Ruby takes a trip to Meridell for Christmas!

     My Dearest Ruby,

     A little birdy told me (aka your mother) that you are due a well-deserved break! I would love for you to come and visit me and your Auntie Mary up at Meridell for Christmas. You can help out at our farm if you would like. Or if your nose can stand it, help out at the rubbish dump which is a new project I've just started on. There is lots to do here as well if you fancy exploring. And of course, we want to spoil you with Christmas treats. Your mum is going to come up on Christmas Eve to celebrate Christmas with us too!

     Would be great to see you, let me know if you can come and I will make sure to get the guest room up and ready! Auntie Mary says she would love to see you as well!

     Lots of love,

     Uncle Sid. x

     Ruby hugged the letter close to her chest; her eyes welled up a little bit. The letter couldn't have come at a better time. She was due a break, she'd been working flat out as a manager at the gift shop in Neopia Central and she was sure her staff could manage without her even with Christmas on the way. She'd been working right up to Christmas the past 15 years, so this year she decided she's going to have it off!

     Before she could change her mind, she rang up her good friend and assistant manager of the gift shop and booked 3 weeks off starting next week. That way she can celebrate Christmas and New year with her family. Ruby then called her mum next, who was very pleased that Ruby was going to take some well deserved time off! She also gave Ruby Uncle Sids number so she could call and arrange to visit next week!

     That week came round pretty quick with sorting out the shop and giving all her staff big to do lists and to call her if they need anything. They all shook their heads and waved her off saying they wouldn't need to call her as they had it all under control and to have a good time and of course a great Christmas!

     Ruby arrived at Meridell, where her Uncle Sid the Blue Kacheek in his farm overalls greeted her at the entrance in a pickup truck that had seen better days. Which she can only assume still drives well.. she was about to find that out! They hugged and Uncle Sid was absolutely delighted to be seeing his niece after so long and couldn't wait to show her around.

     They got in the truck and made their way to the Meri Acres Farm. She looked around in awe as the place had been decorated for the festive season and it looked amazing. There was hanging lights strung up on every door, on every roof, pretty much everywhere and baubles on near enough every tree and bush. There was even artificial snow on some areas that she could see some little ones trying to make snowmen out of the snow. Ruby couldn't wait to see what the place would look like in the dark with all the lights switched on.

     But right now, they just pulled up outside the farmhouse, where her Auntie Mary the Yellow Kacheek was waiting for them. She hugged her niece and ushered her inside but before she put her stuff away in the guest room, Ruby wanted to have a good look around the farmhouse. They had decorated their house top to bottom in Christmas decorations and it looked stunning. Even the Christmas tree looked magical as it was decorated in blue and silver. Ruby had to pinch herself that she really was here!

     Ruby sat down to eat a freshly baked mince pie that her Auntie Mary had made for her. Then Ruby got changed into something more casual and went out with her Uncle Sid to go and explore before dinner was going to be ready in a few hours.

     Uncle Sid proceeded to show her around the farm. They had quite a lot of land with all different types of plants, crops, fruit and vegetables. It all looked wonderful and totally different to when she was here last. They have even started up a few competitions for tourists to try around the farm like; Guess the Marrow and Count the potatoes, the winner gets a prize if they guess correctly!

     There was a huge plot to the right where you could even pick your own berries too and then he showed Ruby the Rubbish Dump which was situated away from all the other bits of land. Which, even though it’s a bit smelly, it’s all for a good cause Uncle Sid explained: that you can donate your unwanted crops that mostly don't grow properly or they sometimes throw away seeds if they no longer need them. To which others can come and see if there is anything worth taking and sometimes, they even hope to find a rare item among all the rubbish.

     Ruby couldn't wait to see more but time had flown and it was time to settle back at the farmhouse for the night. She will be able to see more of Meridell the next day. Ruby and Uncle Sid arrived back at the farmhouse for some dinner, which, to celebrate her first night, they treated themselves to a lovely honey-glazed gammon dinner, sprouts included! They chatted away the whole evening and Ruby felt so relaxed and with a full belly, she fell asleep straight away when she went to bed.

