Category Archives: personal

amusements, personal

Unblogged April

Fri 1 Cold, with wintry showers. Sorry, this is not an April Fool.
Sat 2 Why do my fingers smell of curry? Because earlier this afternoon I was immersing 3 poussins (which I’d spatchcocked) in a curry marinade, ready for tomorrow.
Sun 3 My stupid chilli plants. Pruned a month ago, they’ve grown at most 6 inches, and already have flower buds.
Mon 4 Last week was one of “those” weeks. It’s only Monday and this week has already qualified to join it.
Tue 5 Had to bite the bullet and order Mrs M a new PC having failed to satisfactorily wrangle the current one back to working well. I don’t know what she does to them. Still she’s paying! Now looking at upgrading mine too – it’s only money!
Wed 6 Pigeons pecking peacefully at discarded seeds. Suddenly a flash of tabby & white from nowhere (ie. behind the hedge). Pigeons scatter airward. Tabby & white already back in lair. So fast I couldn’t even see if the cat got pigeon for lunch.
Thu 7 Body clearly making up for two short nights sleep. Awake at 7 this morning; next I know it’s 11. Been behind all day as a result.
Fri 8 Having ordered Mrs M a new PC, I’m now seriously looking at one for me. Can’t get something beefy enough off the shelf; don’t want to DIY it; but custom builds take at least 6 weeks (why?).
Sat 9 I’d given up on them. Special offer wisteria plants ordered early in the year should have arrived a couple of weeks ago. But they arrived today, and look good, if small. Now to find good pots for them.
Sun 10 Still playing hunt the PC. Have found a possible (well reviewed) supplier who will custom build in under 2 weeks and is UK-based. I feel an order coming on this week.
Mon 11 Another wasted day … waiting for the delivery of Mrs M’s new PC. But UPS didn’t.
Tue 12 The lawn hasn’t been cut for almost a year but surprisingly is only half way up our cats. This week it’s growing a brilliant crop of cheery bright yellow dandelions. I’m torn between leaving them, picking the petals to make wine, picking the leaves for salad or digging up the roots and roasting them for coffee.
Wed 13 And yes, Spring really is a-coming in. The cherry tree and crab apple are in flower, the other apples are well on the way, and in the last couple of days the first butterflies: brimstone and holly blue.
Thu 14 Two punnets of raspberries in the supermarket delivery; and different varieties. “Malling Bella”, grown in Spain: large, dark red, luscious berries (almost like good loganberries); superb fragrance and flavour. “Kwanza”, grown in Portugal: lighter red and smaller berries, perfectly nice raspberries but definitely less flavour and rather more tart. Eaten for pudding with flaked chocolate and double cream. Yum!
Fri 15 Spent most of the day setting up N’s new PC. Actually Windows 11 isn’t as bad as most people make out. Yes, it’s different, but if you use the setup options carefully it isn’t that different. One good thing is that the machine came with Windows 11 Home, but there’s an instant upgrade to Windows 11 Pro (for a fee, of course) – and I mean it is instant!
Sat 16 The bluebells are out and the lilac is not far behind. It’s also been a good couple of days for butterflies: as well as the brimstone and holly blue of a few days ago, today a beautiful new speckled wood dancing in the sunshine.
Sun 17 So we have a lovely sunny long weekend, and what am I doing? Sitting indoors “jellivating” because I just can’t make myself do anything. Bah! Depression!
Mon 18 An afternoon spend fiddling about with family history; trying to see if anything pops up on any of the problem areas. No, nothing.
Tue 19 You can tell Spring is here. I’ve just spent the last three days (and of course nights) without a stitch of clothing. OK, I’ve not been parading around the garden showing off to the neighbours, but I have been 3-4 metres outside the back door.
Wed 20 Phew! At last I’ve finished fettling N’s new PC, having been waiting on a backup drive and then testing. Now all I have to do is install it on her desk. By which time my new PC will have arrived (assuming DPD play properly).
Thu 21 Today feels like a day spent marking time. Still, N’s PC is installed on her desk. Meanwhile my PC has arrived in 2 large boxes, which will be investigated tomorrow.
Fri 22 Restaurant quality food this evening. N did an old favourite of hers: Pork in mushroom & cream sauce. Very yum!
Sat 23 Hmmm … fresh pineapple with coffee ice cream doesn’t quite work. But it was an interesting experiment!
Sun 24 They tell me today was Sunday.
Mon 25 Two full days slog has got my new PC to the stage where it can get it installed tomorrow for the final conversion.
Tue 26 Phew! Finally the new PC is in place. Just a couple of glitches still to settle, plus setting up automatic backups.
Wed 27 After several nice warm days, it’s a typical English Spring – back to being dull, grey and not very warm. And good grief, the birds have emptied the nut feeder again, in about 4 days; mind you, they’ve likely been helped by the local squirrel.
Thu 28 It’s all computing at the moment. Decided to clear out all our old computer junk. Started with the 2 crates worth under my desk. Found a laptop which hasn’t been touched in over 3 years; it still boots into Windows 10 with the correct date & time too!
Fri 29 Very early this morning (like 06:30-ish) saw two pairs of birds high up; one pair appearing to pass something between them. They looked very like Hirundines of some form: I don’t think swifts as the flight wasn’t quite right; more likely house martins; possibly swallows. Only in view for a few seconds, so hard to be certain.
Sat 30 You stand in the kitchen putting together some salad, and the cats drive you demented. Tilly and Rosie are in and out, crashing through the catdoor, as if on elastic. Scarcely a minute goes by but one or other is going one way or the other! I’ve never before known cats like these two.
amusements, personal

