Page 774 - Belgrave Diaries(N)_Neat

gloomy about oil affairs in Kuwait. Discussed the party and arranged where people were to sit which here is
a thing of great importance.

Saturday [24 December]

Court, very cold day and some rain. Poured in the afternoon but we went out to the Municipal garden and
picked a lot of leaves for the table for Christmas, they are croton bushes and have very pretty coloured
leaves, red and yellow and shades of green. We went to tea with Major Holmes and had a great talk about
oil affairs and others. Very busy in the evening preparing things for tomorrow, one of the games is one I
have often had before, recognising titles of books from little pictures which I draw and pin up in the room.
Holmes had a letter from Skinner saying that they had found oil at No 2 well and urging him to bring the
Shaikh of Kuwait out tomorrow, he persuaded us to go to.

Christmas Day [25 December]

Fine day, sunny but very cold indeed, it was only 54 in our dining room in the middle of the day. Various
people came in the morning to call, most of the staff of my offices and some others. James was very
excited over his stockings and by all his presents, he seemed to get a great many. We gave him a very nice
big motor car which he can drive, very like a real one with lamps etc etc, he was delighted with it. At about
ten oclock we went off in the car and drove out to the oil field. It was bitterly cold but very fine. We took a
new road which they have made up to No 2 well, a very nice road winding up and down among the hills.
The road through the gardens was very bad, the heavy lorries of the Company have made huge ruts in the
road and we slipped about a good deal. There was not a lot to see at the well, just black oil all over the
ground lying in big pools and oil spouting out of the pipe with what looked like smoke but was really gas.
We tried to get back in time for church but were not able to, the first time we have missed church here at
Christmas for seven years. After lunch we arranged the table for dinner. I had five electric globes on little
stands made and these went down the middle of the table on a narrow sheet of pale green and frosted
paper which lit up well, over each globe was a bunch of croton leaves which light up wonderfully well
showing all sorts of colours, yellows, reds greens browns and purples, between them we put a lot of frosted
silver stuff used for Xmas trees, it looked very nice indeed. Then we had a childrens party for James, there
were five little boys, mostly about his own age, three mission, one Steele and himself. They had tea in the
drawing room and then a Christmas tree in the day nursery and de Grenier came in as Father Christmas,
extremly well got up and quite unrecognisable, and gave them all presents out of a sack. They enjoyed it
tremendously and James was very good on the whole. Two black ayahs and James' old ayah came too and
several of the childrens mothers, during the Christmas tree all the lights went out but fortunately came on
in about half an hour, but it was rather awkward as the servants were cooking dinner. The dinner party was
a great success and the dinner very good, it was the regular Christmas dinner, soup, fish roast ham and
roast turkey, plum pudding and mince pies and sweets and crackers, we had two sorts of cocktails before
dinner and then sherry white wine champagne port and liquers, some of the party became very lively but
not unpleasantly so. Afterwards we played games and then charades which were great fun. They stayed till
half past one.