Candlemas.

Otherwise known as "The presentation of Christ in the temple", celebrated on 2 Feb or preceding Sunday.
Epiphany is over, Cribs are put away until next Christmas.
We had a united service this morning, at Lea Marston, with a good turn out & an inspiring sermon.
I left G & Aj in front of the lounge fire, reading the papers & watching the men's final of the Australian Open.
I returned an hour & a half later, match still going strong.
I cooked lunch, we ate & then returned to watch the last hour of the match - the most amazing tennis, the match lasting nearly 6 hours, Djokovic beating Nadal, eventually.
We ate some chocolates to celebrate, then Aj went home & we went for a walk - up to the church, around the reservoirs & home - good, though a little muddy underfoot, very muddy, actually.

We went to B'ham yesterday, I went to the annual licensing of the newly trained readers in the Cathedral -  about 60 Readers in total, all robed, marching from the offices of Wragges, Solicitors, opposite the cathedral, for the service.
G & Aj to the Jewellery Quarter, then we went to "Henry's" for a scrummy lunch.
We came home & chilled by a big fire, until we were ready for more food.
The diet has not gone well this week!

Lots of plans for next week, depending on the weather!

Weedon Bec.

we had a day out - well half a day really, as we weren't ready to leave till nearly noon.
We went to Weedon to the antiques village & adjacent shop - some nice things, but nothing very, very exciting.
We went on to Towcester, had a snack in Costa (big treat), then Buckingham, then MG to see J, G & co, then on to Bicester to see B & co.
We paid a quick visit to B village to Must, in freezing sleet, then home.
The temp fell to 0 degrees & we travelled through a blizzard until we reached Warks - cold here, but dry.
We picked up a take-away from the Polash & enjoyed it in front of a nice fire, watching the second part of "Putin, Russia & the West" - best programme of the week.
Who is the pillock of a shadow education minister on QT? 

Rabbie Burns, born 25 Jan. 1759.

We've had our traditional Burn's night supper with a traditional M&S haggis.
It was different than previously, but quite delicious.
I only regret that we didn't invite some friends to share it.

We slept late & wasted much of the morning, so I went to the gym this afternoon to get some exercise - the gym manager phoned on Monday to tell me that I could have two months free membership, starting immediately - an agreement made last year as G was going to be away for 4 months of his membership.
I had intended to go on to MG & Bicester, bearing haggis & swede, but couldn't make contact with  anyone, so gave up & came home & cooked our haggis, instead.
G is busy with paperwork, looking for it, mainly & burning the excess.

I stopped in Knowle & bought a nightie from the posh swimsuit & nightie shop, ready for my hols (W says it will not be warm)
It's really nice - pink & white stripes, with long sleeves.
I found that Tesco do not sell haggis.
Charlatans!
I did hear the assistant relate to someone senior that he'd been asked for haggis about ten times today.
It probably wouldn't have been very nice anyway.

I'm ready for my wee dram now - I'm trying to enjoy "The Crusades", but it's heavy going.
A Drambuie may help.

What should I do to prepare for the quiz on Friday?
AJ will know the answers, but I'd like to know something really obscure.

snooze day. 99

Haven't snoozed at all, but I have been very lazy.
It was raining hard this morning, with a big puddle on the yard, when we woke up at 8.00am - not an incentive to rush to get up.
By the time we were up & had enjoyed a leisurely breakfast, it was nearly 11.00am.
G spent the rest of the morning sorting through tons of paperwork to clear the filing cabinets, ready for a bonfire. I did the National Trust magazine crossword - most of it anyway. I've just used google to complete it - a long article about Octavia Hill, one of the founders of the NT, lots of clues relating to her, but none of the answers in the article.

