No more leaves...

in theory anyway.
We spent this morning clearing up the rest of the leaves in the field, to the sound of chain saws, as two local families sawed all of the branches off the tree that was blown down yesterday, & carted loads of timber away.
I hope that Dugdale isn't too upset to have lost most of his tree.
I only hope that all remaining leaves blow themselves away.
The garden looks really tidy & G has replaced/sorted the outside lights so we have the security sorted.
Shower & lunch & the papers did the rest of daylight hours.

We've watched "Bergen", the new Danish political intrigue, tonight.
Good, but the subtitles are hard work. Even spending time in DK  doesn't help with making any sense of the language.

Margaret & Phil are coming to lunch tomorrow, then Peter on Monday for a few days.

Coleshill 54 mph gales.

I'm sure that it was more than that outside the church - nearly blew me & the doormats away!
We spent the morning there with Maurice & three friends, removing the Christmas trees & clearing up the mess.
Thanks to the ambient temperature of something a little above freezing, apart from an hour or so on Sundays, the trees hung on to their needles very well.
The giant tree didn't manage so well, having been sawn into pieces for removal.
When we came home, Hollylands was blocked by a large tree blown down by the cottage - men from the Council & the Estate removed it later.
There have been lots of trees down & electricity cables in the Midlands & Coleshill one of the windiest places.
G swept up leaves, using the wind to help, whilst I took the few decorations down & tidied away all of the stuff brought back from Church.
Jan popped in for a chat later.
Shall I teach some chemistry &, perhaps, biology at Solihull college?
They are desperate for a chemist, apparently, & I am expecting a call.
Other staff have walked out/failed to take up appointments, which sounds ominous.

I understand that Diane Abbott loves to "divide & rule"!

We have just watched "Eternal Law" set in York.
I don't think I understood it - angels/fallen angels turned barristers?
I think that they rearranged the geography somewhat & filmed early in the day as the shop shutters were still up.

Day off - Daze out.

Yesterday J & Th came to entertain us as the weather was too bad to go out.
We played Lego Champion, my Christmas present from W & MK, made a road system, built a shoebox garage & made biscuits and cakes, for tea.
They did a good job & we slept well last night!

Today we had no commitments, so decided on a day out, following G's visit to the dentist, in Warwick.
I had a potter whilst G was numbed & drilled, then we drove to the Cotswolds, eventually having a light lunch at  a country pub, then on to Banbury.
It's been a clear day, but cold & grey. The countryside looks very neat & tidy as we have had so little frost to make the plants get bedraggled.

We have even eaten healthily - soup for lunch & fish with vegetables for dinner - I really didn't like the bathroom scales this morning!
We need to get  some more exercise - G has been clearing leaves & gutters - the green gym.
You don't get a lot of exercise cooking & washing up, really, vacuuming's the best bet, but not allowed when G is in residence, due to the noise.

Tomorrow we are clearing the church of Christmas trees, a little early, but convenient.
G's taking his chain saw to devastate the large tree before removal!  

I am cancelling the KS reunion on Friday due to half of those invited being unable to attend & the other half not having replied.
Why should I have to contact them again to cancel, when they haven't contacted me.
Can I just leave it & go to the pictures -  "The Iron Lady" comes out on Friday?  

Happy (almost) New Year.

So where did 2011 go to?
Having been away we seem to have missed the usual pattern of shopping, cooking, overeating, watching  TV & going for the odd walk, with family & friends.
Actually, we've just missed the cooking, which was a treat as The Danish Christmas dinner is delicious & I think that W & MK cook a better British Christmas dinner than me.

Yesterday we celebrated the New Year with our usual lunch for as many friends & family as we can get together.
We ate & drank our way through a good deal of food & Proseco & had a really good time catching up with old friends. AJ is visiting did her usual sterling work, helping in the kitchen & cutting the clearing up time in half.
We settled for a sandwich & falling asleep in front of a good fire afterwards.

Today we have caught up with the rest of the family, having a lovely day with B, E T & KP.
We played "Lego Champions" after lunch & then T helped to make Scotch pancakes for tea.
I have since read the rules & note that we weren't playing it quite correctly, which probably accounts for the game lasting for over an hour.
It's very good - B is a bit of a whizz, especially at "toppling towers"!

I shall start the diet tomorrow, or perhaps on Wednesday, depending on the contents of the fridge.

Home again.

We've had an excellent Christmas holiday in Denmark, with the family, eating, drinking, playing games with the boys......
We had a wonderful danish Christmas on 24 Dec with MK's family - duck with red cabbage & caramelised potatoes followed by the best rice pudding ever, containing lots of cream & chopped almonds along with a whole almond.
If you find the almond & are lucky enough not to have bitten it in two, you have to conceal it in your cheek until all of the pudding has been eaten, then claim the prize.
On 25 Dec W & Mk cooked a traditional English dinner a la Jamie Oliver.
Actually, the preparations started two days earlier, making herb butters of different varieties to put on vegetables, under the turkey skin & so on.
The result was delicious.
We went for a long walk on Boxing day, the boys on their bikes - DK has amazing stamina for such a little boy; we played Lego games, which G & I needed to master before taking on the rest of the family at home.
Lego Champion is really good - all visitors will be expected to play a game.

W took us to the airport this morning - CPH, that is, not the small white boxes that were given as Christmas presents that allow you yo control music in the home with your mobile phone (I think)
The flight was early, we visited JR on the way home & have spent a quiet evening  in front of the fire, watching some recorded TV.

Many thanks to the Danes for their wonderful hospitality.   

Glædelig Jul!

Guess!
It is far warmer than we had anticipated & we could have avoided having to remove 2kg from the case to check in, by not bringing so many fleeces & padded trousers.
G did the journey with one of my shoes in his pocket (not the pair I was wearing to travel in).
We spent a day with JR en route & W met us at the airport to save any hassle with ticket machines or getting lost.
We have eaten royally since arriving & it's not even Christmas yet.
W & MK are very busy preparing a feast for Sunday a la Jamie Oliver, we are celebrating with T,B & family tomorrow, after church in Soro.
It will all be wonderful & very relaxing.
I took the boys out this morning, to run off some energy, & G this afternoon.
He has spent much of the rest of the day fighting his computer.
Merry Christmas & A brilliant new year to you all - I may not be able to cope with this device again - the cursor jumps to another computer & W is scathing far too often.
If you are invited to our Austerity Lunch, please RSVP, if not, let us know if you would like to join us for a square meal!

Done & dusted.

A great day.
I had a glowing report from the dentist, in that all was well, my dentition actually owing as much to the skill of my dentist as it does to nature.
No repairs needed & gums to be proud of - one bit that doesn't get wrinkly!

I then had coffee & a teacake in M&S, by way of celebration, & in place of breakfast.
I spent the rest of the day shopping in Solihull, my first dedicated Christmas shop.
It was a great success, despite having a couple of "googlies" to cope with.
I did need to eat a £1 bag of Thorntons chocolates to keep me going.
G had a "catch up" day, still feeling the cold.

We have eaten an M&S Indian meal, followed by nougat.
Pretty good, though too much really.

Watching Frank Skinner - good video of a passenger manhandling a youth off a train, in Scotland, who didn't have a ticket & refused to leave.
"More pandas in Scotland than Tory MPs!"