WHEN THE stars align

KERRE IS OVER THE MOON AT SPENDING CHRISTMAS WITH HER ENTIRE FAMILY IN ENGLAND

For me, Christmas has always been about being around my family. I love Christmas and the traditions around the celebration – all those personal rituals each family has that they pass down through the generations. But ever since my daughter Kate and her husband made their lives in London, Christmas hasn’t felt the same.

And with my first grandson Bart born nearly two years ago, it’s been even harder to celebrate Christmas without feeling a sense of sadness they’re not around to share it with their wider family.

We all make do. Anyone who has sons and daughters living overseas understands there’s no point in flouncing about on Christmas Day feeling sad and sorry for yourself. Generally, friends come together to share a meal and help make the day a merry one, and these kinds of celebrations can be enormous fun.

But there is absolutely nothing like spending Christmas around your grandchildren as far as I’m concerned. And I feel so very lucky to be spending this Christmas with four generations of our family under one roof!

My mum celebrated her 81st birthday this year, and she and her cousin

Mary, who’s a little younger, made the decision to trek across the world to see the new baby and have an English Christmas with the great-grandkids.

In a further piece of serendipity, my English-based aunt and uncle, who live just 10 minutes from Kate and Ranko’s house, are spending summer in New Zealand this year, so Mum and Mary have a very nice home to stay in without having to spend a cent.

My husband Tom is arriving mid-December, so on Christmas Day we’ll all be together, all the people I love most in the world, sitting around the table sharing a very special experience.

Ranko, who is a brilliant cook, has had the Christmas hams brining in a huge plastic bucket in the backyard for the past few weeks.

A chef friend of his had attended a course in artisan meat preservation recently and Ranko was keen to try out the technique on our Christmas ham.

But as we get closer to

Christmas Ranko is becoming more and more anxious about whether the preservation technique will prove successful. “What’s the worst that could happen?” I asked, breezily. “We go out and get fish and chips and it won’t matter a bit as we’ll all be together.”

“No, Kerre,” Ranko answered in a serious tone. “The worst that could happen is that we all get botulism and die.” Ah, well. Again, at least we’ll all be together. But I might just order a Waitrose ham as back-up.

Bart doesn’t really have a sense of anticipation about Christmas. He’s been more excited about the arrival of his new sister. And he’s loved having his New Zealand fan club gathered around him. I have been in England since the middle of November, in part to help out Kate as Ranko broke his leg two weeks before she gave birth and in part to get Bart used to me so when the baby arrived, he would have someone he knew looking after him.

We didn’t have to worry about him getting used to me. From the moment I arrived, we’ve had a mutual love affair, full of kisses, laughter and hanging out together. Thank heavens for FaceTime. It’s enabled us to build the foundations of a relationship that is rich and true.

Forget the Duplo and the Tonka trucks. The greatest gift we can give him, and indeed each other, is time.

From our family to yours, a very

Merry Christmas and all the best for the New Year.