Unblogged March

Tue 1 It’s daffy-dilly day – and no surprise they are in this wet weather! Next up will be the sham-rocks followed by the bleeding-roses. Three in close succession like London buses.
Wed 2 We’ve had so much rain in the last few days that today there was standing water in the garden – despite the affected area having been raised about 3 inches a couple of years ago.
Thu 3 Dizzy, dizzy, dizzy. Definitely very unstable in the head, with headache and general flu-y feeling. Negative LFT. Retired back to bed and slept.
Fri 4 Definitely not well, but less dizzy than yesterday. LFT still negative.
Sat 5 Much as yesterday, but slowly improving. LFT still negative. Feeling better enough to try to do the crossword.
Sun 6 Rinse and repeat – but managed to stay upright most of the day.
Mon 7 It’s that time of year when you start sorting household finances and it goes on, and on and on … because you realise you need to set up next year’s tax files, get upsides of billing & payments which change in April …
Tue 8 What a lovely sunny day, although chilly in the breeze. Lots of small daffodils now out in the garden, and the deeper mauve crocuses are still going strong. The magenta hellebore is almost finished as are the snowdrops.
Wed 9 Tied to my desk all day becase of another of those “It’s that time of year” jobs: subscription reminders for the AP Soc. Even so I didn’t manage to finish it as everything always needs rewriting.
Thu 10 Awoken at 06:00 by 5kg of cat landing on the solar plexus. So up at 07:00 and a huge amount of work shifted before my meeting at 10:00. In fact large amounts shifted right through to 19:00.
Fri 11 Nice delivery of half a case of Champagne. Two are a retirement present for a friend.
Sat 12 Was intending to (re)frame some pictures this afternoon, but not a chance. Spent the time instead cooking fruit and then duck and pepper stir-fry with noodles for dinner.
Sun 13 Why is it that some days everything conspires to get in the way: not serious buggeration but just enough awkward to make everything more difficult. Still I did manage to cook steak & chips for dinner, washed down with bottle of Champagne. Remember Hester Browne’s words: Always keep a bottle of Champagne in the fridge for special occasions. Sometimes the special occasion is that you’ve got a bottle of Champagne in the fridge.
Mon 14 For once, a day of doing almost nothing apart from fiddling about. It wasn’t really “play” more like wasting time.
Tue 15 This morning there were some lovely mackerel cirrus clouds – photographed badly through the window.
Wed 16 A really strange yellowy/peachy light in late morning, dissipating by the end of lunch (possibly with the rain). Seems like it was Saharan dust dragged northwards by a storm over Spain.
Thu 17 It’s been very quiet round here for Sham-Rock Day!
Fri 18 Gorgeous silvery full moon, especially enchanting seen through the trees this evening.
Sat 19 Last night’s moon turned into an equally lovely moon set around dawn, followed by a warm(er) sunny Spring day.
Sun 20 Why is sex at 6am always such a failure? To compensate the afternoon was spent photographing vases of daffodils and tulips.
Mon 21 Afternoon spent trying to untangle another knot in my family history, back in mid-18th century … and failing. Either there are lots of records missing from some Kent parishes, people are telling porkies, or they really do parachute in from nowhere.
Tue 22 A rare treat: home cooked curry eaten in front of the TV. So decadent.
Wed 23 Another literary society talk hosted on Zoom. We’re getting good audiences; over 50 again tonight.
Thu 24 The first queen wasp of the season let itself in the study window this afternoon; and was eventually ushered out again.
Disappointed I didn’t catch it and ID it. I was beginning to think there were none this year as they had a poor year last summer.
Fri 25 Why is it that by the time we get to Friday lunchtime I’m convinced it’s Saturday? And continue to think it’s Saturday all day however much I remind myself it isn’t.
Sat 26 Up betimes so lots done before hosting a lunchtime Zoom call, only to undo the good work by falling asleep for a large chunk of the afternoon. Well it is Sunday, isn’t it?!
Sun 27 Horrible day! (1) Bloody changing the clocks again, for no useful reason. (2) The general nausea of Mother’s Day. (3) Banks getting in the way of business for no reason apart from their profit. (4) A borked literary society website. “Life. Don’t talk to me about life!”
Mon 28 Used the Royal Mail facility to come and collect your parcel to go – for a small fee (48p to me). Haven’t used this before, but on this one showing it seems a good scheme. And I managed to fix the borked website.
Tue 29 What happened at the coalface today? I have no clue!
Wed 30 How many times does one get woken at some uncivilised hour by 5kg of cat landing unannounced on the solar plexus? And then they snuggle down and look cute. But try shutting them out the bedroom and there’s a riot.
Thu 31 It snowed. This morning. Big healthy lumps of snow. For 2 minutes. Long interlude. Repeat Scene 1 at teatime. Fin.
amusements, personal

