December 2024

December 31, 2024

Started the day with an icy pond swim. Grabbed some groceries for New Year’s dinner while we were out, as I expect most of the shops will be shut tomorrow.

We’ve been invited to the Waine’s party tonight. The email says to come dressed or with props representing a person of note in 2024. We’re going the prop route – Adam carrying a basket of peanuts in the shell (Jimmy Carter. I was going to get the Navalny bio but it’s sold out locally so I went as Rosalynn Carter.

I had mixed feelings about the kind of evening I wanted. Honestly, I was leaning toward a quiet one, but I believe you should go to parties once you accept the invite. Had a nice dinner in first – prawn cocktail and crab linguine.

Gave Jackie a call before we headed out and had a long conversation on what would have been John’s 77^th birthday.

Made it to the party just after 10pm, to find it in full swing. Predictably it was mainly Trumps and Melanias, in various iterations. Long ties, orange face paint, bandaged ear etc. We provided a good counterpoint and the peanuts were a hit as well. Kate will be cursing us tomorrow when she’s sweeping up all the shells.

We weren’t the last to leave, but close to it. In bed by 2am… Nova worked tonight and then headed to a friends’ party in Vauxhall and Lyra was at Loki’s.

December 30, 2024

Margo and Aaron were up and packed by the time we came downstairs. Their taxi arrived promptly at 9:30am and off they went, leaving us all feeling a bit blue. I wondered whether I feel sadder at being left or doing the leaving. I used to hate the last glimpse of my parents at Kelowna airport and the unwelcome thought I might not see them again…  

Reassembled the office, which put me in mind of all the work waiting for me that I’ve been successfully ignoring for the last ten days. Will try to fend it off until January at least…

Made a turkey brussel sprouts curry for dinner, which turned out well. This is the last day for the turkey – tomorrow morning it’s moving to the freezer…

December 29, 2024

Margo and Aaron’s last day… ☹ People were feeling a bit ropey this morning and we took things pretty easy. I made progress on my novel, and had a cheeky afternoon nap…

Went round to Kiran and Birgit’s for drinks in the evening. It was a nice gathering – Lawrence and Madonna, Adam and Susie. I’d brought a smoked salmon dip to add to the buffet, which went down well.

Straight to bed when we got home. We have a relatively early start tomorrow…

December 28, 2024

Things are slowly getting back to normal… We’re moving loads of laundry through the system, consolidating leftovers into smaller and smaller containers, and finding homes for new belongings. I plan to make a turkey and brussels sprouts curry, after which I’ll freeze the rest of the bird.

Margo and Aaron set off after brunch on a bus adventure. The #91 route starts and ends in front of our house and travels down to Trafalgar Square before turning round, so it’s a pretty good route to get a view of the city. And being first on, they should be able to nab the front seats on the top deck.

I’m reading Queer by William S Burroughs (a Christmas present from Lyra) in advance of seeing the film. It’s a challenging read, but I’m enjoying it.

Turkey soup and sandwiches for lunch – that’ll be my last one this season. For dinner we went to Bar Esteban with Lyra and Ava. Back home, we tried and failed to watch Swimming to Cambodia…

December 27, 2024

Up early to play tennis. The weather was misty, though not raining, but the court was damp and the balls were pretty soggy by the end. We played well though.

Dave W came round for a visit. He’s been cat sitting the Empress of Brixton over Christmas. He seems well, although his house situation in Bristol sounds a mess. Happily, he’s off to Sri Lanka in the new year.

Beulah called to thank me for dinner and to have a post-mortem on the red cabbage. She is definitely not doing it again, so don’t even ask, yada yada yada… I sincerely hope we can land on a fresh topic of conversation in the new year…

Went for a late lunch round Will and Sara’s with Margo and Aaron. Their kids were all there, but ours were awol – Nova back to work and Lyra knuckling down to her A-level revision. Turkey crepes, rice and salad plus orange almond cake and mince pies for dessert.

When the three Arsenal fans headed off to the Ipswich match, I drove the rest of us home. I’d booked tickets for Anora, which I was happy to see again. It was interesting to watch some of the minor characters from the start, knowing how things turn out.

Waited up to have a nightcap with Adam when he got back from the match. Nova returned from work around the same time. She had her probation meeting this evening, and simultaneously gave her notice – which all sounds amicable. She’s on the books until January 17th, but with holiday pay her last shift will be on the 11th.

