors. Strangely no one baked any sweets. We turned to the hotels and bought logcakes off the racks with strict instructions to drastically reduce the amount of sugar for all.

I'm quite done with the food over the week, and am ready to puke at the mere thought of a big meal. I'm very happy to see other people taking bites of the food. I wasn't as happy when I was pulled to sing Christmas carols. I haven't gone caroling for years. And my friends win- they thrust scores into my hand, pointed to the alto portion and told me to sight-read it, since we're supposed to know most of the Christmas carols anyway. Oeh, being able to sing the melody doesn't mean I can sing in tune for my parts!

We obviously never rehearsed this. I'm so rusty at choral singing. Of course I went laughingly off-key at different stages for all the carols.