HAPPY NEW YEAR!

It's been 10 days since my last post, not to mention that it was last year! Lots of things have happened since, but now it seems like they were not very memorable. The New Year's Eve party went off very well, the atmosphere was nice (unlike the last time I spent a New Year's Eve there), we had good food, drink, dancing, television watching, board games etc., etc. Even Roy was happy, and that is something as he is not usually a party animal. New Year's day we veged out in the flat and then caught the bus on the 2nd to the village. Originally the plan was to journey to the offices of the baths to purchase (or at least order) the much advertised, all singing all dancing new clubcard which enables you to visit the baths at half price, but my precautionary telephone call revealed that due to "technical difficulties" the card is not yet available and I was advised to try again in a week. :-(

Thankfully no great disaster awaited us in the village, so we set about firing up the stove, make a cup of tea and turn on the computers. Seems to be a ritual nowadays. I can't imagine how we managed in the past when we had to share a computer!!? In the evening we watched Death and the Divas, which was good, although I'm beginning to tire of Midsomer Murders: no particular complaint, just a sort of tiredness one usually gets after this many years of a format that has not changed much in all those years. Thursday was not a good day. We had some news that upset us both and while I don't really want to go into details, I must admit that the real reason for my upset (I don't know about Roy) was that I brought it all upon myself, which is never a good feeling. I proceeded then to agonise about a solution which I felt had to be there, but doubts, ignorance and fears were not pointing me forward. I ended up with very little sleep, usually going to sleep in the evening due to exhaustion, but then waking up in the night and struggling with my demons. Finally, five whole days later Roy came up with a solution. He remembered that I had an old friend and comrade who worked in a field that could prove useful and urged me to give him a ring. He proved to be an absolute godsend. Practical, extremely helpful, non-judgemental - in other words a true friend. And I haven't talked to him for 6 or 7 years. The solution is on its way. I am not saying that I don't still feel pretty bad about the whole thing, but now - hopefully - I should be able to sleep at night.

In the depth of the winter the pottery stove is the absolute focal point of the house. When we are in the village for any length of time it attains such a permanent heat that its consumption of logs goes right down, so it is not only providing fantastic warmth, atmosphere and scent of burning wood, it is also economical in the extreme. Unfortunately, our lifestyle is such that frequently we go away, into town or even further, so this economy is not always exploited to its full, as it is allowed to cool down and then has to be brought up to that temperature time and time again on our return. Still, I am the resident pyromaniac, so lighting and nursing it is my job. That and feeding the birds. Both jobs I absolutely love and never have to be reminded to do. Well, almost never!!

As you can see from these photos the snows have returned. The village really has a chocolate box feel with snow on it, even though today's fall was no more than an inch, if that. Today I have to carry on with my myriad of jobs, in the house, on the computer and occasionally outside. Yesterday I managed to make a start on a lot of phoning around I needed to do, including sorting the question of a lost theatre ticket (hopefully it is done), then agreeing on the method of transport and departure time of next Monday's trip to see an old man with a lot of artefacts of an artist I am assisting somebody to write a book about, then Roy's sister Pamela rang and she needed some information, advice and some help to organise her trip to the UK next month, so there is always something to be getting on with. Today I have further bits of paperwork and organisational work to do as well as putting in a couple of hours on the family history marriage register transcription project I am a volunteer on. That will have to fit round the fire, the birds and, of course, the major organisational task of getting together all the information and papers to solve the major crisis I have written about above. No peace for the wicked (and I'm very wicked!!), so tara for now.