Much later than usual, in January we finally hosted our annual Christmas party.

• EH came under sufferance.
• JK arrived speaking with her childhood Lancashire accent. Not a trace of the west of Scotland could be heard in her ‘new’ voice.
• A stranger hunted through our fridge for ingredients to make a meal. I intervened when she reached for the spinach. ‘That’s for our dinner next week’, I explained as I scolded her.
• ETS tutted at the return of fallen spinach leaves to the fridge as I tucked them back into their cellophane wrapper.
• PMF ‘accidentally’ let out the secret that CA was pregnant. Instead of congratulating the pair of them, all I could think was ‘Whatever will her new employer say? She’s only been working there for a couple of weeks’.