Witterings and Christmas wishes

Well, here comes the strangest Christmas ever! Our plans didn't get scuppered by last weekend's sudden U-turn, but I do wonder about my friends and work colleagues whose relatives aren't conveniently in the next town. Were flights cancelled? Hotels de-booked? I guess I won't find out until the 4th. Strangely enough, I normally dread December as a stressful month of present-buying, preparation and work. The present buying actually started in October this year, and the extra 7.5 hours non-commute a week somehow meant more time to think and prepare, even though I cannot tell you how I used that time specifically. I spent Tuesday (first day of holiday) nipping into work to pick up one present and say hi to the three people who were in, going straight into Rugby via a refuel at Canley (heavens - I almost forgot what fuel to put into my car!) for a bit of last-minute shopping for myself, then onto Sainsburys for the weekly food shop (which was more xmas food than regular food, of course). They were handing out 10x nectar point vouchers as a thankyou for being prepared and shopping early, so although it was still quite busy in there I was glad I'd gone. It must be a generational thing, elderly couples shopping together. I find I'm mostly quicker without the Cog BUT we used to tag-team as we went around, so if one of us suddenly cried "Oh! Yogurt!" the other one could run back and get it and let the trolley continue on. It does annoy me to see whole families shopping together. If you've got two parents, one should be home with the kids (or at the very least, in the car). I would have thought "pester power" was at its height before Xmas, and a break for one adult a blessing. But hey ho, it's easy to judge being a DINK/SINK so I will hold my peace. 

Tuesday pm I wrapped and packaged up the presents into various piles and bags, as doorstepping was due to happen and it's good to be prepared. Wednesday it poured all day - but as I was busy bringing the living room-diner, ensuite and kitchen back to some level of tidiness and cleanliness, it didn't actually matter. I did notice the grass outside between the path and our bins started to sound like a bad waterbed after a bit, and there's still quite a bit of localised flooding in the area. As we've only had one visitor inside the house since March, the need to put things away and dust has fallen by the wayside. The new hoover (a folding Shark) did sterling service - poor Eddie spent all day hiding behind towels on the bedroom radiator. My sewing machines have been tucked away under the Passap (they'd normally live under the table that G is using as his work desk) and the craft room has become a little untidy as it's usually the dumping ground over Xmas - I definitely need to ebay a few items in 2021! 

Our Christmas starts officially with mulled wine after work - though this year, Cog being the workaholic he is, he still went back up after dinner just to finish something off. I think I preferred it when he worked outside the house on a PC, there was much less pull to do "just a bit more". If I was on an hourly rate I'd probably be the same, though! But unlike him I'd definitely claim for all the time I'd put in - time is money, as they say, and my free time is VERY precious to me!

Yesterday started beautifully crisp and blue, so we went for a very muddy walk along the greenway, and I managed to get some shots of some birds bouncing about on top of the school roof. We nipped into the CoOp and got a few little things (including a Viennetta), then came home and the Cog hoovered and swiffed the hallway and stairs whilst I had a sort out of the hats and scarves box. Crumbs, we had forgotten to put the ice cream in the freezer - hopefully it survives!  We made our favourite thai coconut milk soup for lunch with leftovers - turns out using soy sauce instead of fish makes little difference (I always found the original recipe too salty so had already halved the fish sauce before we went flexatarian). I watched "Meet me in St Louis" and thought the words to "Have yourself a merry little Christmas" were especially poignant this year. 

Carols from Kings was also done very well, though I'm not a fan of the arrangement they chose for "In the Bleak Midwinter". 

Whatever you're doing this year, I wish you all a peaceful Christmas. Here's to a brighter 2021 - let's face it, anything that happens has got to be an improvement on 2020. Much love and hugs to everyone!