December 26, 2024

I love Boxing Day. I do nothing… or more precisely, I do exactly what I want, which after the Christmas extravaganza works out to about the same thing.

Started the turkey soup, then brought down the Vancouver puzzle and worked on that for much of the day, aside from a turkey sandwich break. Kept an eye on It’s a Wonderful Life while I puzzled… life is good 😊

The girls have the idea that I love doing jigsaw puzzles, but it’s not true. I do two jigsaws a year – the Night Before Christmas one that my family did on Christmas Eve and my Vancouver puzzle from Margo, which I do on Boxing Day. I might conceivably do a jigsaw puzzle if we were stuck indoors in a holiday cottage in Yorkshire on a rainy afternoon, but that’s about it.

Watched Nativity in the evening. We’ve been waiting to watch it when Nova is around, but in the event Lyra was out with her friend Alex. After everyone went to bed I stayed up until almost 1am with the puzzle, but didn’t finish it…

December 25, 2024

Merry Christmas! We’d negotiated an 8am start last night, but in the event it was 8:30 by the time everyone was downstairs. Made a pot of coffee then got down to opening presents. Everyone was pretty pleased with their haul, but the undoubted highlight was Elsie retrieving her present (a catnip filled mouse) from under the tree and ripping it open.

She’s been keen to get her paws on that thing from the moment Margo and Aaron arrived, digging it out of their suitcase on more than one occasion.

Set out the Melton Mowbray with all the trimmings, and a couple of bottles of champagne for toasts. By then it was getting time to get the bird in the oven. I made two stuffings – the usual bread one and then gussied up the sausage meat with chestnuts and seasoning to fill the crop.

Lots of help with the cooking this year – Nova took the lead on roast potatoes, cranberry sauce and gravy, Lyra did the leeks, carrots, and brussels in horseradish dressing, and Beulah arrived with the much-consulted-upon red cabbage. I did the turkey, stuffings, gravy stock, mashed potato, corn, Christmas pudding and eggnog ice cream. (Actually I’m claiming some credit for the red cabbage as well – I certainly invested more time on it than anything else.)

Adam and Aaron headed off to collect Beulah and ended up eating just after 6pm. As well as roast potatoes, I made mashed potatoes this year. Roast potatoes are nice things in themselves, but that doesn’t mean they go with turkey and gravy.

Everything turned out really nicely, including the red cabbage which was praised by all, and Beulah’s vintage insulated serving dishes were great for keeping things warm. And aside from Adam who refused to even try the mashed potatoes, there was a general consensus that they work better with the meal. (Not that I’m allowed to stop making roasties in future…)

Had a little break before the pudding, after which we were all semi-comatose with food and lay about like walruses digesting. Adam was able to move Beulah’s cab forward to 9pm and we were in bed not long after she left.

December 24, 2024

Christmas Eve… and our annual family outing to Borough Market. Lyra had stayed over at Loki’s so she met us at Finsbury Park. Margo opted out, as the underground involves too much walking for her.

Made the usual purchases: Melton Mowbray pies, cheese, coffee, olives, saucisson… Home again by 11am, and dipped into our bounty for lunch.

The afternoon involved gift wrapping and other prep – there always seems to be lots to do at this point. Eventually broke out my puzzle mid-afternoon which was an opportunity to relax, though there were some final (I hope!) cabbage-related calls: it seems a bit wet (I’ll cook it down if necessary tomorrow), it still has some bite (fine by me), it may be a bit bland – do I have white wine vinegar (yes) or should she bring hers (no)…

Broke off to make sausage rolls etc for the Franklyn visit. They arrived minus Pete, but with Sid’s girlfriend Michelle in tow. After they left tidied up and watched A Christmas Carol, with everyone present and awake throughout (possibly a first).

Stayed up late with Nova and Adam finishing the puzzle, then more wrapping, stockings and bed. I still haven’t finished knitting Margo’s gloves – I made a brief attempt at that in bed, but it’s not going to happen…

December 23, 2024

I had a tennis court booked for 9am. It was a good morning for it, cold and bright but not slippery underfoot. Aaron came with us and fielded balls, and Nova popped along part way through but declined to join in.

Toasted up all the random bits of leftover bread for breakfast (a real pick and mix), then people headed off on their respective local outings. I did a bit of client work that needed tidying up before I can really settle into my holiday break – and now it’s officially Christmas!

