DIARY: Christmas Day to New Year’s Eve.

[Roobarb]

Beautiful sunny day here for the Boxing day dip although I don't envy all those hardy people plunging into the North Sea, brrr!! Forecast to cloud over later but have been making the most of the sunshine, been pulling out some dead stuff from the garden so it's not covering the spring bulbs when they appear. The garden has been a bit neglected due to the amount of rain we've had in the last few months, unfortunately more forecast tomorrow.

[Gillg]

Yes, Roobarb, those spring bulbs are making their presence known in our garden already and I'm really looking forward to seeing their cheerful flowers, with their promise of better and warmer days to come.  I'm hoping that 2024 will be a better year for us all, especially for those suffering the tragedies of war in various parts of the world. 

[rosie17]

Oh, I think I've eaten rather too much but it was all too tempting and delicious.  I hate to think how many diet rules I have broken, but I know what my New Year resolution will have to be.

I think most of us all feel the same just thinking of all these boxes of Chocolate and fancy biscuits just sitting there 

Rosie

[Aguella]

I'm sure I'm not the only one still having leftovers, bubble & squeak etc!

Huge storm today, taking the time to finally send out some emails, Ancestry messages, and draft some letters to send out to distant relatives ... hopefully I get some positive responses!

[Rena]

I had guests on Christmas Day, different guests on boxing Day and now, today I'm left with black bags full of torn wrapping paper.

Santa gave me a couple of large piece jigsaw puzzles for poor eye sighted people.
I'm used to puzzles with 1,000 to 2,000 pieces and as the one I chose to concentrate on is only 500 pieces, I mistakenly thought I'd complete it in a few hours.   Large pieces means they take up most of the  dining table, which means longer to search through them to find a match.   More time spent on my puzzle means less time watching Christmas TV offerings of Gary Cooper, for example.   I'm a great admirer of the late Scottish actor Alastair Sim but there are only so many times I can watch Scrooge before my interest wains.   However, I find I can't watch current new TV offerings due to actors not being taught how to project their voices - all I hear are mumbles.

One very noticeable thing this year has been the size of walnuts!  I've never seen such tiny walnuts in all my life.  It can't be due to weather conditions as I've lived through most types of seasonal weather and walnuts have been what I consider a normal size - except for this year.  Maybe somebody forgot to get the sap rising by hitting it, hence the smallness.

Here's wishing you all that you wish for yourselves in the New Year.

Rena

[louisa maud]

Rena, I often complain to my husband about the TV,  you either have to have the volume full  blast to hear a speaking voice  then it gets turned down for the background music , drives me insane.

LM

[Gillg]

Thank goodness for for subtitles!

Stormy wet weather down here in Devon today.  This means I can stay in all day surrounded by boxes of chocolates (dangerous, but when they're gone they're gone and there will be no more until next Christmas).  No leftovers apart from the odd mince pie and a wedge of Christmas cake, though my husband has his eye on a small Christmas pudding left in the larder.  My recipe always makes two - one large and one small and the small one can come out at any time of the  year. 

What a gloomy day it is! It was so dark when I woke up that I thought it was still night time.  It will be a quiet week for us till New Year's Eve, and even then we may be driven to watching Jools Holland's Hootenanny to keep us awake long enough to raise a glass to 2024.   

[Mowsehowse]

Yes Gillg, very stormy on the South coast of Devon.
Winds gusting over 50 at times, and set to continue till tomorrow tea time!
The coloured lights on the balcony above have become dislodged; the string is hanging down and blowing around wildly, sometimes tapping against our big window. 
Might be quite attractive next time they are turned on!! 
(Enjoy your chocolates.)

[Jebber]

A vey grey day and quite windy here in Dorset, but the spring bulbs are showing that spring is not to faraway.

I’m another moaner about mumbling actors and loud background music. I find myself sitting with the controls in my hand ready to turn the volume up or down as the situation demands.

Even the use of subtitles can be annoying when they switch from top or bottom to the middle of the screen.p and block the picture p. Not to mention some of the peculiar words that appear, one or the worst was referring to her late Majesty as the ‘green’.

Having broken my three month long chocolate fast, I have hidden the unopened boxes until I can get someone to take them off my hands. The boxes of biscuits can go to the food bank.

I will have no such problem when it comes to enjoying the bottle of single malt.