Family Day

There is no official name for today (unlike yesterday, Boxing Day), so I will refer to it as Family Day. I was up early and, having taken a tea up to Di, spent a quiet hour contemplating the overnight news and the plan for today's meal preparations. Once Di had emerged, I took the opportunity to go out for my morning walk. Like yesterday, it was very quiet as I wandered around my usual route.

Once I was back home, I grabbed the spare chairs from the garage and expanded the dining table. I then took the naan breads from the freezer so that they would be ready to heat up when needed. Rice was left to soak, and onions were diced and fried gently until they began to caramelise. Everything was on track.

Zoe and Ellie arrived first, soon followed by Kim. (Jon was at work). We gathered in Ellie's bedroom so that she could open her remaining presents from us... and see the dressing table and stool we had installed in the bedroom. She was very excited.

Jane and Trevor had been delayed by poor SatNav guidance, but that was no problem as we had a very flexible menu which I could "activate" whenever they arrived. In the end, they weren't significantly later than originally planned, and it was great to have them and Mark here for the day. As drinks were passed around, I fired up the hob. The rice baked in the oven, Ellie's curry simmered on the hob, the salmon for Jane and Di's pasta was flaked into the white wine reduction with some prawns and a huge glug of cream, and 7 chicken breasts (cut into chunks) were added to the onions and cooked in a Bhuna sauce. After the main dishes were tidied away, there was a selection of sweets (which Jane had kindly brought). 

After the meal, we sat at the table and played a card game that Ellie had received for Christmas. This seemed to be great fun. I wasn't quite clear on the rules and am not sure if I won (because I cleared my hand first) or lost (because I cleared my hand first). Once I was out, I continued to observe and saw the game until the last players fought to discard their remaining cards. It was clearly a lot of fun.

We retired to the lounge where some more gifts were exchanged, and Ellie and Mark sat on the floor assembling a Lego model. Ellie got bored after a while, but Mark finished the model without her valued input (he's become such a clever boy!!!)

Everything broke up early in the evening, and we wished everyone a safe journey home. We then spent some time tidying up and reloading the dishwasher before settling down in front of the TV. It had been a lovely "Family Day".

A Lull

 Today was a lull. I was up early and enjoyed a quiet coffee while reading the news and devouring some of the social media. While waiting for Di to come down, I started to install and configure the Echo Show that Zoe had given us. It was clear that there were plenty of settings that could be tweaked as I decided how best to use the device, and resolved to return to it during the day. 

Once Di had come down and I had provided her with life-sustaining beverages, I dressed and headed out for my walk. Again, it was cold, a mere 2 °C, but at least we didn't have the bitter wind of yesterday. It was a very quiet walk. There were far fewer people out and about than yesterday. I assume they were nursing hangovers or still in a food coma from the festivities.

Back home, I grabbed breakfast and then configured (yes, I know!) the kettle. This didn't take long, and I can now, in addition to just pressing a button, instruct Alexa to "Turn on the kettle" without being in the kitchen. Indeed, using the Alexa app, I should be able to do it without being in the house. Of course, the flaw in the design is that the kettle cannot fill itself, so I have to remember to always ensure there's at least a couple of cups of water in the device. I did learn something, doing this. The kettle recommends that we should only heat the water to 86 °C for tea and 90 °C for coffee (it tells you the temperature of the water as it heats up and stops heating at the temperature you set). I tried both settings, and they were just fine.

Di spent much of the morning baking, and there was a wonderful smell pervading the kitchen. I know she has some butter icing, and I assume she will decorate the cakes tomorrow morning.

We had a quiet afternoon with our Kindles before I started on this evening's dinner and preparation for tomorrow's festivities. Half a side of salmon has been baked, and 8 large chicken breasts have been roasted, ready for the morning. After we had finished our dinner, I went to our local Indian takeaway to get some onion bhajis ready for tomorrow. Everything I could do in advance is now done.

It is likely to be a busy day tomorrow, but for now, a quiet evening is planned.

Christmas

 Not having young children (or old children) in the house, there was no early morning excitement. I got up at my usual time and worked my way through a reviving coffee, the overnight news, and a smattering of social media feeds. Diane wandered down a little while later, and after I had made her a tea, had a shower, and made her a coffee, I set off on my morning walk.

It was only 2 °C, and there was a biting wind. I was glad of my woolly hat and my leather jacket (nothing seems to cut out the wind as well as a leather jacket). My audiobook chatted away in my ears, recalling life in the mid-1800s. (When I say recalling, I do not imply they are my recollections, but rather they transport the imagination to that period!!!). Despite the cold, there were plenty of fellow walkers with their dogs, and everyone had a cheery "Merry Christmas" greeting as they passed.

Once I had returned home and grabbed some breakfast, I took a spare chair and some frozen "pigs in blankets" around to Zoe. She was very well organised with her cooking schedule worked out a taped to the worktop. I left her to it and promised we would be back at 12:30.

As promised, we walked back and joined the festivities. Ellie was back home after a week with Pete, Kim and Jon were there, and we made up the party. After sharing some Christmas drinks, we opened the presents. The pile of gifts wasn't as big as in previous years since we could actually see the wall against which they were piled.