Unblogged February

Tue 1 Like the first of every month, a day full of tedious admin: household, literary society, patient group … It just multiplies.
Wed 2 Good grief! My chilli plants are still producing a few fruit. Picked 5 today. But they’ll get pruned back later this month so they can put up new growth and hopefully a good crop for a third summer.
Thu 3 Successfully bid for another picture at our local auction house. It’s the brother of one I already have, so really wanted, and I was surprised to get it as cheaply as I did.
Fri 4 Why do jobs always take 10 times longer than they should. A 15 minute update to a website this afternoon took over 4 hours of endlessly fiddling around. And that was just one of 10 things I was supposed to do in that time. Hello weekend – NOT!
Sat 5 So intent on slogging away at website updates this afternoon, I didn’t realise how cold I was – absolutely frozen. Unusually for me I needed a thick sweater to warm up.
Sun 6 Rain lashing down and a gale blowing all night. Wet when I went to bed, and still wet when I got up at 07:15. Awoken, of course, by a drowned Boy cat arriving at 06:15. Still, up early meant lots done.
Mon 7 Went to collect the painting I bought last week at our local auction house. First time going somewhere non-medical in almost 2 years!
The crocuses and the alder catkins are coming out, in lovely Spring-like sunshine.
Tue 8 Discovered why one of our tubs of bulbs had fallen from its position to lie on its side on the lawn below. The trail camera shows Mr Fox jumping up on it from below, making it topple over the edge. Exit Mr Fox in haste.
Wed 9 BookReceived an interesting-looking new book in the mail: Understanding European Wines by Charlie Boston. I don’t know the author, but I do know the guy who’s written an introduction about Anthony Powell and Wine. It goes straight to the top of Mount TBR.
Thu 10 Lovely trip to the dentist this morning. An hour in the chair for crown prep, but no impressions as they now have a wizzy machine which does scans instead. Sad that as I opted for a gold crown, I won’t get to see the scans printed as a crown onsite: gold has to go to the lab.
Fri 11 Actually managed to do a bit of family history today for the first time in ages. And here’s an interesting problem: my half-aunt wants a printed chart of the family line back as far as I have it. This runs to 28 sheets of A4 (14×2) so will be about 3×0.5 metres! How best to do it?
Sat 12 Family history curiosity of the day. May 1563 in Cranbrook, Kent; marriage between Reynolde Madisson and Frysweed Webb. Then in the same church in June 1626; marriage between William Unicombe and Regenerat Weekes. (Sadly none are mine.)
Sun 13 Sunday lunch of cold leftover chicken & chickpea curry sandwiches. The curry maybe even better than it was hot last night. Plus an improved loaf thanks to the new bread machine (the old one has retired after almost 10 years!).
Mon 14 How is this our 44th Valentine’s Day together? Our first (1979) was really cold; like 5cm of ice even on major roads, but the buses were still running. We were at my parents and still managed to go out (by bus) to a fantastic local restaurant: Blunk’s in Waltham Abbey (now long gone). The meal cost £50 (almost a week’s take-home) for the 2 of us!
Tue 15 Dear God! How much more rain can the garden take? We’ll soon be swimming in mud; the continual parade of muddy paws suggests the cats already are.
Wed 16 Hosted the second evening talk for the literary society. An immensely interesting talk from Nick Birns which was well attended. An hour easily turned into an hour and a half.
Thu 17 Great fun after dinner: we decided to strip down the old bread machine for recycling. Two of us and one hour to produce a carrier bag of metal/electrical parts and one of plastic parts; plus hundreds of screws; and a bonus cut finger from the brittle, heat-stressed plastic.
Fri 18 We’ve not had wind like this since the Great Storm of October 1987. The Gods have obviously forgotten about the effect of beans and Jerusalem artichokes.
Sat 19 I’ve been far too lax during the pandemic about wearing my hearing aids around home. So I’m making a concerted effort to get used to wearing them during the day. Let’s see if I can keep it up.
Sun 20 The bloody Winter Olympics are over, thank the gods! They’re not intended to be, but all Olympics have become a nauseating festival of global corruption and willy-waving.
Mon 21 What’s this? The third storm in a week? And not even any snow? Now come on, this just isn’t playing the game, even for winter in London.
Tue 22 Early evening meeting. Why are they always across food time? And how much longer can they resist meeting in person, which still worries me witless.
Wed 23 Lamb Shank & Fennel Casserole with Garlic Bread for dinner. I also cooked Chicken & Mushroom Pie (with homemade shortcrust pastry!), so we have that (cold) for tomorrow.
Thu 24 To the dentist (the only reason I didn’t have toasted garlic bread for breakfast) to get my new piece of gold mouth jewellery. Then spent a chunk of the afternoon picking oakum: demolishing some cotton string to make bird nesting material.
Fri 25 Arrggghhhh!!!!! No supermarket delivery due to IT issues. Have had to rebook it for tomorrow. Now tell me why we have a full freezer.
Sat 26 Finally got the supermarket delivery this afternoon. The the logic (or incompetence) of the pickers continues to astonish me. This week we were short 2 bunches of daffodils; but gained 1 fennel (3 rather than 2) and 3 tubes of tomato paste (8 rather than 5). OK we win but that’s a hard way to make a profit.
Sun 27 Found an error in my family tree: Elizabeth Cotton, wife of Stephen Marshall (right name; wrong identity). Stephen (born c.1763) is currently the furthest I can get my paternal line; I know where he logically fits but I don’t have the evidence, and the records seem not to exist. I now know Elizabeth Cotton’s name, but no details.
Mon 28 Absolutely no go, either mental or physical, today despite a reasonable night. So, yet again, little got done – and none of the things I’d planned.
amusements, personal

