A Christmas shopping trip turns into a chance to catch up on pony gossip for Tessa Waugh , who is on the back foot as far as present buying is concerned but replete with tales of happy new homes

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It was going to be a quiet festive season for me, just the way I liked it (I told myself). I’d gone back to spend Christmas with my parents in our small home town. This year, however, Mum and Dad were

IT was about nine o’clock on a Friday night when we heard a vehicle pull up in the yard. You couldn’t miss it. I think it must have had a hole in its exhaust! Jip let the world know we had visitors. T

Our columnist fondly recalls her childhood Christmases – apart from the time the milk ran out!

From cards to carols, celebrating the festive season when you’ve two lots of family traditions to bolt together isn’t easy…