Found a half an hour window to watch the final third of Living – which was pretty good…

Beulah has started on the cabbage production, resulting in multiple phone calls about how finely to shred the cabbage, cut the apple etc, and to inform me that my instruction to cook it on the lowest possible temperature for an hour was incorrect. She had to increase the temperature from 1 to 4, and she still isn’t confident that it is going to work.

She is doing it in two batches, which has ended up taking almost all day. I’m not to consider asking her to do the red cabbage again, and apparently Tesco does perfectly nice cooked red cabbage which we should opt for next time…

At 6pm we set out to drive into the West End, where we’d pre-booked a parking spot near Leicester Square. Margo treated Adam and me to tickets for The Book of Mormon. The drive was quite an adventure – the route took us through the heart of Soho, which was a bit hairy at times.

We were only a couple of blocks from the theatre, which was great. Arrived in good time for a drink before the show started. In the balcony but steeply pitched and had a great view of the stage. I made certain to turn my phone completely off to avoid any red-cabbage-related calls during the production.

The show is really good fun. We’d seen it ages ago and loved it then as well. The drive home seemed much more straightforward. Nightcap and to bed.

December 22, 2024

Margo was up when I came down at 8am. She’d had an uninterrupted night and felt better for it. Aaron was the sleeping beauty this time and didn’t emerge until about 10am.

 Drove to the Ally Pally farmers market, which was in full flow. Made a full recce, then did our purchasing on the way back: a 14lb turkey from the Welsh butcher, bacon, sausage meat, coffee from the Colombian guy, some Indian pickles, sausage rolls, scotch eggs, cookies, fresh pasta…

It was a good haul and made a nice lunch spread, which we had with Nova, Lyra and Maja. Elsie was in high spirits, attacking ornaments and presents and whizzing in and out the cat door. She’s such a little show off – she reminds me of Lyra aged about six who would treat any and all guests to a display of her gymnastic prowess. 

Spent most of the afternoon watching The Sound of Music, aside from Adam who popped over to see Beulah. French martinis and stroganoff for dinner, followed by In Bruges, and to bed.

December 21, 2024

Slept in for a change and Aaron and Margo both up by the time we came down. They seem to be coping really well with the jetlag. (Or perhaps the futon is just super uncomfortable and they are too polite to say anything…) 

Finally tackled the Christmas cards (with a bit of help from Adam), who also posted them. I write fewer physical cards each year, but there are still people it feels more appropriate to connect with in that way. 

Went for dinner at Les Deux Garcons with Margo and Aaron this evening. We started with French martinis – a new one on all of us. I assumed it would be a variant on a martini, but it was something else altogether. (Our research later revealed that it is made of vodka, Chambord and pineapple juice, which gives it a creaminess when blended.)

The food was excellent as always. We’d intended to pick up the tab, but they beat us to it, which was most generous. 

Walked home via Rokesly Avenue to see the advent lights. Like last year, I can’t find them all. I don’t know if people drop out, or do it incredibly subtly or only have the lights on for a short time in the evening. 

Attempted to watch Living with our nightcap, but Margo and I fell asleep. I think it should be subtitled Boring, though Adam says I got all the set-up then dozed through the pay off.

December 20, 2024

Adam went into the office today, as he hasn’t seen anyone all week. I managed to convince Lyra to play tennis with me, with Margo and Aaron along to watch. Lyra got the hang of it pretty quickly and we had some good rallies. Hit Sourdough Sophia on the way home for some festive pastries.

Managed to fit in an hour’s work – what with the excitement of Margo and Aaron’s arrival I hadn’t done anything yesterday. Loki came round in the afternoon. They headed out to do some Christmas shopping then holed up in her room to watch movies.

Beulah called for a cabbage confab – she wanted to check my recipe again as she was surprised at the lack of spices and thought it might be a bit bland. I suggested she tweak it as she sees fit (she’s an excellent cook), but she nixed that idea.

Took Margo and Aaron to the cocktail bar, which we’d booked for happy hour. Managed two drinks and a few snacks in the 30% off window of opportunity. Grabbed a couple of best kebabs for dinner on the way home. Watched It’s a Charlie Brown Christmas, followed by Perfect Days and to bed.

December 19, 2024

Margo and Aaron arrive today! In other exciting news, Adam’s covid test was negative, which meant he could meet them at the airport as originally planned. We’d just made coffee when he checked the flight schedule and saw that their plane was landing 45 minutes early. Dashed it back and headed straight for the airport.

