What snow?

Argh, another gap, created by my attempting an edit. I DO wish it didn't DO that! Pretend it's white snow! A whiteout!

My goodness, how time has flown.

Better keep looking though, just in case. Sigh.

Stuff that's happened in the meantime; we had the town illluminations on Thursday last, tree in square lit up, youngsters from Lacey Gardens, St Michael's and Kidgate primary schools provided a choir and orchestra and the Louth Riverhead Silver Band played festive music afterwards while the shops stayed open late. Santa visited and kiddies' faces were a wonder to behold, as usual. By the time I arrived at this event, though early, there was a goodly crowd so I had to hold my camera aloft and shout 'scuse me' as I squeezed my way through to the front. I expect adults to be taller than I but half the kids are, too. It's one of those jobs where it's a delight to see the toddlers' faces when they see Santa and the excitement in the older children because Christmas is getting nearer but it's a devil getting thro' the crowds when you're little!

Friday - SNOW day, Ian and I packed carefully for a trip down to Essex to Peter's wine and cheese party, in Stebbing, near Dunmow. He put blankets in the car, wellies, a shovel and had warm clothing in case we got marooned. I had similar warm clothes and packed a picnic with hot home made soup, beef and horseradish sandwiches and fruit. Off we set ... for me to call a halt 2 mins later at the first shop we came to so I could buy a bottle of water.

It had been snowing in Louth and was settling but we made out way over to the A1 going out via Horncastle and thro New York, where there's a great route, if you know it, which is nice and straight and not a lot of traffic and you come out past Boston, at Kirton, so can avoid the City and any commuter traffic. Also, even the other side of the Louth bypass, there was no snow and we had absolutely no problems at all with the weather.

We stayed at a Holiday Inn Express at Braintree, close to the Freeport Designer Shopping Centre so of course had to have a trip around there and make a few purchases. Also went to the cinema and caught Flightplan with Jodie Foster. I'd been half frit out of my mind just seeing the trailer and my inclination was to see Nanny McPhee - which was probably more frightening, since that's what young kids apparently enjoy, being scared - but the film was good and I managed to keep watching through the whole of it.

Peter had laid on a lovely feast of cheeses and had some interesting friends whom I met for the first time. Peter's an Aquarian - I always find Aquarians a bit batty, strange people. So I suppose that's how people find me, too! However, once I know they're Aquarian I just accept it. Whether birds of a feather flock together applies here I'm not sure but it was strange that in the room there were three of us all with the same actual birthday, 8th Feb, plus Peter, another Aquarian. I didn't ask if there were any more among those gathered but don't you think that's a bit quirky, in a gathering of less than 20 people, that 3 have the same birthday??

One of Peter's guests had a surprise for us. He played Santa by giving us all a book by Dostoyevsky, The Village of Stepanchikovo, which he'd translated. He being Ignat Avsey. We were also given the opportunity to purchase his translation of The Karamazov Brothers, also by Dostoyevsky. If his translation is half so amusing as the surprise he sprung over his little marketing ploy, it should be fun! I bought a couple of copies of the latter book and Ig was kind enough to autograph them.

That's just reminded me of another book I bought which was signed by the author, 'Hic!or The Entire History of Wine (Abridged)' by Julian Curry. Julian, well known to TV audiences as Claude Erskine-Brown in 'Rumpole of the Bailey', performed the book last year at the Louth Riverhead Playgoers theatre. Sitting on stage consuming a bottle of red (and seeming very much to enjoy it) looked like a very enjoyable way of passing an evening and certainly as a member of the audience I found the show hugely amusing and informative. See link at side to learn more about HIC!

At breakfast y'day morning I noticed a man, maybe in his 50's, setting the table precisely for two. He positioned the plates and mugs and put a napkin by each setting and placed the cutlery on this. His face was quite serious doing this but when he'd finished, he sat back and gave a little smile and was joined presently by a blonde haired lady. They gave each other such beaming smiles I decided that they just HAD to be relatively newly married. Which is possibly a little unfair a statement to make when there must be, ohhhhh, a couple of hundred long-time married couples who are happy and stll smile at one another at breakfast time??? I did glance at the guy's wedding ring and sure enough it was very bright gold and shiny and the lady's appeared similarly bright, so maybe my assessment wasn't too far off the mark? I like people watching. If wonder if the watcher is watched?

Went to the pub last night for the quiz. With very little assistance from me Ian completed the quiz sheet. Certainly my input in the music section (popular) was almost zilch. The only one I knew was Procol Harum's Whiter Shade of Pale and everyone knew that, anyway!

And we won! Well, there was a tie breaker but the question was deemed so daft that the two winning teams (Ian and myself, Mick and Sue) decided to share the prize anyway. Well, who knows how many millions of chicken nuggets were consumed last year??? Or was it last month?

I've got a bath that's gone from hot to luke warm to decidedly chilly so I think I'll top it up with hot and get my show on the road!!