Christmas is here and this year is almost over. This is me powering down, chilling out and signing off to enjoy the holiday festivities. I do hope you are doing the same.
As we all know, life can be stressful and that often manifests itself in familial tension as it has this year for us in some family relationships.
Hopefully, we will all find it within ourselves to be gracious and kind through this season of goodwill. Who knows, maybe we’ll even be able to carry that through into next year and beyond.
I’d really like to think so as the words, below, from Hannah Betts, in The Times, 21 December 2016, continue to resonate in my mind:
Bear this in mind should you find yourself lamenting ‘having’ to spend Christmas with your family: one minute you have to, the next you can’t.
That’s definitively something to think about should any of us be simmering in the fog of self-righteous fury that only family arguments seem to inspire.
Reach out. Make peace. And if rebuffed, try again.
If we fail, so be it. We’ll keep trying.
Wishing you all much love, family harmony, peace, happiness, a very Merry Christmas, and a wonderful New Year.
Christmas Smiles,
NB This year’s illustrated Christmas card fascias were to be based on a Pop-Art theme but, as I doodled, I got sidetracked by Hunt Slonem, Niki de St Phalle and my funky Sax so, it’s the usual medley of drawings that I liked to play with. Enjoy.

Christmas joke: How does Good King Wenceslas like his pizzas?
Deep pan, crisp and even

Christmas joke: How will Christmas dinner be different after Brexit?
No Brussels

Christmas Joke: What do you call a bunch of chess players bragging about their games in a hotel lobby?
Chess nuts boasting in an open foyer.

Christmas joke: Why didn’t Roy Hodgson go to visit Santa at the North Pole?
He couldn’t get past Iceland

Christmas joke: Why did Ed Balls fail an audition to play one of Santa’s reindeer in a Christmas pantomime?
Because he’s no Dancer.