We were all immensely lucky and had some wonderful and thoughtful presents. Zoe was particularly proud of her selection for a joint present to us, combining my love of technology with Di's love of tea. She bought us a smart kettle that we can control from a phone app or through Alexa!

It goes without saying that Zoe presented us with a wonderful Christmas Lunch. After a salmon and prawn starter, we marched into the main event. There was a turkey crown (only half of which was needed), roasted potatoes, carrots, and parsnips; there was cabbage, brussels sprouts, peas, gravy, and bread sauce. We hardly seemed to make a dent in the food she served up. What's more, we realised when we had finished that a) we had forgotten the ham, and b) we had no room for dessert.

We had a lovely afternoon as Ellie played with various gifts and, item by item, gave a fashion show of the outfits she had received. Zoe even set up the karaoke on Ellie's Nintendo Switch.

Jon and Kim left at about 18:00, and we went soon after. (I popped home to get the car as there was so much to take back). 

We had a quiet evening after a wonderful Christmas Day.

Preparation

 After a coffee and a shower, I went for my morning walk. It was a bit cooler this morning, but the sun (once above the horizon) was bright and the day looked promising. As I wandered along my route, a black BMW veered towards me. I prepared to leap out of the way before realising it was Lottie (with a great big smile on her face). She waved and drove on by.

Once home, I made breakfast, and then Di went to collect some meds for Jasper from the vet. I went and cleared the Orangery. For the last 10 days, it has been the repository of all of the Christmas decorations, while a suitable subset was chosen for this year. They are now back in the garage, and the Orangery is habitable again.

The next item on the agenda was to cook the ham. This was a three and a half hour marathon. It is now cooked, wrapped in foil, and nestling in the bottom of the fridge. I'll slice it in the morning, before going to Zoe's.

I have received most of the results from my blood tests. All were normal except a couple, which were marginally above the recommended range. These are related to cholesterol, and the accompanying note suggested I might wish to take statins. Well, the fact of the matter is that I don't like taking medication except when absolutely necessary. So, should I or shouldn't I? I spent several hours reading the guidance on the NHS website, and still could not decide. Eventually, I wrote a very long description of my dilemma and submitted it to ChatGPT. I was delighted by the analysis it provided, and I now feel better informed so that I can have a discussion with the GP.

We managed a quiet hour or so with our Kindles before dinner, but now that dinner is over, it is time to wrap the Christmas presents.

Busy Busy

It's been a busy day. I was up at 6:30 and enjoyed my early morning coffee while checking on what the world had been up to overnight. Soon after Di came down, I grabbed my walking shoes and jacket and set off for a quick march to the Doctor's Surgery. My annual MOT was scheduled. Most of the items had been dealt with by means of a questionnaire, which I returned a couple of weeks ago. What was outstanding was a blood sample and a urine sample. The former I couldn't submit by email, and the second, they hadn't requested in advance. I will have to return with that when convenient! I walked home, reported to the boss, then settled down for some breakfast.

With breakfast done, I booked a slot at the recycling tip, then loaded the car with the detritus left after yesterday's construction project. I also received the code to collect a stool that would accompany Ellie's dressing table. Stopping first at Sainsbury's, I dropped into Argos and collected the stool. It was chaos in there, and the car park was rammed full. I was lucky, however, and was back in the car within about 10 minutes. The community tip has timed entries. I was 15 minutes early, but they let me in anyway. The detritus was ejected, and I headed home.

Back home, I attacked the carpets with the spot cleaner after Jasper had left his mark, and then sat down at the computer to send my various e-cards. This took a couple of hours.

During the afternoon, I prepared a batch of "Grandpa's Curry Sauce" ready for Ellie over the weekend. This is not a quick recipe, requiring slow caramelisation of the onions and then an hour of simmering to soften all of the vegetables. Finally, the whole mixture is blitzed with the stick blender and then sealed in a container, waiting to be used when required. With the curry sauce finished, we had 45 minutes of Kindle time before I started on dinner.

It's been a good and busy day.

Self Assembly

 My morning started just before seven. A coffee was used to kick-start the body, and I sat and read through the overnight news and glanced at social media. When Di emerged, I made her a coffee and then headed off for my morning walk. By the end of my first circuit, I had finished my Audiobook and started on another. Once home, I had my breakfast and did some admin. I was plucking up courage for the main project for the day.

We had bought an illuminated vanity table (dressing table) for Ellie's bedroom. It has been sitting in its box in the garage since September. It is, as you would expect nowadays, a self-assembly flat pack. Because of the sheer weight of it, I unpacked it downstairs and shuttled the components upstairs in several hundred trips. Then, I grabbed my tools and the assembly instructions and started fixing parts E, F, and G to side A, then fixed side B to the assembly. So it went on for the next two and a half hours. Over the years, I have frequently complained about the assembly instructions and process. I could not fault this. The instructions were clear, the fixings were well labelled, and the construction seemed very robust. The final stage of the process was to fit the lights around the mirror and wire them in series at the back. Even this went without a hitch. At the end, the only items I had left over were in a package marked Extras, where there nestled one of two spares of every fastening that had been used. I handed the finished article over to Diane so that she could dress the room.