Unblogged January

Sat 1 A new year it may be, but why does everything else have to change? Spent the whole day reorganising the date-driven irritations of life.
Sun 2 Oh bugger! The first time I eat a toffee in 6 months and what do I do? Yes, you guessed … detach one of my big gold crowns. Still my dentist will enjoy the £££.
Mon 3 So it’s a bank holiday. And yet again I spend the day working, when I should have been doing family history. Gah!
Tue 4 I don’t understand why it is that we sometimes have a dreadful night’s sleep. Last night I saw 03:30, but then slept until 11:00. Why? I can’t comprehend.
Wed 5 What a wonderful bright but frosty morning. Why can’t all winter days be like this?
Thu 6 Another wonderful bright, very frosty morning – a really hard frost too, possibly the hardest frost here for years. All clouded over and dull by lunchtime. Then at sunset there was a really odd light: at first peachy, then pinker, and finally a sort of violet/lavender, but with a pretty ordinary sunset.
Fri 7 Another nice sunny morning, but another day feeling well below par, though improved. Done several LFT in the last few days, all negative. It feels like a sinus infection – made worse by the anxiety.
Sat 8 The cats definitely had the right idea today: curled up, comfy and sleeping. All the while there’s cold, grey rain outside.
Sun 9 Tonight yet another variant on Mary Berry’s Sausage Supper. This time with a couple of jointed poussin marinaded in lemon & brandy. I did plenty of veg so there’s leftover chicken & veg for cold, or risotto, or stuffed peppers.
Mon 10 Dymo label printer is printing tape in pale grey; labels are OK. Software is up to date. Buy new printer. Same problem. Install different Dymo software. Problem fixed. Not the first time they’ve screwed their software.
Tue 11 At lunchtime today I completed my 71st year. How did this happen? I thought I had a lifetime ahead. Arrggghhhhh!
Wed 12 That tree branch is swaying about. Oh, there’s a tail. Good afternoon squirrel!
Thu 13 What a lovely sunny day for a trip to the dentist! Until I’m told I need a new crown to replace the one that came off. Even more £££ for my dentist to enjoy. Can I get a mortgage on it?
Fri 14 Amongst the little band of blue tits and great tits around our garden, there’s a female blackcap. They’ve now been joined by a handful of long-tailed tits, which are always a delight to see. And do they get through the nuts quickly!
Sat 15 Someone stole Horsenden Hill. Awoke to a very foggy morning with visibility of about 100m. Horsenden Hill 1km away might just as well not have been there. They brought it back about lunchtime.
Sun 16 Oh so nearly! Rosie cat came within a foot of getting that squirrel! Only minutes earlier I’d said to N that she was certainly fast enough.
Mon 17 Went looking for my direct ancestors on the 1921 census. I think I found them all although two entries are somewhat doubtful and will need checking when it isn’t pay-per-view and many alternatives can be examined.
Tue 18 Mist descending at 04:45 so I was surprised to awake to a bright, sunny morning. Although the mist drifted in and out until lunchtime.
Wed 19 Hosted on Zoom the first of a (hopefully) monthly series of talks for the AP Soc. which replace our abandoned 2021 conference. Audience of 50+. Seemed to go well and pretty smoothly.
Thu 20 We had a long discussion over dinner about our childhoods, our parents’ childhoods, and how this has affected us. Did we get the affection we needed as kids? No. And my parents and at least my father’s parents struggled financially which has contributed to the knock-on effects. What you see now is very much me having risen above my childhood and instincts.
Fri 21 Escrow. It’s an odd word, meaning “a deposit held in trust or as security” [OED]. Derived from the Old Germanic skraudo- (whence English shred n.) via the Anglo-Norman escrowe. Although already known in Early Modern English it seems to have passed into more regular usage via the Americans.
Sat 22 Dessert this evening: fresh strawberries with flaked white Toblerone and double cream. Yum.
Sun 23 A day of best intentions being side-lined. Why? Just because. And because neither of us could be arsed.
Mon 24 We spent the day rejigging the box files on the top shelf over my desk. Lots of boxes archived and some new ones created for the overflows & expansion. Seeing the dust & muck which ended up on my desk I can quite see how poor souls can be swamped by volcano ash.
Tue 25 One of the guys I know from school (the head boy from the year above me) is writing about the old school days. Scanned and sent him quite a few pages from my press cuttings file, including play programmes and articles from the school magazine.
Wed 26 News in the last couple of days of two friends having died around the turn of the year; one 84, the other nearer 94. They were two of life’s gentlemen. Let’s hope there won’t be a third.
Thu 27 What was I saying earlier about not understanding sleep? Last night I was asleep soon after midnight and still slept until almost 11:00. So I’ve been playing catch-up all day. Anyone would think I was still a teenager!
Fri 28 A quick, unscientific tasting of three different Domaine Tariquet Armagnacs at the end of dinner. (Two from Wine Society, one from Waitrose; but two of three are now not available!) Need to taste again, more carefully. Oldest certainly smoothest, though maybe not quite as much character – but all have a lovely bouquet of church incense.
Sat 29 I’m told that today happened. But I couldn’t be at all sure. Nothing seems to have been achieved, except I cooked dinner.
Sun 30 Why re there crows flying hither and yon at the front of the house? Ah, I see. A parliament of at least two dozen crows in yonder poplar trees. Apparently their annual Spring gathering for speed dating.
Mon 31 Went for my annual diabetic eye scan this morning. Why is it always on a bright sunny day? But again this year I got away without drops to dilate my eyes. Definite result. Awaiting the results.
amusements, memes, personal

