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.

Crisp

  It was a crisp and clear day. When I got up, soon after seven, the temperature was a mere 3° C.. I settled down with my coffee and waited for the Di and Ellie to wander down. It was soon after 10:00 that Zoe arrived to collect Ellie. Zoe was feeling a lot better (though still had a headache). Ellie, however, seems to be coming down with a cold. We gave her some Calpol before she left, as she had a friend's birthday party to attend.

I set off for a walk. I thought I had waited sufficient time for my coffee to have percolated through. I was wrong, and had to divert home after my first loop of the estate. Bladder drained, I returned to my walk and managed another couple of loops... finishing my audiobook and starting a new one as I went.

The afternoon started in the Orangery. The sunshine had warmed things up nicely. As soon as the sun dropped below the nearby houses, however, the temperature dropped with it, and we retired to the lounge where it remained pleasantly warm as we cuddled our Kindles.

The infernal "Elf on a Shelf" starts tomorrow, and I notice that he has already made himself comfortable in the family room. The stress of finding new hiding places daily could drive one to drink!

Funny old day

 It has been a funny old day. It was nothing like our normal Saturday. With Ellie staying overnight, there was the normal burst of electronic noise as she wandered down for breakfast. There was no opportunity to hand around, however. Nor was I blessed to join the call with my cousins. We had to get Ellie to LA for her swimming lesson.

We arrived with about 10 minutes to spare, and I settled down in the viewing area while Di went to help Ellie get ready. We watched as she was put through her paces... crawl, backstroke, "mermaid" (like butterfly without the arms) and several water-based exercises where she retrieved items from the bottom. She did really well and, at the end, was given a chitty that entitles her to a certificate and badge. (They had, however, run out of both, so she'll have to wait for next week). When the lesson was over, we let her stay in the pool for another 30-45 minutes before she went to shower, and we all headed home.

The early afternoon was quiet, with Ellie making some Lego items for Christmas. Then there was a flurry of activity as we tried to find tickets for the latest "Wicked" film at the cinema. In the end, we had to use the local Bognor Regis Picturedrome. The original idea had been to take Aryana along, but she was shopping in Portsmouth. In the end, we bought just two tickets, one for Di and one for Ellie. I took them along to the cinema and then returned home for some Kindle time before preparing dinner.

I went along to collect the girls just before seven. Tonight was the big switch-on for Bognor's Christmas lights. Di stopped to take this photo of Ellie at the Christmas Arch by the railway station.

We headed home and the girls had dinner (I had mine earlier). Ellie enjoyed her "Grandpa's Curry" to which I had surreptitiously added some "Bhuna" sauce from my curry.  She loved it. That was a good result.

Though Zoe is a lot better, Ellie decided to stay with us again overnight. 

Unexpected

As much as we enjoy a short break, there is nothing quite like sleeping in your own bed. With Zoe on holiday this week, there was no need to get up early, so I lazed in bed until seven-fifteen. Our side was grey and damp, though there was no rain. At the appointed time, I went around to Zoe's to join the walk to school. 

There was no walk this morning. We had a  busy morning planned. The first item on the agenda was to collect Jasper from the cattery. Mark had clearly looked after him well and he seemed reluctant to get into his carrier for the trip home (Jasper, that is, not Mark). With Jasper back in the bosom of the family, we grabbed the shopping list and raided both Sainsbury's and the petrol station. By the time everything was packed away, it was lunchtime.

We had a quiet hour or two with our Kindles until Di went around to see Zoe, and the pair of them collected Ellie from school.

We settled down for a quiet dinner and evening. The phone rang. It was Ellie. Zoe was being sick, and could Ellie come and stay with us? She is a little paranoid about getting sick at this time of year, and seemed quite upset. I told her to pack her bag for the night and bring her swimming things for the morning, then call when she was ready. Di went to collect her while I started on dinner. Let's just hope Zoe is feeling better in the morning.

Back Home

It was check-out day. I had a lie-in until seven and then leapt into action. The last of my packing was completed, and the first trip to the car saw my case squirrelled away in the boot. Over the next hour, several further trips were completed, and the car was ready for the drive home.

We met up with Jane and Trevor over breakfast and had our usual morning feast, but today we didn't linger. We said our farewells to the staff, collected the last items from our room, and bid adieu to Jane and Trevor. We were on the road by 10:00.

The journey home wasn't too bad. Several sets of roadworks on the A35, an abnormal load, and some farm vehicles tried their best to delay us, but we managed to get home in under three and a half hours. (Obviously slower than Sunday's trip, but that was to be expected mid-week.) 