What was left of the afternoon saw some Kindle time (another book bit the dust), and another has been selected to start later tonight.

Scam

 After an early morning coffee and a shower, I headed out for my morning walk. My route was deserted, and I added an extra kilometre to the usual circuit. An hour later, I was home, and the porridge was simmering on the hob as my coffee filtered out of the Nespresso. It was a splendid start to the day.

I hadn't got much on the agenda, but Di was going to do some Xmas decorating. I took the opportunity, mid-morning, to drive to Shripney and pick up some cat litter (Jasper is a lazy cat and won't go to fetch his litter or his food). The shops and car parks were busy, but I was still home within about 30 minutes.

I received an email from a chap whose name rang a bell. His family name matched that of Diane's great-grandmother. The email said, "I'm just checking that this email address is still current for you." I checked, did I have emails from him in the past? Yes, I did, but not since 2005, and it turned out that he lives locally. I responded to the email. "Yes, the address is current, and we have moved house and are now living a few miles away from you. How about meeting for coffee?" I received a response within a few minutes (almost too quickly). The response said, "I need to get an Airbnb Gift Card for my friend, who is diagnosed with stage 4 mesothelioma cancer. It's her birthday, but I can't do this now because I tried purchasing it online, but unfortunately, I had no luck with that. I was wondering if you could purchase the gift card from your end and send it directly to my friend's email address.".... Guess what, I didn't fall for it. What's more, Google Mail has subsequently slapped a warning message on the email. Just be aware, folks. They are out to get you at Christmas time.

Raid

Last night was a skirmish. This morning, Zoe and I conducted a full raid. I collected her at 7:30, and we went straight to Sainsbury's, where we shopped for what would be needed for Christmas (as opposed to the normal week's shopping). As we passed the meat van (a butcher who parks by the Pink Pub on Saturday morning to sell fresh meat), the car park was rammed full, and people were queuing around the corner. This did not bode well for Sainsbury's. We needn't have worried, however, the car park was almost empty and so was the store (much like last night). We whizzed around the aisles, filling our two trolleys and were home an hour after setting off. Result!

I joined the weekly Zoom call with my cousins. There didn't seem to be a specific theme this week; it was just general chit-chat. When the call was finished, I reviewed the receipt from the earlier shopping trip. It was a good job that I did. I found 2 anomalies: a carton of beer, discounted to £7.99, had been charged at £13.50, and more significantly, Zoe's staff discount seemed to have been applied at the wrong rate. I took the receipt back to Zoe (with the carton of beer), and she said she would deal with it when she got to work later.

We drove up to The Refectory at Milford. We had arranged to meet Jan and John for lunch. It was a lovely, bright morning for a drive, and we had an excellent run through. We were just finishing a coffee when Jand and John arrived. Like last weekend, we had a lovely lunch. Di had some courgette fritters to start with, and these were followed by a ciabatta filled with hot turkey, bacon and brie, and she finished off with Xmas pudding. I started with their sticky bang-bang pork bites and followed up with a venison, bacon and port pie; for dessert, I had an apple crumble. We chatted throughout the meal, catching up on Xmas plans, family health, and family jobs. It was a very pleasant couple of hours.

We arrived home at 4 p.m. and had a quiet couple of hours with our Kindles before switching on the TV. Mid-evening, there was a rap at the door as Amazon delivered one of our last batches of Xmas presents. We finished the evening watching a documentary about the Big Freeze of winter 62/63. It was so interesting seeing a more UK-wide view of that winter, as opposed to our specific memories from our childhood.

Skirmish

 A leisurely start to the day revealed a dry morning with clouds decorating the firmament and the promise of sunshine once it could drag itself up over the horizon. I had one quick coffee and then went out for my usual walk. As there was no particular hurry, I added an extra kilometre to the route.

Over breakfast, Di revealed that she had decided not to have a Christmas tree this year. I duly took the tree back down and packed it away for another year. The other decorations would be applied tastefully over the next few days! 

I returned to the conundrum regarding the ability to insert photos into the blog. I found an app which looked promising. I downloaded the free trial and set about testing it. It didn't work. In fact, it no longer seems to support "blogger", despite having been updated in the last week, and being called BlogTouch for Blogger! That was a waste of an hour or so. The real shame is that it seemed so promising!

Zoe dropped by at lunchtime to leave Ellie with us. She was as good as gold (after last night) and played all afternoon. Pete came along soon after 16:00 to collect her. She will be with Pete until Christmas Day now.

We had a quick dinner and then went on our first shopping skirmish. We hit Sainsbury's just after 18:00 and were gobsmacked to find the car park almost empty and the store a pleasure to walk around. We managed to get everything we wanted on this first raid, but another raid is planned for tomorrow morning.

Cookies

 Toda was Ellie's last day of term. I walked around to join the final trek to school for 2025. Ellie, unexpectedly, was very emotional. Not because of the end of term, but because Zoe was working a late shift and wouldn't finish until 11 p.m. We left her at the classroom, and Zoe headed home while I set off on my usual walk. I was wearing my waterproofs, and was very glad I had them. The rain was incessant as I traversed my usual loops of the development. I had to strip off as soon as I arrived home, leaving my jacket and hat to drip in the Orangery and my waterproof trousers in the bathroom.