Birthday Meme 2022

Something a bit different and off the wall (well, hanging precariously anyway) for this year’s Birthday Meme.

  1. Describe your personality.
    Lime green with spots; the spots start pink, then turn sky blue and fade out in golden yellow. All the while enhanced by wearing a purple stupidity.
  2. You can press a button that will make any one person explode. Who would you blow up?
    Oh so many choices! Boris Johnson has to be petty much at the top of the list, along with Michael Gove and David Cameron who combined got us right into this mess. Mind you the whole government are in the firing line. Bring back Guy Fawkes.
  3. What shape is the sky?
    A flat plane in an arbitrary, possibly fractional, number greater than 4 dimensions. You get to choose the number, ‘cos no-one else can agree. Personally I favour 7.43.
  4. Where do all the daylight saving hours go?
    They’re stored in a large warehouse in Outer Azerbaijan and used sparingly to give us sunny days during the winter.
  5. If you were a type of tree, what would you be?
    A yew. Sturdy; evergreen; long lived; green on the outside and threateningly dark inside; with poisonous berries.

  6. What is your favourite place in the UK?
    Dungeness (above). Closely followed by Forde Abbey (in Dorset); Rye; and Lyme Regis.
  7. If you could make a rule for a day and everyone had to follow it, what would it be?
    All clothes are banned and everyone must be nude at all times, and in all places. For ever, and ever. Amen.
  8. If you had to replace your hands with something other than hands or claws, what would you put at the ends of your arms?
    Octopus tentacles with eyes on the tip. Just so useful, and such fun!

  9. What mythical creature would improve the world most if it existed?
    Dragon. Think of all those unsuspecting twats it could toast. We could solve the population crisis overnight.
  10. If you had a pet parrot, what would you teach it to say?
    “It’s yer coons, innit.” (in similitude Alf Garnett). Well no-one said it had to be PC.
  11. What crazy name would you give your kid if you were a celebrity?
    Oh so many options. How about: Chardonnay-Madonna CherryPie or Coconut Bingo or Merkin Shaggy Cock.
  12. If you won a trip to go anywhere on earth, where would you go?
    Iceland or more likely Japan (Kyoto & Niigata, above, rather than Tokyo).
  13. Do you believe in the paranormal and would you go ghost hunting?
    My scientific head says “no”; but my heart says “yes” – There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, / Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.
    And of course I’d go ghost hunting; science is there to find out.
  14. Do you talk to garden gnomes? What do you say to them?
    We usually have a good gossip; they see most of what’s going on:
    “Hello, Old Chap. What’s the latest on the grapevine?”
    “I saw Mrs Jones had a visit from the coalman last Monday; he was there 2 hours. He left hurriedly ‘cos her husband was coming up the road. And he was ever so clean when he left.”
  15. Pick one of your favourite quotes.
    Granny grasped her broomstick purposefully. “Million-to-one chances,” she said, “crop up nine times out of ten.”
    [Terry Pratchett; Equal Rites]
personal

Things to do in 2022

Well now. At this point I normally make public the things I intend to try to achieve during the year. However, like several other things around here, it ain’t going to happen this year.

