Nearly there…

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It would appear that this is the first time that I have done a blog post on a Christmas Eve. What a treat for you Dear Reader. You now have something scintillating and exciting to read on Christmas morning! - is that a good book I see by your elbow?

Health has been a major theme for us this week. Though she was not fully recovered Nicky went back to work on Wednesday. Each day since then has been easier and she has been felling better. Antibiotics are now finished and her cough is much improved but still needing some Gee’s Linctus from time to time. My bites have gone toxic according to my GP. All the medics that have seen them feel they are flea bites not mozzie bites, so I suspect I was bitten when collecting a Mac from a cattery last Wednesday. As a result I have had three visits to my GP this week (one to drain them because they had got quite large) and this afternoon have finally been able to leave the dressing off for awhile. I have antibiotics at the ready just in case. They still hurt, look appalling, and I have to keep them clean and dry for a few more days yet. A couple of much smaller ones on my other ankle make wearing footwear painful so as long as I can go barefoot I’m OK. Fortunately, the weather has been warm enough for this.

As the week has progressed the library has got quieter, and this has coincided with the number of staff has diminishing each day. It was just Nicky and three others yesterday (there is supposed to be seven). I have had a couple of jobs so the month has finished on a reasonable note. I am closing for the Christmas break with Nicky having been granted annual leave.

You may be aware Dear Reader that my Senior Management Team and I have been reducing our sugar intake for a few years now. One of the effects of this has been finding that commercially produced sweet goods are now just way too sweet for us, Christmas mince meat being a notable item. I started developing my own recipe for mince meat a couple of years ago and this year have got it just right. It has no added sugar, the only sugar is that in the dried fruit and alcohol (so hardly any then !?!). I made my first batch of mince pies with it on Thursday and they are the nicest ones I have ever made. I took half a dozen along to my Christmas Office Party on Friday - fellow Deep and Meaningful members who are self-employed and work on their own. It didn’t get off to a great start at the naturist beach because it of the light rain and me not being allowed to get my dressing wet, but Gordon and Kat had a good swim and we all had a stroll along the beach when the rain eased off. By the time we had met up with the others in St Heliers and found a tree to sit under, the sun was starting to come out and felt very warm. Unfortunately I had to leave after 45 minutes for my third visit to the GP, but it was still a good way of ending the working year for me.

Yesterday, while Nicky was doing her last Saturday duty of the year, it was Pie Day for me - production of a 4kg Christmas Pie (chicken, bacon and drunken cranberries) for the shared lunch on Christmas Day. I had to adopt my usual routine (which is why this is easier with only me in the house) of closing all the windows and doors in the kitchen/lounge/dinning area, killing all the flies, and then getting on with the cooking. Once I put the oven on it starts to get really warm, but as soon as the pie is in I open some windows again. It looks like it has turned out well, so I am hoping it tastes as good.

We had arranged to go and visit The Adventurous Hanlon’s on Saturday evening for fush and chips, so after Nicky got home from work we had a pot of tea and headed off to Leigh. It was really good to see them all more awake than they were at the airport, though they are now sporting an array of mozzie bites. They seemed to have enjoyed their initial visit to Wellington and the R&R in Waikanae on the Kapati Coast. We introduced them to kumera fries which Ned and Clemmie enjoyed, and Nicky managed some cuddles with Clemmie while marvelling at her rapacious appetite. 

We have also had Monarch butterfly caterpillars going wild, especially today. Within 24 hours they turned a whole swan plant from this:


to this:


We now have a couple of dozen taking up residence on the garage wall. Here are just a few:


Nicky has just gone for a snooze before going off to midnight mass, so I am going to have a glass of Hellburner (a fortified red wine) while putting together my Christmas Pudding for tomorrow.


Have a good one. See you on the other side. Rick.

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