     Ruby was up early the next morning to help Uncle Sid around the farm, seeing to all the plots of land and making sure nothing was disturbed during the night. She started by helping pick the next batch of fruit and vegetables, ready to be sold at the Meridell market later that day. She was told the carrots and parsnips will go down a treat this time of year! Once that was all done and a well-deserved breakfast later, she went off on her own this time outside the Meri Acres Farm to explore more of Meridell.

     Ruby made her way past a great big sleeping giant called The Turmaculus. Which according to what Uncle Sid told her, sleeps pretty much the whole time and on the off chance he starts to wake up, apparently you can try and coax him to wake up properly and if you succeed, anything can happen good or bad but right now he looked peaceful snoring his head off, so Ruby tiptoed past him and made a beeline for a game of Cheeseroller as she spotted it up on the hill in the corner.

     Ruby was happy that this game was still around and she was glad to see it was still as simple as before. All you have to do is`` buy a cheese and try and make it down the hill in under a minute and if you succeed you get to keep the cheese! Ruby bought a Quadruple Fudge Cheese, so if she won, it would make a great ingredient for the dessert she was planning on making for Christmas day. She had three goes and the first two she was over the minute and so it was all on this last go! She decided to dive left on all the turnings and would you believe it, it worked! The cheese made it in 54 seconds and she got to keep the cheese!

     She walked away feeling really happy that she won on the last go and fancied a go at another game. She tucked the cheese into her bag and then spotted the game Ultimate Bullseye. She got all excited because it had been years since she played this game! Not that she was any good back then but she would definitely give it another go.

     Try she did, she had 10 shots for the bullseye and if she made it to 100 points within using all 10 shots she would get a prize. But, Ruby was rusty and the first four shots didn't land on anything. In fact, one went so far it nearly hit a tree! In the end, luck wasn't on her side with this game as she ended with 37 points which was nowhere near 100. Ruby laughed to herself, there are just some things you can't get better at.

     She walked away and before it was time to head back to the farm for her afternoon duties, she wanted to have a quick look around the Meridell Castle first to see if the Grumpy Old King was still grumpy!

     The Castle looked magnificent all done up ready for Christmas. There were different coloured wreaths on each door and inside was draping lights hanging from the ceiling as she made her way to the grumpy king.

     She didn't get very far as it appeared she'd just missed him. As there was a big sign up on his door saying he'd popped out for lunch. She was hoping to bump into him to wish him a Merry Christmas and to see if she could make him laugh with her jokes like she used to when she was younger. She even had some Christmas jokes for him. They will have to wait another day she thought to herself.

     She walked back out the Castle feeling a little disappointed but the feeling didn't last very long as it now it was starting to get dark and the lights all around her were starting to shine a lot brighter and it felt completely different to when she was walking around a couple of hours ago.

     It took Ruby a while to walk back to the Meri acres Farm as she wanted to look at all the lights twinkling in the dark. She waved to Uncle Sid who was at the Rubbish Dump and made her way to the Farmhouse. Auntie Mary was waiting for her and wanted to know all about her day and what she had got up to!

     ***

     Before Ruby knew it, it was Christmas Eve and her mum was due to come and visit. Time had flown by, with how much she had to do to get everything ready for Christmas, but she had loved every minute of it, being here with her Auntie and Uncle.

     Ruby was in the middle of making her Chocolate cheesecake dessert, with the cheese she won playing Cheese roller, ready for the next day when her mother arrived by her brother's pick-up truck. They hugged and both were sharing the same thoughts on how wonderful everything looked around Meridell.

     The rest of the evening was spent sitting by the fire in the living room all having a good natter before Ruby could feel her eyelids drooping. She said goodnight to everyone before heading off to bed.

     Christmas day was spent with Ruby getting up early, opening up all her presents and seeing her mum, Auntie and Uncle open all theirs with delight. Helping prepare the big turkey roast dinner with all the trimmings also with their own homegrown vegetables. And of course, they all saved room for her own homemade Cheesecake.

     While her Uncle Sid dozed in the armchair in front of the fire, Ruby, her mum and Auntie watched old Christmas films on the tv before heading off to bed.

     Ruby laid in bed thinking to herself, how she couldn't wait to celebrate New Year’s too!

     The End.