Di went to the hairdresser's as soon as I got back, and Lottie turned up as I was finishing my breakfast. As she was concentrating on the ground floor, I retired to my study to stay out of her way. 

I had trouble inserting a photo into my blog yesterday. I decided to look into this further. None of my tests worked. Every attempt to insert a photo failed. I started asking questions online. The latest updates to macOS have tightened the security around sharing cookies across sites. Google depends on this to provide the bridge between the blog and Google Photos.  I found that I could get it to work by relaxing the security in the Safari browser, but I don't really want to do that. "AI" also recommended I could use Chrome or Firefox browsers to circumvent the issue. The problem with both of them is that they are less secure and are more prone to malicious attacks. For now, I will have to make do with a temporary change to Safari when I wish to add a photo. Unsatisfactory, but workable.

After lunch, we had a quiet hour with our Kindles before it was time to collect Ellie. It was pouring with rain again, so I told Di to stay put and donned my waterproofs. Ellie was soon back here in the dry and started munching her way through the usual post-school snacks.

I prepared a pasta in cream sauce with garlic bread for dinner. Di and Ellie then had a quiet hour looking at the iPad while I read some more of my book. 

After a bath, Ellie went to bed. She had obviously decided she was going to stay awake and hope that Zoe would collect her at the end of her shift. Without going into all of the details and the whingeing and whining (from Ellie, not us), let's just say that she got her way in the end, and Zoe collected her after work. It's now approaching 23:30, and we can finally try to settle down.

Sparky

Out of habit, I was up soon after 06:30 and was enjoying my first coffee of the day when Ellie came down. She had slept well, but awoke at 06:45 and heard me moving about, so came down to join me. Zoe and Ellie had prepared some gifts for the teachers. We would have to take these to school with us, but first, I had to mend one of the gift bags (which had torn and started to fall apart). It was fiddly, but I managed a neat repair which should pass muster. We took Ellie across to the school at the usual time, then Diane went home to prepare for Pilates, and I set out for my walk.

It was bright and sunny as I walked, and I was grateful for my sunglasses. My book continued to entertain me as I walked, and it will be a shame to get to the end in the next few days. By the time I arrived home, Diane had already gone. I settled down for breakfast, then grabbed the Christmas lights that I planned to hang in front of the house. I took the first set outside, planning to unravel them and balance the distribution across the bay window. This proved problematic. Despite reeling the lights onto a cable reel at the end of last Christmas, the lights had spent the year knitting and knotting themselves together. Unravelling them was like unpicking a bowl of spaghetti. It took me well over an hour to unknot them and lay them out. Fortunately, it only took about 10 minutes to install them and provide power. I had another set of lights to install. They had been far better behaved in the interim and unravelled quickly and cleanly.

After some lunch, I managed an hour with my Kindle before Diane arrived back from her post-Pilates meet-up with Kathie. She just had time to demolish a cup of tea before we went to collect Ellie from school.

The annual "Santa Float" is due on the estate this evening. Ellie is back with Zoe, so I'm not sure whether we'll see it or not. She was certainly looking forward to it.

Choppers

Zoe had a day off, so there was no need to get up early. I wandered around to join the walk to school at the usual time. Then, leaving Ellie and school, headed home for breakfast. Today's walk would have to wait. I had to get to Chichester for a dental appointment.

I checked and double-checked the bus timetable and strolled along to get the 10:28. I was pleasantly surprised by its timely arrival and the speed with which it transported me to town. The dental check-up went smoothly and I was back on my way home wishing about 15 minutes. A clean bill of health.

Back home, I put up the Christmas tree - though Diane will decorate it (I'm not trusted with such responsibilities). I also started to hang the Christmas cards. Then I reverted to developing a plan for the whole Christmas period. Not that there is a huge amount of planning required, but I did want to bail down what is happening and when, and also consider the various menus for the period so that I could plan the shopping trip(s).

After a bite of lunch, I headed out for a walk. I was clutching the neighbours' Christmas cards and posted them through the letter boxes as I circled the Crescent before heading out onto my usual walking route. Meanwhile, Diane had gone with oe to collect Ellie and take her home. Di got back just after me. We spent the next hour or so refining the shopping lists and deciding when we would hit the store.

Ellie rang. "I don't want to get up early tomorrow. Can I come and sleep at your house?" Well, of course she could. 

A while later Zoe brought her round and we all had a silly hour with a balloon before Zoe left us to it and Ellie went for a bath and then to bed.

Maps

Ellie didn't wake up until 7:15, having had a really good night's sleep. She was her chirpy, bubbly self as we went through the morning preparations for school. She was a little nervous about the Christingle service scheduled for the afternoon. She has a brief speaking part in the proceedings and was convinced she would have butterflies. We set off for school, having chatted about her performance, and left her at the classroom. Di headed home, and I set off for my walk.

Di had a meet-up planned with her friend Angie, over in Rustington. I got back from my walk just as she was leaving. After I had my breakfast, I popped across to Chris and Maureen to return their security key-fob and catch up on the highlights of their cruise. Once I had escaped, I set about bringing all the Christmas decorations in from the garage so that we could start decorating during the week.