Di came in for a nice cup of tea at about one, after which I prepared lunch - pasta -then walked to the Almshouses to take some cake to Tony, who missed last night's meeting, hence his cake.
I picked some litter in Moathouse Lane en route - far too much - bags full before I reached the farm.
G picked me up & we went to collect the car from tamworth - always go in pairs!
It looks good, inside & out.
On to JS for a little shopping, a refusal to go to M&S, then home.
A Keralan curry for dinner - sweating over a hot microwave for a few minutes!
What would we do without....... 

Happy Mondays.

G has gone out so I have the house to myself & can do what I always do in such circumstances.
Vacuum. Upstairs this time.
It's a good day, despite being cold.
The cloud even cleared for an hour or so - we played tennis all morning, home for lunch & I have just visited the Almshouses to have a chat & offer transport as we have a meeting with the residents this evening.

I have been on my diet for a week & have lost over 4 lb & am feeling a little lighter & pleased with myself.
G had lost 3lb by Saturday, I haven't heard today's judgement - I think he forgot.
Anyway, there must be half a stone of vapourised fat somewhere in the vicinity.

We had a quiet day yesterday, I took the services at Sh & OW, after a light lunch we walked around the reservoir, with Milly, the winds having dropped a little by then.
We had dinner & watched "Birdsong", which G has read & enjoyed.
It seems to be the meanderings of a selfish young man who lacks compassion & social skills. Perhaps part 2 will put it into context.
I still have w/e papers to read - The Sat Telegraph has an article "Forget London, Brum has it all"
I'm not convinced, but will save it for guests to read.
Dyson, here I come!

Warhorse ***

Apparently, your sleep cycles are shorter as you get older, which explains why we always wake up at around 4.00am.
We seem to have overcome this problem, we now have a second sleep cycle until around 8.30am.
By the time we've got up & had breakfast most of the morning has gone.

Yesterday we managed to leave the house shortly before mid-day, to go to Solihull, G to visit the bank, & me to shop, then on to pick up J & Th from school.
We didn't have time for lunch, so we went back to Solihull for a meal at La Tasca then on to see "Warhorse" - a very long film about a horse.
G slept for the first 20 minutes or so, despite nudges, but reckoned the rest was not too bad.
It was very twee & predictable, certainly not the great experience we had expected.
Only 3 star!
As it was a late night, we had another late morning.
G's done lots of odd jobs whilst I wrote tomorrow's sermon, on the wedding at Cana - a village within sight of Nazareth - where they ran out of wine & JC turned 150 gallons of water into fine wine, according to St John.

Nothing worth watching on TV, so we have watched "Dark Waters", one of G's cheap Thai DVDs.
It was the worst film I have ever seen, laughably awful, even worse than "La Passionale".
A diving/submarine/killer shark film where the underwater shots were obviously shot on dry land.
Not a good weekend for films so far then.
Perhaps tomorrow will be better.

Fine Arts.

Like W, we don't drive a Jag, either - a Seat saloon (based on an Audi something or another)
at the moment, whilst the volvo is repaired.
I don't know why attention is drawn to the seats as they are horrible - I had a stiff back by the time we reached Coleshill!

Whilst G exchanged cars I vacuumed downstairs, like a whirling dervish, as G hates the noise & usually switches it off when he comes in.
After a shower & brush up, we went to The Antiques & Fine arts fair at the NEC - ticket courtesy of J & C & free car park - brill!

There were some beautiful things - very expensive, but we weren't there to buy.
G did get one art dealer excited by calling me over to discuss the trees in a painting - didn't like the rest of it, even with the discount offered.
Home mid-afternoon for a bowl of minestrone - Waitrose soups are scrummy!
G got on with paperwork & then cooked dinner whilst I ironed, napped & prepared paperwork for the church fundraising meeting at Jan's this evening.
Meeting was very productive, a number of events planned for the year, including the Jubilee event, proposed by the Bishop.

We've watched BBC2 as the broadband signal was  too weak - great programme on Putin.
He seemed to be a good guy in the early days - a bit like Blair, too powerful, eventually & too greedy.
I hope the KGB don't hack this & send me to Siberia - too cold!