When Keith Fulbrook
was growing up Christmas was a very special time for him and every year the
season evoked so many memories and many of those memories were of the times he
spent at his grandparent’s farm in Shallowfield.
A row of wellington
boots standing on the flagstones, fresh from hours of play in the snow and
dripping wet mittens drying on a string behind the tortoise stove in the
kitchen, the smell of burning logs and damp wool invading the nostrils, soon to
be replaced by the scent of a fresh cut fir tree in the living room filling the
air with the aroma of Christmas joining the smells of nutmeg and ginger coming
from the pantry.
He just had to smell pipe smoke and he was back with his grandpa with his
twinkling blue eyes and wry smile as he puffed out a dense cloud of aromatic
smoke from his meerschaum pipe.
But it wasn’t just smells, the house was
always alive with the ringing sounds of boisterous laughter of ten
grandchildren of varying ages filling the house.
And when the house
wasn’t resounding with laughter it was music as the family gatherings always
prompted renditions of the carols and songs of Christmas played on guitar and
fiddle and sung with gusto.
But that wasn’t the only Christmas music he remembered there was also the sweet
sounds of a choir at the candlelit midnight mass.
But candlelight was
eclipsed by the sparkle and twinkle of the fairy lights reflected on the
fragile glass ornaments and heirloom decorations that magically transformed his
grandparent’s living room into his childish vision of a magic wonderland.
And then there were
the tastes candy canes and chocolates from the tree, satsumas and nuts in their
stockings, sugar almonds, jellied fruits, dates, liquorice, and mints.
Turkey and all the
trimmings, Gammon, Christmas pudding, brandy butter, mince pies, shortbread,
pies, tarts, fruit cakes, sausage rolls.
But all the bounty of
the table was far outweighed by the abundance of love which was linked to every
single memory.
But his favourite
Christmas memory came when the winter delivered up the perfect Christmas gift,
snow.
When Keith went to bed
the wind howling through the trees gave no clue that it was carrying Jack Frost
to the Vale but the next morning when he woke up to the sound of excited
squeals and when he looked outside he gazed out at the whitened landscape and ten minutes
later all the grandchildren dashed out into the white magical world, screaming
and shouting like released convicts rejoicing in a new-found freedom.
The warm knitted gloves were soon abandoned as snowballs were hurled in all
directions.
Shrieks filled the winter air as aims improved and increasing numbers found
their mark.
As the battle ground expanded they joined forces with a group of village
children and that was the moment he first saw Yvonne Sage and he discovered
there was something even more exciting than a white Christmas.
Yvonne was the same age as him, give or take, and she was tall for a
fourteen year old girl, lean and wiry with braided brown hair and a bit of a
tomboy but he was smitten.
But he had never noticed a girl before so he didn’t really know what to do
about his infatuation.
But because she chose to join a group building a snowman so did he.
Rudolf, their giant snowman, gradually took shape on the village green.
A red tartan scarf was draped around his broad shoulders and a boy produced
an old battered black hat, which was accidently set at a jaunty angle on his
huge head which gave him a rakish look.
Two un-sucked gobstoppers provided him with staring blue eyes.
Keith and Yvonne held the ends of a length of old rope which they tied
around Rudolph’s substantial waist, some pebbles substituted for buttons, a
carrot nose and a stick mouth completed the magnificent figure.
And then they stood back to admire their handiwork.
Despite being pleased with the finished
article Keith panicked because he didn’t know what to do next if Yvonne
suddenly went off with her friends.
But then Tom and
Lindsay Collingwood suggested going up to Coopers Hill for a bit of sledding.
“Yeh count me in”
Yvonne said “What about you Keith?”
Keith was so releived
that he didn’t know what to say so he just nodded his agreement and she smiled
because she really liked him and she wanted him to go with her.
And so they walked up
to Coopers Hill together and the fact that they didn’t have a sled or a
toboggan didn’t seem to faze them at all, so on the way there they collected
some cardboard boxes from outside Stephenson Supermarket and shared a sheet of
cardboard and used it to ride down the hill, screaming at every bump, and when
they got to the bottom Tomboy Yvonne had a boyfriend.
Although they didn’t
realise it at the time they were victims of love at first sight and it was a
love that lasted a life time.
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