Decembrrrrrrrr - dark days

I'm sorry to hear that Judith. Hugs to you x

Greetings, villagers, from cool and wet Oxfordshire.

OH and I have been to the loft to bring down all the Christmas decorations. I bought a 4ft pre-lit (multicolour lights) tree this year, so we are going to get rid of the two bigger, heavy trees that need to be put together branch by branch. We are getting too old to be going to and from the loft with heavy boxes. I'll also cull the baubles etc. I've posted on the village FB page in case anyone wants any of this stuff. I think somebody local was collecting decorations for charity recently. OH has put the new tree up. At least we only had to move my spinning wheel, not a lot of furniture, and there's a multi-plug socket already in the corner. YD has chosen this year's colour scheme of purple and gold baubles and tinsel.

YD is unwell today. Last night she had a stomach ache after eating her steak, sweet potatoes and mushy peas. She only ate two pieces of steak, saying it tasted "fridgy". I hadn't noticed when cooking it probably because I'd put garlic purée on it. The cats had eaten the cooked trimmings with no ill effects (YD doesn't like anything remotely fatty or gristly). The meat had come from the freezer a few hours earlier. YD was sick a few minutes later. She had to pause her games evening several times too, in order to be sick. She has not eaten today but has just had tea, most of which she has kept down. She's been in her room most of the day, but came downstairs to say she now has an ache in her lower abdomen. OH and I looked at each other and thought, "appendicitis?" YS had that a few weeks after we moved to the Netherlands and we remember it only too well. We're checking on YD regularly. She's in bed, online with her friends. She hasn't quite the same symptoms that YS had, but if it gets worse we'll ring up for help. This year just keeps on being awful, one d*** thing after another!

Chicken report: Griselda laid an egg.

Stay safe.

Wave from here & of course good wishes.
I'm regularly not allowed in at present.

Us too.

Greetings, villagers, from mild and partly cloudy Oxfordshire. We didn't have much sun but it was nice to see it while it lasted.

YD is a lot better today. She slept late, and came downstairs to say she had kept last night's food down, but still had a slight stomach ache. Salem jumping on her in bed did not help. He's a heavy cat.

I decorated the Christmas tree and put a few more decorations up yesterday, and wound the fake pine with red LED lights round the posts in the porch today. This year's wreath is of (fake) Brussels sprouts. YD decided on a gold and purple theme for the tree this year, though it turned out that we don't have any purple baubles, only gold ones.

Lit up last night: tinyurl.com/y8lmn7v8

Unlit this afternoon (shows the colours better) with Jasper asleep beside it: tinyurl.com/ydccnjub

The porch: tinyurl.com/yasdk368

OH had a telephone conference this afternoon and has been doing consultancy work. He thought work might dry up now that he's been retired for more than two years, but another project has come along which will last until at least February. He went for a walk before it got dark.

I walked round to my friend's house with another bag of sweets and biscuits for the food bank. She has a car full of bags and boxes, and her hallway is also full. That's just one drop-off point of several, and she has already taken things to the Abingdon food bank a few times. The village has been amazing. The next delivery is tomorrow, in time for Christmas.

There's a Zoom gardening club committee meeting at 8pm tonight. It's going to be interesting figuring out how to hold next year's meetings. Not everyone can do Zoom.

Chicken report: We have five cross hens who are confined to the run now because of the risk of avian flu. We have had no eggs today. No surprise there.

Stay safe.

Greetings, villagers, from mild and sunny Oxfordshire.

~~~Waves~~~ to Organistswife.

A broken night unfortunately, thanks to one of the cats bringing in a mouse. I was woken by the landing light being switched on, and for a moment thought YD was unwell again. She was just trying to catch the mouse. Honey was playing with it, though seeing as she's almost blind we doubt she actually caught it. Sadly it was injured and YD had to put it out of its misery. OH slept through all this so feels fine, but YD and I are tired.

I have aqua tonight. It's not on this Thursday because Di the instructor has to go and look after her grandchildren, but it is on all over the holidays, though at the much earlier time of 10am. That will at least get me out of bed!

Chicken report: the hens continue to be cross about being kept in the run under cover, but we have had two eggs, from Dottie and Griselda. All but Pearl were on the steps of the Eglu last night, locked out. Bird brains!

Stay safe.