A Happy and Healthy 2015 from Normandie !

A Wright family selfie!

Well "La Ferme des Vallots" suddenly seems very quiet with all four girls leaving yesterday and leaving Patrick, Andrew, Phoebe (the dog) and me on our own. It has been a wonderful three weeks of being with the family in Glasgow, London, Winchester and then two weeks at our lovely farm in Normandie as usual. It all seems a blur of eating in lovely restaurants or delicious homemade meals and I have managed to catch up with lots of family and friends as well as going to the musical Wicked, visiting "Winter Wonderland" in Hydepark  and generally indulging myself far too much !

Tanya's surprise birthday celebration

It is 25 years since we bought "La Ferme des Vallots" and since then every Christmas has been spent here and I can't imagine spending it anywhere else. I won't bore you with all the details as each family has their own traditions and ways of enjoying their family days together but it is suffice to say that it was as lovely as ever with the family evolving and welcoming partners as the years go by. The exciting news that broke just before Christmas is that Naomi and Neil are engaged and the wedding plans are still being decided. So it looks like 2015 is going to be another exciting year for the Wrights.

 I return to Malaysia on Friday and sadly they are having their share of terrible flooding and another aircraft disaster in Indonesia. This week I have been making the most of catching up with friends. It was -5 this morning and it is tempting to stay snug at home by the fire but the sun has been out and I've enjoyed a few walks in the lovely countryside and a little bit of gardening. Anyway I'm sorry that my blogging has been slowing down and I admire anyone that finds time to blog with their family around - I know that I would much rather spend time with them than a computer. So a very happy, healthy 2015 to all of you who are still reading my ramblings !

Phoebe

The Tea Ceremony and warm welcome to the Mah Family

Yes I know it has been weeks since I've written my blog but I have no computer with me and to be honest not many spare minutes to write it. Anyway this evening is my last chance before Christmas as the family arrive early tomorrow morning. What seems like a month ago, but in reality is just over two weeks ago Andrew and I met in Kuala Lumpur ready for the banquet and Tanya and Anthony's engagement party.

 The first event was to meet at Anthony's grandmother house where we met his parents, grandmother and uncle and aunt who had just flown in for the occasion. I believe the tea ceremony is traditionally before the wedding but this was more for the grandmother as she won't be attending the actual wedding. We each took turns in sitting in the same beautifully carved chairs that had been used by the Mahs for several generations, while Tanya and Anthony served us very sweet tea. We were supposed to give them a red envelope with money or jewelry but of course we didn't have one ready! No one seemed to mind and the next venue was the restaurant where we were to have the 7 course banquet and meet the rest of the family.

 There was about 35 of us in all and we had a lovely meal and were charmed with all the extended family who included uncles, aunts and cousins and we are hoping that some of them will be able to come to the wedding.

  The rest of the weekend was spent enjoying Kuala Lumpur and visiting the sites and spending more time with Tanya, Anthony and his family. By Sunday evening everyone had departed on their way back to Europe and I was left on my own until I set off on Tuesday evening heading for Paris....to be continued!