Di arrived home at lunchtime and after a snack we had a quick change and headed for the school for the Christingle concert. We had good seats and Ellie was positioned right in the centre of the choir. Unfortunately, the school had problems with their microphones and had to make do without. The hall wasn't too big, so the children managed to make themselves heard without the aid of mics. They sang eleven carols and Christmas songs, and despite her concerns, Ellie did just fine.

We collected Ellie at the end of the school day, and after a quick change headed to Chichester for her appointment. I used Apple Maps to guide me to the venue, with the expectation it would find the quickest route for the time of day. That was a bit of a disaster. It provided guidance to the right area of Chichester and then asked me to drive down a "No Entry" road. I adjusted and tried a different route. Again, it directed me to a "No Entry" road. Di and Ellie leapt out and walked, while I switched to Google Maps and found a route that actually worked!

We had an unexpectedly quick run back from Chichester and dropped Ellie off at home, then went home ourselves and shut up shop for the night. 

Saganauts

After a gentle start to the day, we headed out to the wilds of Surrey, where we would meet up with the Saganauts for lunch. For any readers who have not been concentrating, the Saganauts refer to the brigade we formed while on our river cruises. Obviously, Jane and Trevor were members, we were members, and our friends Carole and Ian completed the group. We hadn't all got together since the last day of the Rhine cruise in the spring.

We met up at "The Refectory" in Milford. Being a Sunday, in the run-up to Christmas, it was busy, but we had a nice table, and the staff were most attentive. We had a lovely few hours together, catching up on all the news and hearing about Ian's recent trip to Pittsburgh to see his daughter— and the ice hockey match he watched while there. There was a lot of chat about musicals and trips to the theatre, and some discussion of plans for the new year. The food was excellent— most had turkey with all the trimmings, though Jane chose beef, and I chose a mixed roast of beef and pork.

We finally said our goodbyes and vowed to meet up again soon. We climbed aboard our trusty steed and galloped off towards home. Once in, we settled down with our books for a while. 

A call came in, Ellie was having a "moment". Grandpa changed his shoes, put on his jacket and went around to calm her down a bit. Eventually, all was calm and she came home with me to sleep here. That way she wouldn't have to wake up early tomorrow morning. She was soon in bed, and crashed out in no time.

Visitors

We had a quiet day. After a lazy breakfast, I went across to Chris & Maureen's house to boost the heating so that the house would be warm for their return tomorrow morning. It was only when I approached the thermostats that I realised I had forgotten the intricacies of the controls. Having changed all of our devices 18 months ago, I had forgotten what user-hostile devices they had been. I fiddled about until things seemed to be set correctly, then resolved to return in a couple of hours to check. Fortunately, when I returned, it was evident that the heating was working.

I chopped up some large boxes to put in the recycling bin and had planned to go for a walk afterwards. I had a slightly woozy head when I finished, so I skipped the walk and took my blood pressure instead! This measured a healthy 118/72, so the wooziness was unlikely to be a problem with high or low blood pressure. I decided to just take it easy for the rest of the day.

Taking it easy involved a period of research into automating some savings deposits into the Stocks & Shares ISA. I wanted this to work as a "push" from my bank account rather than a "pull" from the ISA. Despite all the help documentation and research on Google and ChatGPT, I was unable to do what I wanted. Trading 212 seems to obscure their details, so in the end, I made do with a "pull", but I do find that sub-optimal. I may well return to this in the future.

The early afternoon saw some Kindle time in the Orangery until the sun dropped behind the neighbouring houses. We moved into the lounge to continue our books.

Trevor, Sue and Jean came to visit. They were a little later than planned, but that was no real problem. We caught up on all the family news, and Sue regaled us with stories of her grandchildren and how they were about to take over the world of theatre, of dance, of gymnastics, of politics, of science, of architecture and so forth! We also had a lecture about the measures being taken to reduce Trevor's cholesterol. With that in mind, we ordered a delivery from "Habib" (our local Indian), and while waiting for that, I prepared some salmon, chips and peas for Diane and Jean. (The salmon was the first of a batch of individual salmon steaks I had ordered from "Fresh Fish Daily". They are a Scottish producer and shipped the fish down from Edinburgh last night. The verdict was "superb".)

The chat continued over the meal and into the evening. They left at about 21:30, and we had a quiet hour.

Sea Legs

 I had to be up early to greet Ellie. She was back to normal and very cheerful when she arrived. I, however, seemed to have developed sea legs overnight. I found that I was a little wobbly and slightly woozy when I got up. As the usual morning agenda played out, I decided there would be no walk before breakfast. I dropped Ellie off at school. All the kids were all dressed in their Christmas jumpers and looked very festive.

I went home for breakfast and we sat over our porridge, reading the overnight news and the social media feeds. I had started to feel a little more like myself, so I grabbed the Christmas cards and walked into the village to put them in the postbox. I also took the opportunity to collect Di's meds from the chemist. By the time I arrived home, Di had started on the ironing so I settled down with the MacBook.