Once the car was unloaded and our cases unpacked, we sat down for a quiet hour before heading to school. Ellie has been doing a theatre after-school club on Thursdays, and today was an opportunity to go and see their rehearsal. They sang a song from a musical about being revolting kids. It was very good, and they put their collective heart and soul into the performance. When it was over, we walked back with Ellie and Zoe to their house so that we could examine the decorations they have put up. For once, they recognised the value of the "less is more" way of decorating. It looks very nice and doesn't overwhelm you as you enter.

Back home, we managed a bit of Kindle time before dinner. The washing machine, meanwhile, was working overtime on the laundry we brought back from our break. I suspect it will churn away throughout the evening.

Staying Close

 

We had another wonderful sunrise. A sight like this makes the heart soar and provides an uplifting start to the day's adventures.

After meeting up for breakfast and lingering over the toast, we headed down into town. Di had an item that she wished to exchange in one of the shops she raided on Monday. We then weaved our way up towards the top of town. There were more cards needed from the card shop, and we needed to drop in to The Art Den to settle up for the print we have ordered, but won't be available in time for us to take it home. The Art Den wasn't open, so we looked in some other shops and eventually bumped into Jane and Trevor. We grabbed a coffee in "Becketts" and then went back to The Art Den. It was open. We went in for a nice chat and to settle up. As we headed back towards the Esplanade, we stopped off in the toy shop to see if there was anything that would be suitable for Ellie.

Leaving the shops, we walked along the Esplanade and around the Millennium Walkway before walking up the slope to the Connaught Gardens. By now, the sky had clouded over and it was feeling decidedly cool and damp. The weather app warned of rain. 

We had a standby plan to visit Bicton Gardens after the shopping trip, but the weather suggested that would be a sub-optimal trip!

We returned to the hotel and spent a quiet afternoon in our room with our Kindles and a pile of magazines.

Once we had dressed for dinner, I started to pack, ready for our return home tomorrow. I managed the first load of ancillary bags down to the car. The rest can wait for tomorrow.

We met up with Jane and Trevor in the bar before going into dinner. Di's selection tonight was one of their huge prawn cocktails, followed by soya-glazed salmon. I started with spiced monkfish, followed by the soya-glazed salmon. It was another wonderful meal. We retired to the bar for post-dinner tea and coffees before heading up to bed soon after 22:00... but not before we had been to reception and booked our rooms for this time next year. (This was our ninth stay at the Victoria, so we had to get the tenth booked!)

Topsham

I was up early enough to see the stunning sunrise. The clouds from yesterday had melted away, and the few left provided some interesting punctuation near the horizon. It promised to be a lovely day.

We met up for breakfast, as usual, and, as usual, we lingered until we were almost the last guests in the restaurant. Our plan for the day was to visit Topsham and have a wander around. We hadn't been there before but had seen comments that it was worth a visit.

I set the SatNav, and we headed across country. Thirty minutes or so later, we were crawling through the streets looking for somewhere suitable to park. Topsham didn't disappoint, but I would expect that it could be a nightmare in high summer. 

Topsham is a small, historic town, sitting on the east side of the River Exe estuary, just south of Exeter. It’s known for its maritime past, unique architecture, independent shops, and beautiful riverside setting.  It's a former port town with strong Dutch influences, narrow streets, and a mix of elegant Georgian, Edwardian, and quirky riverside properties. It was once the main port for Exeter, and was especially important for shipbuilding and trade from medieval times through the 18th century.

We walked south through the quaint streets towards the Quay, where we were afforded an excellent view across the River Exe, looking down towards Exmouth and Starcross.

We carried on down The Strand and onto the Goat Walk, which is a riverside promenade and one of the town’s iconic walkways, which offered lovely views across the estuary. We sat down in the sun and soaked up the views (and the rays).

Stirring ourselves into action, we retraced our steps towards the Quay, where we settled down in The Lighter for a coffee before making our way back towards the car. 

Diane was keen to buy a particular cheese, so we stopped in a cheese shop. Despite its huge array of cheeses, the target brand was not available. We decided to stop at Dart's Farm and try there on the way back to the hotel. Again, despite a huge array of cheese, this brand was not available. The lady behind the cheese counter, however, looked it up and directed us to their competitor, who did stock it. Our next stop was Greendale Garden Centre. We found the right cheese. Diane was happy!

Back at the hotel, we went our own ways for the afternoon. Di and I went down to the lounge and had Kindle time over pots of tea and a scone. It was very peaceful, and I managed to finish another book.

The sky was still cloudless, and the view across the town was inviting. We resisted our urge to walk into town, and returned to our room to get ready for dinner.

The intrepid foursome met up in the bar, as usual, and then went through to the restaurant. Di's choice of main course was Traditional Fish and Chips, while I selected Pork Tenderloin on Pulled Pork. I even indulged in some ice cream to finish.

It had been an excellent day.