A slightly belated Happy New Year.
I hope you all had the festive break you wanted, whether that be peaceful or lively. We spent a few days over Christmas with my Mum, my brother and his wife came over for Christmas Dinner followed by a couple of games of Herd Mentality and Hitster, the later my mother won convincingly! I think her listening to radio 2 all day gave her the edge, certainly my knowledge of anything remotely like popular music stops in about the year 2000.
Given we have recently had to pack up and move all that we own we again decided not to do Christmas presents for each other, we have enough stuff already, well too much really.
I did do Himself’s stocking thought, filled with socks, beer, posh coffee and a chocolate orange in the toe. He got me my Rupert annual and a Snoopy calendar for the kitchen. We managed one walk at Mum’s, otherwise it was an incredibly lazy time and just what the doctor ordered frankly.
Mum and I did a couple of huge jigsaws and Himself read.
The week before Christmas we had what seems to have become an annual catch up with friends Soo & Gav, Dan & Melissa and Gareth.
We do see the first four more often, but for some reason coinciding with Gareth always seems more challenging. We met at The Rose and Crown in Oxford, somewhere I don’t think I have been for well over 30 years.
It’s a bit off the beaten track on North Parade, but Gareth was keen to try the menu, more specifically the pint of sausages on the menu! It turns out it is literally a jug pint glass full of 6 sausages with a small portion of chips. The boys all went for this and were not disappointed, apparently they were delicious.
Not being a fan of sausages, I did dither over homemade fish pie, I adore fish pie but never get at home because Himself hates fish and particularly the smell of fish.
In the end I plumped for ham, egg and chips which was also very good with tasty home cured ham, not prepackaged stuff. I think I will definitely be back to try the homemade fish pie next.
The next day I was back in town to meet Charlotte.
As it was the last Saturday before Christmas, we decided to head out of the city centre and walked out to Summertown. Calling via the street market at North Parade I had spotted a sign advertising the night before. I sampled various Oxford honeys and bought a jar before we walked to Mama Mia in Summertown for a well earned glass of wine, and in my case a huge bowl of aubergine parmigiana, something else I absolutely love but Himself hates.
Christmas eve afternoon we headed to Mum’s and on the 27th we all met at my brother’s for dinner of a huge lasagne and salad. As you may have gathered my Christmas does seem to have revolved around eating this year!
On Monday the 29th we were up fairly early to go to London for the Snoopy in the City Trail.
I had read about it online back in October, but house upheavals meant we hadn’t had a chance to go up until now and knowing that it ended in mid-January we decided to go over the festive break.
It starts by the tourist information office near St Pauls and whilst I had written down directions to each of the 12 statues because I didn't want to rely on my phone, we just couldn’t figure out where the first one was.
We stepped into the tourist information to ask and found it was surprisingly busy in there!
Turns out they had maps of the trail and literally everyone was asking for one. The woman behind the counter seemed utterly bewildered that so many people were asking about the trail which seemed odd given the trail has been open since November.
Whilst there were quite a lot of parents and children, I Loved the fact that nearly all the people in the tourist information, and many that we encountered whilst doing the trail, were my generation, or older.
Clearly once you are a Snoopy fan you are one for life.
I’ve been past this pub so many times over the years, but this was my first time inside. Himself was a bit disappointed to find it was a Samuel Smith’s pub as they only serve their own brand, thankfully they had a decent winter ale for me and an acceptable stout for him.
I know people were considerably shorter back in the day but on investigating the downstairs I literally ended up bent over and crouched on my knees to get down there the ceiling on the stairs was so low!
We decided against another pint and instead we headed across to Leicester Square and the Lego Store. The crowds were insane. Himself was laughing at how shocked I was by the ridiculous crowds. I don’t know why, but I just assumed because Christmas was gone the huge crowds would be too. How wrong I was! The outdoor ice rink and Christmas market were heaving. I really am not a fan of being hemmed in on all sides like that with people coming at you from all directions.
We did the Lego Store before heading for the tube and home. It turned out the underground was so busy they had actually shut all the Piccadilly Circus entrances to try and ease it a bit!
Rather than join the crowds waiting at the gates we decided to walk to another stop.
The following day I was up early and into Oxford. There were a couple of shops I wanted to hit the sales in and Oxford is always quieter in the morning. I rarely go into town these days and tend to wait until I need a few things before I go in.
Sure enough by the time I had done what I wanted and headed back to the train station, there were hordes of people everywhere.
Himself was not in the least bit interested so I was able to spend a blissful couple of hours browsing in M&S, Accessorize, The Body Shop and the haberdashery counter of John Lewis without having to rush.
The stress of the house situation meant my crafting mojo had deserted me, but recently it’s been back which makes me very happy.
I had completed this embroidery kit of a hedgehog I found whilst packing, absolutely no idea where it came from or how long I have had it!
I did have a good clear-out of my crafting supplies but I decided it was definitely something I would do. I’m very pleased with the result.
I also bought a kit reduced to £2.99 in TK Maxx after Christmas and have finished that one too.
Once I was back we walked round to Nephew Number One’s house to take him and his fiancée their pressies and pick up a spare key and detailed instructions on the care of Maisie the cat.
They were off on holiday on the 30th and we are part of the team looking after their princess whilst they are away. We volunteered to do New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day as we were not going out anyway.
It was sunny but bloody cold on both days. We did a lovely 10-mile walk the first day, I can’t tell you how good it feels to be back out walking a decent distance again. At one point I did start to panic my knee would never recover fully.