I have a small portfolio of stocks and shares in an ISA. I spent the next hour or two reviewing these holdings and shuffling them into grouped funds. I must say that this platform (Trading212) and the portfolio as a whole has been very good and I've seen a 34% return on the investments so far. I do, however, need to spend some more time understanding how the platform works overall. There are some things I'd like to automate but I'm struggling to find the best approach so far.

The afternoon was spent with the Kindle until it was time to collect Ellie from school. She was very pleased with herself as she had been presented with the Headmistress's "Star of the Week" award. As soon as we arrived home, I grabbed the machine and laminated the certificate for her. Zoe came along to collect Ellie at 16:00, and after a quick tidy-up we settled down for dinner and a quiet evening.

Calm

 There was no need for an early start today. Zoe had a day off, so Ellie was leaving from home. I grabbed my usual coffee and, as the the clock swung around to the trigger time, I walk to Zoe's. Ellie was feeling very sorry for herself. She clearly had a nasty cold/cough and felt itchy all over. She was tearful and miserable. We took her to school, leaving instructions with the teacher to call if she didn't brighten up. Leaving Zoe at the gates, I set off on my walk. It was bright and sunny and, though slightly nippy, it was a pleasure to be out.

The morning was consumed with the usual Sainsbury's trip. This seemed to take longer than usual, but I guess that's to be expected as we run up to Christmas. Once we had finished stowing all the shopping away we grabbed some lunch. Zoe let us know that Ellie was on her way home. She really was feeling rough. 

I caught up on the accounts before settling down with the Kindle while Diane took Jasper to the vet for a scheduled check-up. 

Just as we finished dinner, we received a call from Zoe. Ellie had spent the afternoon snuggled up in a quilt on the settee. When she woke up, however, she had a bit of a meltdown. In fact we could still hear her yelling in the background. Grandpa put on his shoes and went back around to Zoe's. I sat with Ellie while she slowly came down, then sat and played a board game with her. An hour later, all was calm and chirpy again. I kissed her goodnight and headed back home. I think all was well.

Hanging On

 I was up early for Ellie's drop-off. She was not happy about the early start and charged straight upstairs and got into her bed. She didn't go back to sleep; however, she switched on the TV! We gave her half an hour before calling her down for breakfast. From that point, everything ticked over as usual. We walked her to school and then, as Di went home, I set off on my walk. As I was completing my second circuit, my audiobook came to an end. It was like losing an old friend; it has been such an excellent book. The next book was already lined up (different author), and I fired that up for the remainder of my walk.

Once home, I grabbed breakfast and then started on some domestic chores and some admin tasks. It was while I was doing these that a message came in from the Doctor's Surgery. It informed me that I was due for my annual MOT, and I should contact the surgery to make an appointment. It also provided a questionnaire for me to complete. I phoned the surgery and spent the next 20-25 minutes doing my Debbie Harry impression as I was ‘Hangin' on the Telephone’. I had my calendar open for January, expecting that there would be little chance of anything earlier. I was wrong. I managed to snag an appointment on 23rd December. With that date nailed into the calendar, I set about the questionnaire. Height, weight, and waist measurements were taken and recorded. Blood pressure was checked and recorded. Alcohol units per week were revealed. Before I knew it, the whole questionnaire was done and submitted.

After lunch, we retired to the Orangery. The sun had been out, and the temperature was quite pleasant. We sat and read our Kindles until the sun dipped below the nearby houses and the temperature dropped. It was soon time to collect Ellie from football. She was quite hyper as she came out, but soon calmed down as we walked her home.

In, Out, In, Out, Shake...

 It was a funny old day. I was up early to greet Ellie, and once she had seen today's Elf on the Shelf tableau, she rushed upstairs to see Nana. The rest of the morning preparations followed the usual agenda, and we walked her to school. I set off for my walk. It was wet and blustery, but the rain eased as I looped around my usual route. By the time I arrived back home, I was quite hot, having underestimated the temperature.

Plans for the rest of the day were thrown into disarray. Diane was meant to be meeting Pauline for lunch, but Kim called to ask if we could pick Jon up from the doctor's if necessary. Of course, we could. I would take Diane to the restaurant and hang onto the car to collect Jon, if needed. In the meantime, I would rush into the village and get my haircut and pick up some Christmas stamps. The barber's was busy, and the Post Office was rammed. I walked back home. I then drove Di to the restaurant and came home to await the call.

The call didn't come - Kim was able to bring Jon home. I grabbed some lunch and then walked back into the village. The barber's had a spare chair and I let him loose on my flowing locks. I then managed to get to the Post Office without any queues and walked back home grasping the stamps we needed. I took the opportunity of a spare 15 minutes to hang the picture we had bought for ourselves for Christmas while in Sidmouth.

I headed back to the restaurant to collect Di, and we had a quiet 20 minutes in the lounge before I had to get Ellie from school. She wasn't with us for too long before Zoe arrived to collect her.

Leaf Peeper

The North Americans have a name for the people who visit the autumnal displays of colour created by the changing of the seasons in their deciduous forests. They call them "leaf peepers". Indeed, when I was last there in the autumn, they even had a "Fall Colors Hotline" that you could call to find the best displays at any time. Our recent weather has caused the leaves on our Acers to drop and form a carpet along the bottom of the garden. I was thinking (a dangerous state of affairs) that it would provide the basis for a very difficult jigsaw.