Lyra and I got the office ready for their arrival. Changed the sheets on the futon and broke down one of the desks to make more space for their bags and such. It looked pretty good when we were done – definitely more bedroom than office.

 When I opened the front door to receive our guests my first thought was “wow, they haven’t changed a bit,”; my second, “actually it’s only been a couple of months since we last saw them.” Made chicken soup for lunch, after which they repaired for a long nap, having failed to sleep on the plane.

 Adam and Aaron headed off to the florists next door to get a Christmas tree, returning with a beauty. Did the decorating then sat down to baron of beef for dinner, followed by Christmas baking. The festivities have started!

December 18, 2024

Up at 7am with Lyra as per usual. Only one more day before she’s off for the holidays. We’re all more than ready for a break…

Work was a shitshow… Some routine maintenance on the beauty website triggered the dreaded “critical error”, which took most of the day to resolve. It was not how I wanted to spend my time, but there was no option.

Had a meeting with Alicia about getting a personal website together. She’s been accepted onto an artists’ residency in the Arctic in April and wants to have a web presence in place before that kicks off.

I was still hacking away at the mess of the beauty site at dinner time. Lyra cooked a pasta dish from the NYT food website that was pretty delicious.

Beulah is coming for Christmas dinner and has kindly offered to help. I suggested she made the red cabbage, which she volunteered to do once before, so it seemed an obvious choice.

Since that fateful day, we have had regular cabbage consultations – how far in advance to buy the cabbage and to make it, whether she should arrive with it or we collect it in advance, whether to make a double portion.

Tonight’s call was about the recipe itself. She can’t find her recipe, and after spending ages looking for one has decided she wants to make mine. I hollered the ingredients and procedure at her over the phone, and she read it back to me so I could ensure she’d transcribed it correctly.

I’m transferring the home movies I taped to Youtube, giving them a little edit first to stabilize the handshake and even out the colour. It’s slow going… the footage takes ages to process and upload, so I’m running them overnight. I’m pleased with the end product though.

December 17, 2024

Another good night’s sleep, which always feels like a gift… Spent a chunk of time working on the beauty site trade hub. The initial brief was pretty confusing – I thought they wanted something that filtered the content similar to what I’d built for sustainable beauty, but it’s ended up as something pretty similar to what’s already there.

Finished watching Iron Claw on my lunch break, which has taken a few days. What a great performance by Zak Efron – I didn’t know he had it in him. 

By the time I popped out for groceries it was already dark. There’s not much daylight around these days… Made roast chicken with chorizo and broccoli, which I overcooked drastically while finishing my day’s work. This oven is much hotter than old place and I’m still getting used to it.

December 16, 2024

I slept super well, despite not being able to pull the blinds all the way up. The futon is pretty comfy. At breakfast this morning, Lyra confessed that she is heartily sick of vanilla yogurt – a long obsession that has come to an end. I’ll have to rethink the breakfast options in the new year. 

Adam worked from home today, sticking to the bedroom with me in the office. He’s feeling okay, though the cough is still grotty. He’ll do another covid test tomorrow to see if he’s still positive. According to Birgit, the tests tend to show you as positive well after you stop being infectious. 

Nova’s former housemate Clara stayed over last night. They emerged before noon and headed straight out. I did some shopping – we’re very low on groceries – and bought a Christmas pudding from Dunn’s. I’d like to try steaming it this year, instead of miking it. 

Paul the engineer came round in the afternoon to sort out the ground floor heating. The valves are calcified with limescale and not expanding like they should. He also detected a blockage and that the system has leak detector slime in it. Hope he’s got it sorted… 

Tteokboki for dinner with Lyra in front of Home Alone, another film that seems to be improving with repeat viewings. I imagine most things do. To bed before 10pm.

December 15, 2024

Got up early, leaving Adam to rest and recuperate. Headed downstairs to do some knitting and listen to my audiobook before meeting Millie in Highgate Woods for a walk with her new dog Nico.

It’s a sweet little miniature poodle, very quiet and friendly. Pet ownership has been quite the saga so far. She’s spent almost £5K on vet bills, Nico has had abdominal surgery and may be blind in one eye…

Walked home via the shops, picking up a few Christmas things. Adam stayed in the office all afternoon, while I alternated between living room and our bedroom. Now I know he has covid, we are minimising time spent in the same space, and he’s always masked.