New Year’s Day we did a walk that ended up at the Fleur De Lys pub knowing that they would have their annual bring an instrument folk music session on.
Even though I’m not a folk music fan it’s always great fun, I think mostly because of the lovely atmosphere but also because if there is any singing it tends to be old school wassailing songs. At one point this year they ended up with 6 accordions and 3 squeezeboxes!
I shall finish with my annual booklist.
I set myself the goal of 55 books this year which I missed by 2 books. Overall given the ups and downs of the year I’m pretty pleased I made it to that many.
As ever I used the Goodreads book-shelving system to keep track and also their 1-5 scoring system. There would definitely have been some half points in there if it were down to me!
As in previous years there have been some cracking reads and also some pretty bad ones. I don’t think I gave up on anything this year though 'Ghosts of the British Museum' was a close-run thing it was so bad. On paper it should have been right up my street.
Only one with full marks which was 'The Night Tiger'. I know it’s quite an old book but somehow, I missed it first time round. It was seeing it recommended on BBC2’s Between the Covers that made me buy it and I’m so glad I did, I absolutely loved it. On a side note, I’m gutted they have cancelled that show I always end up with a list of recommendations from watching it.
I feel like I read more 4’s this year. The 3 Mrs Hudson books I’ve had for ages and couldn’t quite bring myself to read as I am a fan of Sherlock Holmes and was worried they would be an awful parody, but they were brilliant. I must look for the rest.
As ever Elly Griffiths and Marian Keyes did not disappoint and I was delighted Lisa Jewell, Graham Norton and Lucy Foley were back on form.
One read that stayed in my mind was First Light by Geoffrey Wellum. It’s about his time as an incredibly young spitfire pilot. Coincidentally I had seen him interviewed on a couple of programmes about WW2 before I read the book, it also turned out my brother chauffeured him to the Goodwood festival once and ended up spending the day with him he was so lovely and interesting to talk to.
Two Way Murder - ECR Lorac 4
Fargo Rock City: A Heavy Metal Odyssey in Rural North Dakota - Chuck Klosterman 2
The 5 People you Meet in Heaven - Mitch Albom 3
Murder on Safari - Elspeth Huxley 2
Cold, Cold Bones - Kathy Reichs 2
Can I Have my Ball Back : A Memoir Masculinity, Mortality and my Right Testicle 4
Into the Uncanny - Danny Robins 4
Mrs Hudson and the Spirits' Curse - Martin Davis 3
Sea Shanties ; The Lyrics and History of Sailor Songs 4
The Stargazers - Harriet Evans 2
Mrs Hudson and the Malabar Rose - Martin Davis 4
None of This is True - Lisa Jewell 4
Hagitude : Reimagining the Second Half of Life 2
Mrs Hudson and the Lazarus Testament - Martin Davis 3
The Long Weekend : Life in the English Country House Between the Wars 3
First Light - Geoffrey Wellum 4
Would you Believe it : Mysterious Tales from People You'd Least Expect -Karen Stollznow 2
Woman's Lives and Clothes in WW2 - Lucy Adlington 4
My Favourite Mistake - Marian Keyes 4
The Mysterious Bakery on Rue de Paris - Evie Woods 2
The Murderer's Ape - Jakob Wegelius 3
Rough Music - Patrick Gale 2
Love Song and Lies - Libby Purvis 2
Death in Fancy Dress - Anthony Gilbert 2
Skelton's Guide to Suitcase Murders - David Stafford 3
The Light we Carry : Overcoming in Uncertain Times - Michelle Obama 3
Mrs P's Journey : The Remarkable Story of the Woman who Created the A-Z Map - Sarah Hartley 2
1984 The Year Pop Went Queer - Ian Wade 4
ABBA The Official Phot Book - Petter Karlsson 4
Posing a Threat: Flappers, Chorus Girls, and Other Brazen Performers of the American 1920s - Angela J Latham2
We Solve Murders - Richard Osman 3
Frankie - Graham Norton 4
The Shell House Detectives - Emylia Hall 3
The Night Tiger - Yangsze Choo 5
Ghosts of the British Museum : A True Story of Colonial Loot and Restless Objects 1
Midnight in Cairo : The Divas of Egypt's Roaring ''20s - Raphael Cormack 3
Murder Under the Sun : Classic Mysteries for Summer 2
Post After Post Mortem - ECR Lorac 3
The Frozen People - Elly Griffiths 4
The Wild Remedy : How Nature Mends Us - A Diary - Emma Mitchell 2
The Sphinx : The Life of Gladys Deacon - Hugo Vickers 3
The Midnight Feast - Lucy Foley 4
Magnificent Rebel : Nancy Cunard in Jazz Age Paris - Anne De Courcy 2
The Palace : From the Tudors to the Windsors 500 Years of Royal History at Hampton Court - Gareth Russell 4
Agatha Christie's Poirot: The Greatest Detective in the World - Mark Aldridge 4
The Eights - Joanna Miller 3
Bellman and Black- Diana Setterfiled 3
Fisherman's Friend's: Sailing at Eight Bells - Port Isaac's Fisherman's Friends 2
Palaces of Pleasure: How the Victorian's Invented Mass Entertainment - Lee Jackson 3
100 Years of Fashion - Cally Blackman 2
The Christmas Clue - Nicola Upson 3
A Case of the Claws : Classic Tales of Feline Crime 2
Eight Ghosts : The English Heritage Book of New Ghost Stories 2
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