We had an early start to the day, which followed the usual pattern as Ellie had breakfast and got ready for school. We walked her to the classroom and then I headed off on my walk. It was remarkably mild, but quite wet. 

Back home, I grabbed some breakfast and then headed to Sainsbury's. I needed some cream and white wine for tonight's pasta, and Diane needed more strawberries for Ellie's school snacks and her own lunch. We spent the rest of the morning writing our Christmas cards.

After lunch, we had a little Kindle time before we had to collect Ellie from school and drive her into Chichester for an appointment. While we waited for her, we grabbed some more Kindle time and then, when she was finished, we headed back home. Being rush hour, this took a lot longer than we would have expected. We dropped her off at Zoe's, then settled in at home for the evening.

The weekend storms in the Channel caused a ship to lose several of its containers. Some have washed up on the beaches of Selsey and Bognor and shed their loads of bananas, plantains, and avocados. People have been warned not to help themselves or eat this produce as it would be contaminated. One local wit has suggested that Bognor has become a Banana Republic.

Quiet Sunday

We had a quiet Sunday. I thought I had got up at the usual time, but realised that I was an hour later than expected. That was an unexpected bonus. It had been a wet night, and the rain was forecast to continue throughout the morning.  Once I was suitably caffeinated and had consumed my morning porridge, I donned my waterproofs and set off for a walk. The wind was blustery, and it was difficult to avoid the rain being blown into my face. I persevered and, despite the rain, thoroughly enjoyed my walk.

When I arrived home, I wrote the blog entry for yesterday, then did some admin until lunchtime. The afternoon saw the usual Kindle time (another book finished and the next one started). Then, before I knew it, it was time to start on dinner. Tonight we had BBQ ribs with roast potatoes, beans, and carrots. Simple, but delicious.

It was hardly an exciting day, but it was quiet and restful.

Up North

It was a relaxed start to the day. The overnight rain had ceased, and it was brightening up. We would be going out later, but to start the day, there was a Zoom call with the cousins. This followed the usual structure... Helen was having trouble with her PC and the Internet; Sarah was looking after her grandchildren; Chris was talking about his recent travels to the UK; Maggie was talking about quiz night; Tim was talking about another quiz night; and Sam was doing her ironing!

Di and I set off soon after 10:00. The first stop was Chichester to collect Kim, and then we hit the King's Highways. We were heading to "The Craven Arms" at Enborne, where, in what is becoming a Christmas tradition, we were meeting up with Denise and the family. We had a surprisingly clear run despite various roadworks, and soon settled into the pub for a review of their plumbing facilities and a refreshing tincture. We took our place in the large tipi (wigwam). The weather was beginning to deteriorate, and it was very blustery. Inside the tipi, it was cosy and warm, and we sat and chatted while waiting for Denise and the family to arrive.

We didn't wait long. They wandered in, and we all exchanged hugs and kisses before sitting down for a general catch-up over a lovely lunch. We traded news about all our various comings and goings, work, school, holidays, health, and Christmas plans. All the while, we were served lunch. Some of us had pre-selected a "Christmas Lunch," which was turkey with all the trimmings. The others chose directly from the menu. Looking around the table as we finished, I noticed several hadn't managed to finish the huge portions that we had been given. It really was an excellent few hours.

It was gone 4 o'clock before we exchanged gifts and said our goodbyes. We slotted back onto the highway. By now, it was raining fairly steadily and was quite unpleasant for the first 20 miles. Again, it was a good run; we were home in about 90 minutes, having dropped Kim off on the way.

It had been a lovely day.

Ticking along

 There's not much to report. I was up before 7:00 and once caffeinated, wandered around to Zoe's for the school run. It was chaos there. Zoe and Ellie had only woken up at 8:00, and we had to leave by 8:30. At least it was bright and dry for the walk to school, even if it was frosty.

Having dropped Ellie, I set off on my usual walk. It was bright enough that I had to change to my sunglasses, and cold enough that I appreciated my woollen hat. Once home, I prepared breakfast and tea, and Di and I had a quiet morning getting on with our respective admin. For me, the focus was the 2026 spreadsheet (discussed yesterday). I have now rationalised and tidied up the section that had been causing me frustration. I'm sure I will play with it further, but I am fairly sure that I could use it as it stands, and anything else would be icing on the cake. For Di, the focus was Christmas presents.

After lunch, I spent some time reviewing some cruise options for 2027. Not that we have decided on a cruise then, it was just to get an idea of what is available and what the various prices might be. We then retired to the lounge for some Kindle time. This was interrupted, however, by a call from Zoe. Her security cameras all needed to be charged, and she couldn't get them off their mounts. There was a bit of to'ing and fro'ing, but eventually I managed to release them all and left them with Zoe and her charging cables. I returned to my Kindle.

The rain set in late in the afternoon and looks as if it is making itself comfortable for the night.