Collected Lyra from Highgate at 8pm. She had a much better day with Harry – the cleaning crew weren’t there, and girl and dog were both much happier for it. Watched Run, Lola, Run then to bed in the office.

I had a realisation when I was brushing my teeth, that until relatively recently I would brush them like my mum had told me to do it, ie., relatively cursorily. Lately, I’ve really been getting into working that brush round the backs of my molars and ensure the bristles get into the gum line round my cap. It’s so odd that I made it to 60 years old before appreciating that I’m brushing my teeth for myself, not because an authority figure expects me to.

December 14, 2024

Note to self, avoid long Island iced tea in future… Managed to be upright by 9am. Lyra is dogsitting in Highgate for Harry the Irish terror (I mean terrier) and Adam drove her over. When he got back we headed to Paddington to meet Richard and Rachel for dim sum.

Went for a bit of a walk along the canal, but none of us were feeling it, so we cut things short and headed to the restaurant 15 minutes early. There were already people loitering outside keen to get in, which was a good sign.

It’s a big venue, but it filled up quickly. No wonder… the menu was enticing and the food and service excellent. Richard was on diet coke, as he’d had his Christmas lunch yesterday, but Adam and I joined Rachel in a bottle of white wine.

Walked home from Finsbury Park afterwards, for the exercise and to enjoy the unaccustomed bright weather. Spent the rest of the afternoon watching Die Hard. Neither of the girls are fans, but we enjoy it.

It had just finished, when Lyra called in a state. She’d had a stressful day with Harry, mainly because there was a cleaning crew in the house, which meant she and the dog had to stay in the basement suite, which he did not enjoy.

The two times she brought him upstairs to go for a wee in the garden, the cleaners had left the front door or side gate open and Harry had dashed into the forecourt and threatened to run into traffic, and it was a job to get him under control. He’s a big, strong, willful dog and even on the lead is difficult to manage.

Somehow in all the chaos Harry had bitten Lyra on the hand, which she was understandably pretty upset about. I stayed on the phone with her until she was feel better.

Adam has started coughing, so I suggested he take a covid test before we went to P&Ps do. It came back positive, so we stayed in, him now wearing a mask. He’s been feeling a bit under the weather since Tuesday, so presumably he’s had it since then.

He’s also been out every night, so we haven’t spent much time together. I’ll do a test in a couple of days regardless of symptoms, to make sure I haven’t caught it.

Watched an excellent German film called Phoenix and to bed about midnight.

December 13, 2024

Planned to do a yoga class after I got Lyra sorted but it didn’t happen. Walked into the living room to discover that Elsie had been busy with my knitting overnight. The ball of wool had been clawed into a tangled mess and wound around the coffee table legs, like a piece of crazed macrame.

Amazingly, all the stitches were still on the needles, but the needles themselves were full of punctures from her teeth. Also, the fifth needle had gone missing, which was what happened last time (and has never been found). I eventually located this one deep under the sofa…

Made butterscotch fudge and the did my weekly fitness meeting. There wasn’t a lot to discuss – things seem to be running relatively smoothly at last.

Knocked off early for team lunch in central London, at a vegan place called Tendril. There were five of us – our colleague Alice is otherwise engaged, plus she lives in Austria. The food was amazing, aside from one quibble. 

We ordered two portions of the white bean dip, which they brought with four half slices of grilled pitta bread. Given we were a group of five dropping hundreds of pounds on a Christmas meal, they should have comped us the 50p an extra slice would have cost them. Or if they are too tight to do that, to just add it to our bill and serve the dish in a way that we all could have enjoyed it. 

Overall it was a nice occasion, with excellent food. Instead of dessert, I opted for an espresso martini, the first time I’ve tried one. It never seems the right time to drink one – you wouldn’t have it before a meal, or too late in the evening. 

Had a bit of time at home before catching the W5 to Basil and Veronika’s for the evening. They’d lit the candles on the tree and prepared a holiday spread. They’d also formed the view we’re partial to long island iced tea, so that’s what we drank. I’ve never ordered one in my life to the best of my knowledge. They go down pretty easily, given they contain rum, tequila, vodka and gin I believe.

Left about 1am and walked the 20 minutes home.