For why? …

Basically it seems rather pointless. Unless the Covid situation eases up a lot, there’s not much prospect of going anywhere, or doing anything, exciting. Sure there are interesting things to do at home – like family history – but you don’t want to keep hearing about that. Yes the whole situation is extremely tedious and off pissing.

Beyond that, from most of what I’ve written down (and yes, I have written it all down) it might as well be Groundhog Day. Everything looks pretty much the same boring stuff I’ve been trying to do for the last couple of years – and failing mainly because of (a) Covid and (b) depression. Rinse and repeat, ad nauseam.

However what I will say is that the main thing I’ve decided is that this year we should take a serious look at our long-term (personal and family) safety and security. I doubt it is in a very bad state but an in depth look at where we are, what we have, and what ultimately should happen to it, would not be a bad idea. Of course, we may decide we don’t need to do anything. Then again we may feel the need to change everything. Or something in between. We shall see.

Hopefully the year will be better than I fear and we’ll all be here to report on our plans again in 12 months time.

Meanwhile, keep taking the tablets!

personal

2021 in Summary

Traditionally at this time I look back at my achievements and engagement (or, more usually the lack of it) over the past year. However I’m not going to do so this year.

Why?

For the simple reason that the year has been such rubbish with the ongoing plague having shut down the ability to do much, or otherwise scuttled most of the things one had vaguely hoped to achieve.

Which means there is effectively nothing to say other than a big fat “Bah! Humbug!”.

Similarly I usually document how well I did against the predictions I made for 2021. Again, I’m not going to do it: partly because of the rubbish year but also as I just don’t have the stomach to plod through it all – that’s at least in part down to my depression.

However suffice it to say that I maintained my track record of getting the majority of my predictions wrong, with the exception of some of the Brexit fallout (and anyone could have foreseen that!).

Normal service may, or may not, resume next year.

personal

Happy New Year

Sorry 2021 you didn’t deliver what we ordered,
so we’ve bought a brand new 2022!

Wishing everyone a Happy New Year.
May your 2022 be much better than 2021!