Wet Start

  It was a very wet start to the day. I had to wear my waterproofs when I walked around to Zoe's to collect them for the walk to school. We made our way through the driving rain and dropped Ellie at the classroom door. Zoe headed off to work, and I started on my morning walk. Despite the rain, which was beginning to ease, I had an enjoyable walk and, thanks to my audiobook, it was quite enthralling.

Once home and my fast broken, we completed the weekly shopping list and headed off to Sainsbury's. The shop didn't seem to take too long and we were back home by midday. The shopping was stowed away and we had a bite of lunch, then Di settled down with her Kindle and I spent some time refining the spreadsheet for next year's accounts. This did highlight an area which could benefit from a rethink and some rationalisation. I will allow this to fester and return to the problem tomorrow.

We collected Ellie from school and brought her back to our home. The plan was that she would have an early dinner with us and then we'd all go out. She was a bit hyper when she left school, but gradually calmed down once we got home. Zoe arrived soon after 17:00 and collected Ellie. We would meet them at the Christmas Ice rink in Bognor Regis.

We arrived at the fair and rink a few minutes after Zoe. Ellie had her friend Oscar with her. They rushed in to get their ice skates on and were soon, gingerly, making their way around on the ice holding some "snowmen" to give them stability.

After a few loops of the rink, Ellie ditched the snowman and set off on her own. She stayed close to the edge so she could grab the rails every few steps. Oscar took a few more laps before he ditched his snowman. Ellie did really well, and her dependence on the rails diminished as she became more confident. 

In retrospect, I wish I had gone on the ice with them; then I could have held her hand as she negotiated the odd traffic jam, and maybe given her some more confidence. Instead, Di, Zoe, and I stood at the edge and drank some mulled wine as we watched.

The session finished at 18:45 and after they had changed out of their skates, they stopped for some fresh doughnuts to eat on the way home. We left them to it and headed home ourselves for a quiet evening.

Up Early

I was up early. Ellie was dropped off at her usual time, and the clock started ticking towards school time.  It had been wet overnight, and though it was not raining, there were scatterings of clouds that could decide to dump on me.

I dropped Ellie at school and set off for my walk. It was quite cold, and a mist was rising across the fields. All it needed was the howl of a wolf to complete the spooky backdrop.

I followed my usual route, and by the third lap I was feeling quite warm. I headed home to grab some breakfast.

I had a list of domestic chores that I wanted to clear before updating the accounts and then heading out for another walk. This time, I headed towards the village to post a letter and then collect Di's prescriptions from the Chemist.

It was time for lunch when I arrived back home. We then both settled with our Kindles for a quiet hour or two. Diane went to meet Zoe and collect Ellie from football. I returned to the development of the 2026 accounting spreadsheet. I plan to tidy up the account layouts for each month, but I don't want to break anything as I make the changes.

Kim spent the day on the wards at St Richard's today. She was eager to tell Di all about it and phoned for a nice long chat. When that was over, Di called Denise for another nice, long chat.

More books

Zoe had a 9 a.m. start today, so there was no need to get up early. After some rejuvenating coffees, I wandered around to join the girls on their walk to school. It was threatening rain, but the threat didn't materialise until much later in the morning.

After dropping Ellie at the classroom door, I set off for my morning walk. My audiobook was chatting away in my ears, and I was totally engrossed in the story. This was yet another story that takes place in Venice. I have read so many that I feel as if I know the place and could find my way around. The phone rang. It was Zoe. The school had rung and asked if Ellie, in her role as School Councillor, could join a small party to plant daffodils in the nearby park. If so, she would need some boots. So it was that I had to stop off at home to grab Zoe's door key and ferret out Ellie's boots and take them to school.

Finally back home, I grabbed some breakfast. Di had a dental appointment in Chichester and pottered off to the big city. I stayed behind and continued working on my book inventory. It took several more hours, but I think it is now pretty complete. It records over 650 books that I have read over the last couple of decades. The vast bulk of these were in the last 3 or 4 years (139 so far this year). As I went through the list, I had flashbacks for most of the books, but there were a few that rang no bells whatsoever.

Books

 I was up early to greet Ellie. By 6:50, she still hadn't arrived. I checked for messages. Zoe had been given an extra day off, and I didn't need to worry. Oh well, I was up anyway! At the appropriate time, I wandered around the corner to join them for the walk to school. It had been very wet, but the rain had stopped for the school run. We dropped Ellie, and I set off for my traditional walk. I was wearing my full waterproof gear just in case the rain restarted, but I got away with a dry hour.

I have been wondering about the books that I have read. I keep a spreadsheet detailing each book, but this only started in 2022... what about the books that I read before that? You can ask Amazon to send you all of the data it holds on you, so I did this yesterday evening. This morning, the data had been collated and was ready for me to download. Unfortunately, there seems to be no way to easily filter the data to select just books (be they paperback, Kindle, audio, or Kindle Unlimited). This meant that I had all of my Amazon transactions stretching back to 1998 to look through. It took a few hours, but I think I now have a comprehensive list of titles going back over the years. I now must find a way to incorporate these into my existing spreadsheet... and see if I can determine the authors of each book (that data isn't in the data dump).

We had a quiet hour or so in the lounge with our Kindles this afternoon.