December 12, 2024

Slept badly and was awake by 5am. According to my sleep app, I managed zero minutes of deep sleep. That can’t be good…

 Sorted out Lyra’s food then did the taped version of Lynne’s yoga class from Tuesday. It’s so much better doing it the second time, and I even with the few sessions I’ve done I can feel that I’m loosening up. My knees are less creaky on the stairs in the morning as well – another bonus…

Headed into town in the evening to see Stewart’s new show at the Leicester Square Comedy Club. We needed to get there early to collect the comped tickets, after which we grabbed a quick bite at Shakeshack. Not that impressed…

The show was excellent – it’s a completely different experience seeing comedy live. I was super impressed, though Stewart said afterwards that this is the first time it had gone even vaguely right. Didn’t feel that way to me in the audience…

Home by 10pm, just early enough to watch the final episode of Jackal. There was clearly setting things up for a season two, despite the “surprise” death of a main character…

December 11, 2024

Lyra was a bit tired this morning, having got home at midnight, but got up for school without complaint. She had a great night at the premiere – the film was amazing, Cate Blanchett gave her a little wave, and she had a drink with one of the cast of Derry Girls.

Made granola and started the nanaimo bars before my first meeting at 11am. Didn’t work late for a change – knocking off at about 6pm to cook with Lyra. She took the lead on mac and cheese, while I had a piece of cod with carrot-ginger mash.  Adam was out again, so Lyra ate together and watched Elf. We are such big softies and were both blubbing away by the end.

To bed before 11pm to do a bit of reading – Dead Blondes and Bad Mothers – subtitle, Monstrosity, Patriarchy, and the Fear of Female Power. Very interesting stuff…

December 10, 2024

Started my day with an online yoga class. I’m partly doing the classes to have more insight into how the website works and what users might want from it, but actually works pretty well for me. The live classes tend to be first thing in the morning, and the recordings mean I can fit in the exercise whenever… 

Put in some work on the beauty, engineering, art critic and fitness sites today – really spreading myself around. There are a number of things I’d love the cross off my work list in the next couple of weeks. 

Lyra got a great last-minute invitation to attend the premiere of Queer, the new Luca Guadagnino film starring Daniel Craig with her friend Huxley. There’s an after-party as well, hosted by Cate Blanchett. It’s a school night, but I would have felt like a monster saying “no” to her attending. 

Adam had another evening event, and Nova was working, so I was on my own for dinner. Worked until about 7:30pm, then went downstairs to fix myself something and feed the cats. No Elsie, which was odd – she’s usually front and centre when it comes to feeding. 

Searched the house, and eventually found her closed in the bedroom cupboard. My clothes, shoes and bags were carpeted with white fur – she’d obviously been flinging herself about in there, poor little thing…

December 9, 2024

Back to the old routine… Christmas can’t come soon enough – we’re all feeling run down. Not that it’s a particularly restful time, but it’s the stress of doing both work and Christmas that’s particularly grinding in mid-December.

 I’d hoped to get some exercise in at some point, but the only thing I exercised was my fingers. Worked until gone 8:30pm before packing it in. Adam was out at a party, and the girls had eaten something when they met up to do some Christmas shopping in town, so I didn’t bother making dinner.

Fixed a snack, made a cup of tea and watched some mindless telly for what was left of the evening. Ho, ho, ho…

December 8, 2024

Lyra’s friend Maya stayed over (when they eventually got in late last night). By the time everyone was up and about, it had gone 11am. We had a family lunch at Jolene before Adam and the girls carried on to the Arsenal women’s match and I caught the 91 home again.

I’d been awake in the night and was feeling pretty tired. Had a doze on the couch and then pulled together this year’s Christmas letter. It’ll be the third time we’ve done a group email. I was resistant to the idea, but recipients actually get a genuine letter, instead of a few lines dashed off as I work my way through the list.

Nova and I cooked kimchi meatloaf for dinner, with rice and steamed purple broccoli – very nice. We watched Love Actually – it’s been a nice, family-oriented day.

December 7, 2024

Storm Darragh scuppered our plans to meet Richard and Rachel for a walk and dim sum lunch. There were trees down blocking train tracks, and high winds and rain. It would have been fun to see them, but it wasn’t the right day for it.

Headed off to Costco instead, via the big Sainsbury’s with the Tim Hortons. Bought Christmas fixings, some household staples and a few small presents/stocking items. It was busy but not crazy for the time of year. I think the weather must have put some people off.

It was a quiet night in for the two of us (the girls were out – Nova working at Lyra at a disco night in Hackney). Got stuck into our truffle cheddar from Costco, finished a bottle of red and watched a couple of episodes of The Jackal.

