Merry Christmas

Well, it's Christmas ...

D eventually got home safely (although he is now spending Christmas Eve - Boxing Day with his kids and ex wife and I miss him terribly), we got Mum down here safely, my brother battled the elements to get here from Sweden (text: "I've landed ... in Bournemouth!") Gatwick was closed but reopened in time for them to fly back there and he got the last train down here.

The spuds are peeled, ingredients for the nut roast prepared, stockings filled, everyone but me in bed. Two large vodkas imbibed (got to save the wine for Christmas dinner!) so I'm shortly off to bed.

I guess there are parents all over the country still waiting for the kids to be asleep so they can do the Father Christmas thing.

Funny to think that over in India my family there are probably already opening their stockings etc and for the ones in Oz they'll have done all that and be getting lunch ready. Those in the States are probably just going to the evening service at their church.

I can't help reflecting on my worst Christmas ever two years ago when my father died suddenly on his way here and thinking of all those other people in similar situations whose Christmases will never be the same again. Then there are all those who have no-one with whom to share Christmas. I count my blessings.

Merry Christmas everybody xxx

Snow stops play

Ho hum. Pi**ed off, but probably not as pi**ed off as D, on a train somewhere between Clapham Junction and here having been delayed by the weather, having had very little sleep, no English money on him, a nearly flat battery on his phone and no warm clothing.

Next stage

Well, I suppose it's getting there, but it's got a long way to go yet! (Household emulsion and acrylics!)

Snow!

All around the country kids are sitting hunched over their radios listening to the schools closure list "Please let it be mine, please let it be mine..." while parents are frantically phoning round to see whether someone can look after little Johnny so they can struggle in to work - or finish Christmas shopping without inquisitive little people trailing along.

I am just praying it doesn't really set in until my O.H. gets back here; his plane was delayed because of the weather so instead of us both now being on trains to meet up in London I am still here eating porridge and he is still trying to sleep off his jetlag. (something that never affects me). I am trying to be patient... It is annoying that I had prebooked our tickets, which we now can't use and it will cost him a fortune to buy an on-the-spot ticket.

On the plus side, my mum is now out of hospital and brimming with energy and the docs have said she can still come down by train - snow permitting!

I have to say that this is the perfect snow though, light, fluffy, sparkly and just made for scooping up into snowballs or making snowmen with. Just not much of it yet, a couple of centimetres at the most around where I am.

By the way, listening to Heart f.m., local radio, I am puzzled by the "Jeffries Farm unbeatable car" advert. What have the words of the jingle got to do with anything? It's always puzzled me. Can anyone enlighten me? ("take care of those you call your own and keep good company" ???)

Condensation!

Every morning now I have to mop up puddles of condensation from my windowsills, my curtains are going mildewed from it - any ideas how to combat it? Of course when I was a girl (quavering old lady voice again) we didn't have that problem as the ice on the windows didn't melt because the house never got warm enough. I kind of miss those pretty patterns on the windows though. When I was at boarding school, the glass of water by your bed would freeze in the winter, that's cold! It's not as if I have the heating on that high - usually 16 degrees (don't know how to put a symbol in here!) , I'm one of those people who layers on extra clothing first. Does anyone know whether I am saving the planet (!) more by having the curtains open and using natural light or keeping them closed to conserve some heat? I always struggle with this one.

This is really badly put together, isn't it?!

Oh no, not again!

The last time my parents were coming down for Christmas (2007) my dad had a fatal stroke on the way and never made it. We have just about come to terms with his death and Mum was about to make the same journey to Kings Cross (where we would meet her) but she has suffered a mild heart attack and is now in hospital in Lincoln. The curse of Christmas? She will apparently still be o.k. to visit, but we'll have to go and fetch her in our old diesel-fume-belching Volvo - and snow is forecast. This must be the first time I've prayed not to have snow at Christmas. D flies back from the States tonight, with a 7 hour wait in New York; last week planes were grounded there because of the snow. I don't want to be stuck on an icy road in a traffic jam with my poor Mum either.

Not so much of a moan as a sob escaping from a not-very-stiff upper lip:-(

Attempting art...

Not sure about posting these: the preliminary pastel sketches for a portrait of Hendrix (my hero) for my NCFE class.The guy is such an icon it feels disloyal to paint a crap picture.

I'm using unstretched canvas and could really do with a board to pin it on (Freecycle let me down this time!) but have had to make do with pinning it to the picture rail.

Today I'm starting to paint it so I'll probably ruin it!

I've been putting it off for ages - I even cleaned my bedroom from top to bottom yesterday, displacement activity or what!

At least I've got daylight today to paint in for a change!

Random stuff.

I am a prize pillock!

Following "Martin's Money-saving tips" (well worth subscribing to, by the way, and no spam) I spent £2.00 on a Sunday paper to get a £5 Body Shop voucher with no minimum spend; unfortunately I got the Observer instead of the Telegraph, which would have been, I believe, only £1.90, so no Body Shop voucher and some pretentious muck such as:

"...a taster of tuna loin, seared to within just millimetres, leaving a dark red eye, alongside an avacado cream. His lobster raviolo (obviously you get only one then) starter with a butter sauce and caramelised cauliflower is the very essence of rich, indulgent neo-classical cooking. A fricassee of snails and bacon, with darkly caramelised vegetables comes with a curl of mashed potato embedded with more snails (sounds like my garden) and silky dots of an exquisitely balanced garlic cream. A main course assiette of veal - a beignet of the sweetbreads (and you know what those are!!) , darling little rounds of the loin, a rosy red piece of the tongue (oh my God, it gets worse!) - is smart and detailed without being overwrought. Best of all are two expertly cooked breasts of grouse, the right shade of crimson on a lightly acidic blackberry sauce. All of this sits on a fritter densely flavoured with the liver, but with a curious though not completely pleasant grainy texture. We forgive him this on account of the fabulous breasts."...(? insert your own lewd comment here)

Kathryn Flett also writes about "Random - on sea" - I'm not going to quote it all - it's on guardian.co.uk/Observer magazine. See whether it sounds a tad like somewhere you know...

On another note entirely, our neighbours at the end of the garden have decided to continue their tree-timming activities. As my son said, it's an accident waiting to happen: There is a guy standing on a branch half-way up a huge tree ( I think it used to be part of a leylandii hedge - be warned!) with a rope round his waist, looped over another branch while he uses his chainsaw. A moment ago he just left the chainsaw dangling (still running) while chucking branches down to his mate. My son said we should be filming it - either for You've been framed or evidence in a manslaughter/accidental death case. Not sure I'd want to be seen filming though, they've got an England flag flying in the garden and a pitbull-type dog.

Typos

I love Freecycle, not just for useful stuff, but for entertainment value:

"I have a Single Bed with slide out Single Guest Bed (with mattresses) in good clean condition to give away. Collection from B... Road as soon as possible please. Ideal for family & fiends at Christmas time. Thanks"

The one that got away!

He sat on top of the fence for ages while the others seemed to be egging him on, then once he got out he didn't seem to know what to do, and tried to get back in.

More sun?

I think I saw it again today - then it started to get dark! I'm p***ed off with this weather.

Sun?

Oh My God! Is that the sun I can see out there? I'm not absolutely sure, it's been so long since I've seen it! I can even see the sea again.