It's that time of year again

Friday evening saw the Torpoint and Rame Lions dragging a certain Millbrooker around parts of the village in a trailer. I may not have been the fattest Father Christmas because, apart from the last couple of weeks, the diet has been working well; the small people who came out to see me didn't seem too worried about this minor defect in the traditional Father Christmas look, though.

As with last year, Father Christmas was ably assisted by some very nice elves, including Mrs The Millbrooker, who did door knocking and collecting for good causes as well as bringing small people out to see Father Christmas. A big thank you to Mrs The Sump and a cowboy hatted The Sump for letting me take part again this year. Mike Collins put on a very decent spread of hot pastries and (very poky) punch afterwards; I believe we have to thank his brother, Les, for footing the booze bill - thank you, Les.

The weather was almost kind, at least the elves didn't get a dreadful soaking. We had an "interesting" interlude at the last house when I nearly became the first Millbrook Father Christmas to be assaulted by a rather deranged fellow who seemed to be on something a tad stronger than coca cola and probably had one or two mental health issues to work through. That aside, I've not had so much fun in while. It's a genuine pleasure to see the small folk lost for words and nearly wetting themselves with excitement.

I have no idea how many impossible things I've promised for Christmas because I couldn't really hear much of what they were telling me, so apologies to any parents who now feel obliged to buy a pony or working one-fifth-scale replica of a formula one car and then have it delivered down a chimney.