personal

Unblogged December

Wed 1 What happened today? Not a clue. Spent the whole day doing admin-y stuff. Yawn!
Thu 2 Spent a large chunk of the afternoon trying to work out what in my life I want to monitor and/or achieve next year. All somewhat depressing, but I know if I don’t do it I’ll get nowhere.
Fri 3 Yay! The supermarket delivery actually got everything right this week, barring the handful of items that weren’t available. And the chatty, friendly driver was well on time.
Sat 4 Surprised that it was quite foggy in the middle of the nght; enough that I couldn’t see the top of the road from the bedroom window. But it was clear by the time I got up at 9.
Sun 5 I should have photographed my desk this morning: it was an absolute riot of of muddy paw marks. It’s an enigma to me how a cat can come in, cross the kitchen, hall, stairs, landing and study (all carpeted except the kitchen) and still have wet muddy feet!
Mon 6 Actually managed to look at some family history stuff this afternoon. I was looking at Austens in Tenterden and hoping to find a (very distant) connexion to Jane Austen. But no luck so far.
Tue 7 I’m a terrible correspondent, so no surprise that it has taken me weeks and even months to get round to writing some letters to friends and family.
Wed 8 Ho! Ho! Ho! Welcome to the new Christmas lockdown. But phased in over a week. FFS. Yet again much too little, far too late.
Thu 9 04:30. Sounds of cat(s) playing with something. Ah yes. Small dead wood mouse at the foot of the bed. Both junior cats in attendance; I wonder which is the guilty party? Boy Cat looks the more likely.
Fri 10 Waitrose are selling their usual Crément de Bourgogne for £10.99 (it’s normally £14.99). It’s as good as many Champagnes (well it’s the same method, but not the right district). Buy 6 and get another 5% off. Good everyday fizz. What’s not to like?
Sat 11 That worked pretty well. No chance of the usual literary society London pre-Christmas lunch again this year, so I organised a sort of party tea over zoom. More overseas members (mostly US) than Brits, and it’s great to see them. Seemed to be enjoyed by all.
Sun 12 Afternoon spent writing Christmas cards, letters and wrapping presents that have to be posted. Finished the cards, but not the packages.
Mon 13 So today, between two GP patient group meetings, we managed to get all the Christmas cards & presents packed up and in the mail.
Tue 14 Someone left an unlabelled bag with tea bags & chocolate on our doorstep. Thing is one doesn’t like to assume it wasn’t left there by mistake, especially after several recent attempted deliveries of parcels not for us. But in this instance it turned out to be a friend playing “Secret Santa”.
Wed 15 Did today exist? I suppose it must have done. But I’ve no way of telling as I seem to have done nothing – certainly nothing of any substance beyond a few minor website updates.
Thu 16 Night was falling fast when N discovered a problem with the pond: it was nearly empty! Water drained down to ground level (top of the original tiny sunken pond). Water not spewing from hoses etc. so must be a hole in the liner. Too dark to do anything more than minimal damage limitation.
