A Tentative Top Five (Cecilia Peartree)
First of all, I must emphasise that I don't see the Christmas season through rose-coloured spectacles at all. I've had some bad experiences in past Decembers, including family members being taken ill, dogs biting people and trains home being seriously delayed. Christmas Day itself is often an ordeal, mostly because of the pressure of trying to make everything perfect, or at least bearable, for everyone. This top five is an attempt to remember the good aspects of the festivities by challenging myself to dredge up five jewels out of the surrounding sludge. Top of the pops (or the season's diamond, for any Bridgerton viewers who might be reading this) is an event from many years ago. This was a children's party organised at my father's workplace, a college of technology, for the children of the staff. I am not really a party person generally, but I do have fond memories of this one - in my recollection we went to at least three of them over the years, so we had the cha...