Christmas was officially declared at 23:30 hrs last night, when we filled in the final clue in the Guardian Crossword. A new-to-us setter and we are not entirely sure we liked their style. A self-reference in the themed solutions. Plenty of clues to make us groan or moan, but none to wow us with their cleverness. RIP Araucaria, we miss you.
Wow, what a night. The wind battered the window all night and there was little sleep to be had. I saw 03:33, I know that. Sleep came some time later. This did nothing to stop Nell from waking at her usual time and making her needs known. I pretended to be fast asleep… and did my duty warming Mr L’s feet when he returned to bed.
The storm was not too bad in the end and we only managed a Force 10, with the highest recorded gust being 83 mph. The ten minute average was 56 mph. It could have been far worse. The power stayed on too! It remains pretty windy but we are now down to a Force 7 (near gale) and it has prevented our annual picnic hike. We are making the best of it and have lit the stove in the sitting room. A Cashew and Parsnip nut roast has been prepared and we are going to make a festive meal, though in our own inimitable low-key way. There will be goose-fat roasties, carrots cooked in cider with rosemary and mustard, some broccoli, tarted up for the festival with some flaked almonds and a sherry and mushroom “gravy”. A ferret in the fridge yielded a melon for a first course. There is Wensleydale and Port, if we get that far. I am looking forward to our meal, especially as everything is now prepared and ready and there will be little to do when it comes time to cook it all.
As is our habit, there were no presents today; presents are best given when least expected.
There is little to do now except to sit back and wait for Dr Who to appear on the iPlayer. When it does, we shall download it and then take the laptop to bed with the remaining Port.
The Logica/CGI treasure hunt is not progressing – Mr L has been kept extremely busy with his PC upgrade, which has not gone well. The final diagnosis is one of faulty memory, so his upgrade can not be completed until after the holidays. This is good as it means that my PC will be left alone for a while yet. I hate fresh installs, I really do.
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