Fri 17 A difficult day. Tom came round to help assess the pond situation. Tom & N rescued the fish; moved to cramped temporary accommodation – hopefully pending a better solution over the weekend. Didn’t like having Tom here, however necessary it was; I’m petrified of getting Omicron.
Sat 18 A day spent waiting for a delivery that didn’t materialise. Gah!
Sun 19 Up at 06:30 after a bad night and much too little sleep. No wonder I was cold, falling asleep, and good for nothing all day.
Mon 20 It’s been a long day of bits & pieces; odd jobs; doorstep pressie swap with a friend. Couldn’t settle to doing anything.
Tue 21 Trying to eat up the freezer to make room for Christmas meat. Tonight a couple of portions of frozen cooked chicken fragments; put together with leftover roast Mediterranean veg from Sunday and used to stuff some peppers. Tasty even if not fine dining.
Wed 22 A day of two results. Goldfish finally moved to their new long-term temporary home. And tasty home made tomato soup for evening food; very thrifty using a quantity of over-ripe surplus tomatoes and stock from the freezer.
Thu 23 An interesting day topped by a product recall on the goat butter we have in the fridge – all of it. So need to source more butter (goat or otherwise) PDQ.
Fri 24 Christmas dinner part 1 this evening: roast pork, baked potatoes, red cabbage, sugar snap peas, rainbow carrots, leek sauce and apple sauce. Washed down with some good cider.
Sat 25 It’s Christmas morning. The rest of the house is asleep. But what am I doing? Working, of course; rewriting a document. Festivities later.
Sun 26 A grey and soggy Boxing Day, which meant a lie-in, lunch of cold meat with bubble & squeak, and not a lot else done – as it should be.
Mon 27 Anthony Powell sums up today rather well: “It was that prolonged, flat, cheerless week that follows Christmas. Those interminable latter days of the dying year create an interval of moral suspension: one form of life already passed away before another has had time to assert some new, endemic characteristic.”
Tue 28 The first of this year’s Royal Institution Christmas Lectures on BBC4 TV. Very topical; all about viruses, how they infect us and how we test for them. OK I followed along easily, but I suspect many of the kids struggled with some of the bits that were glossed over or assumed.
Wed 29 Today is the Feast Day of Thomas Becket, St Thomas of Canterbury. Saint and martyr he’s venerated by the Catholic and Anglican Churches. Having found conflict with Henry II over the rights and privileges of the Church, Becket was murdered by followers of the king in Canterbury Cathedral on this day in 1170. He is my patronal guardian and we have much in common: not least being a pain in the posterior.
Thu 30 Last of the RI Christmas Lectures. They’ve been quite good in an understated way; no dramatics; and quite a lot assumed/not explained. But it’s hard to know how to make virology fun for 12-year-olds, especially when constrained to just three lectures.
Fri 31 This old year is ending as it began … with us swimming underwater: we close our eyes, hold our breath, and keep kicking in a vain attempt to resurface. Here’s hoping we can resurface in 2022.
HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!