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After the festive, Christmassy joy to which we concluded yesterday, today was the antithesis of festive. It’s emej‘s weekend of working the day shift and so it was my job to venture out into town to pick up the Turkey,…
Continue readingAfter the bleak wintriness of yesterday today was one of those crispier, nicer days that make you fall in love with winter. After a quiet morning pottering, and base-icing the Christmas cake, Emma and I headed into Oxford in the…
Continue readingYesterday was the last Tuesday that I would work this year. Today was the last day I would work this year. That said, to say *day* might be pushing things a bit. After a morning trying to finish things off…
Continue readingSo, after two years off, and I are doing Christmas again. My mum and dad are coming to stay and it will just be the four of us. I had already prebooked my Ocado order for this Thursday in order…
Continue readingTraditionally it is the weekend closest to my mum’s birthday (25 November) and Stir-up Sunday that launches my preparations for Christmas. It’s not until I play my first carols though that I truly feel Christmas. Today Emma and I headed…
Continue readingAfter the floods come the frozen fields down by the river Cherwell and the Oxfordshire canal at Somerton, and scene for a brisk and cold walk in the winter chill. Then we retreated back home to dress the tree. It’s…
Continue readingIn days gone by I always used to have a real Christmas tree, in a pot that I could afterwards plant out in the garden. My first, 2001, tree grew fabulously and is now a mighty tree. In 2007 I…
Continue readingSo, after the washout that, for Emma, was Christmas Day we tried again and headed over to her parents for post-Christmas lunch of cheese and biscuits and sausage rolls. Emma made up for lost time and fed and cuddled her…
Continue readingSo Christmas Day was weird. It all started very nicely with an exchange of stockings with Emma at her parent’s house. I got lots of Simon’s Cat things and Emma got lots of crafty things, some of which, very small…
Continue readingIt has been a fantastically lovely week’s holiday. When I first decided to take this week off I didn’t really have any idea what I would expect from it. As it has turned out it has been busy, and productive,…
Continue readingThe last two days have been like a second weekend after the first. Thinking back, it seems ages since that cold day last Saturday, freezing at Millets Farm and playing carols. Today, whilst Dad went off to a meeting at…
Continue readingAfter a weekend of Christmassy activities, this afternoon we welcomed my my mum and dad for yet more Christmassy joy. We exchanged presents over a cup of tea and a mincepie in a little, mini-Christmas – Emma and I got…
Continue readingI’ve missed the carols at Millets Farm for the first couple of years, first by car trouble, and last year of course by the great snow fall of 2010 – and when I say missed it, I really mean, missed…
Continue readingAs Stephen Bell – our new conductor at Abingdon Concert Band – told the audience at tonight’s concert, today has been the busiest shopping day in the run up to Christmas and thus, surely Christmas starts here. In the attrative…
Continue reading~ the strange fault on our television reoccurred, annoyingly the very day after the engineer closed the job on their system – spent considerable effort trying to persuade Comet to skip the stage of sending another engineer to possibly look…
Continue readingSeeing Nellie playing under the Christmas tree skirt last night was reminiscent of 18 years ago and Bramble as a kitten playing under the Christmas tree. I found this footage recently on an old VHS tape from Christmas 1993. We…
Continue readingThe Christmas tree hasn’t been up five minutes and Nellie is already being naughty under the skirt!
Continue readingIt never ceases to amaze me that no matter where Christmas falls in the week there is are always three, and only three, days which are work days for (some/most/a lot of) people. Emma is one of those people and…
Continue readingI woke up this morning to the most blazing of red skies in the mornings, shepherd’s warnings of sunrises. Against a snowy Blissford, it was beautiful and I snatched up my camera to try and get some impression of it….
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