December 6, 2024

Got lucky with the weather after yesterday’s deluge, waking to a bright, cold morning –perfect for tennis. Although it felt colder than last week, there was no ice on the court and we had a good session.

I always feel great after playing tennis, and today was no exception. It’s such a mood booster. Had my weekly fitness meeting, and tackled a few bits and bobs, plus weekend logistics. Rachel and Richard are planning to come up from Henley for the day (weather permitting).

Met Jane for pizza after work. I haven’t seen her since before we went to Canada… It was a pretty low energy evening – she’d had a big night yesterday and Adam and I were pretty knackered as well…

December 5, 2024

Another storm has landed – buckets of rain and a ferocious wind whipping everything about. Had a pretty uneventful workday servicing clients, though I only managed to bill a couple of hours. Some days are like that…

 Knocked off early to cook dinner – Japanese curry with rice – which I made with Quorn chicken pieces, as Loki came round. We headed out straight after for Stoke Newington to see Pete’s play – How to Disappear and Never Be Found.

 He gave a solid performance, as did the lead actor and overall it was pretty entertaining. Stuck around until he came out to give him our congrats then dropped Loki at his and headed home.

 Watched another episode of The Jackal. Good enough, though definitely more Adam’s thing than mine.

December 4, 2024

Kate came round for a meeting first thing and we set up the corporate offer on the website. Basically, company can pay a half price annual subscription for a block of memberships they can assign to staff. We have a law firm lined up to trial it and are giving them the first six months free.  

 When I realised I hadn’t been outside all day, I ventured to Waitrose for groceries instead of just popping across the street. Made a chicken tajine with couscous and applesauce for dessert.

Lyra and I watched The Holiday, which had us both in tears. That film has crept up on me over the years. I owned the dvd (a double disc offer with Love, Actually) for years before watching it.

December 3, 2024

Did Lynne’s yoga class this morning. Just as well I did, because there was an issue with the instructors not being able to log in. They’d have been able to start their classes fine if they’d just gone to Zoom, but they’ve got into the habit of clicking on the class schedule like the participants do.

For some reason, the staff membership had been kicked off the rule protecting gated content – I have no idea why that happened, but I’ve now added each instructor specifically – belt and braces. This is currently a stressful website to manage. There are only 75 paid-up members, but the live classes up the stakes.

Worked on a filtering thing for the beauty website for much of the day. It’s their Christmas party this evening and I wanted to be able to say I’d done it when I saw people. Shut down at 6:30 and went upstairs to get ready.

Waiting at the bus stop, I checked my phone to confirm the address and ensure that I had my e-ticket. Just as well… the event had been cancelled, due to the Groucho Club being a crime scene.

Back home and straight into my pjs. Made myself a snack plate, poured a large glass of wine and watched the rest of The Substance with Lyra. The ending got a bit OTT but we both enjoyed it, and I’m impressed with Demi Moore. I’ve always liked her. Adam was out at a party and I was in bed by the time he got in.

December 2, 2024

Invoicing took most of the morning. I don’t enjoy doing it, but it’s a good problem to have.

 Speaking of payments, I got my first pension installment today! There’s a modest lump sum, which I’ll look into investing plus a monthly payment that will arrive at the end of each month. It’s more than I expected it to be, but of course all my income is pre-tax, so I’ll have to increase the amount I’m saving for that.

 Nova was out with a friend, so I made minestrone for dinner. It’s not a favourite of hers, but Lyra loves it. We started watching The Substance. Adam got home a few minutes in so we brought him up to speed. He’s not a horror fan, but this was more sci-fi, with a lot of black humour.

December 1, 2024

Rabbits! Adam returned the CDs player first thing. They say they’ll fix it for free (unless it requires a new part) – I certainly hope so. I’m not convinced that expensive motherboard was necessary – it was doing everything but playing CDs when we took it to them.

Adam returned with salt beef and bagels, which we ate while watching The Holdovers, our first Christmas film. Headed over to visit Beulah afterwards. She had an issue with the battery in her crossword solver thing, that took a while to resolve, but we got there in the end.

Spaghetti and meatballs for dinner, with lots of help from the girls. They are always pleased when I cook something from the childhood meal rotation – chickpea pasta soup, mac and cheese, pesto pasta – we don’t eat pasta regularly anymore, it used to be a staple.