I have various Christmas events in my diary, but I don't dare get too excited especially now I've just found out that the birdwatching club is postponing its annual quiz and buffet until March. At least I have an Advent calendar, which I got in the post from my parents.

It's been a pretty wintry week, with one day cold enough for a dusting of ( Read more... )

In the middle of the week, I finally made it to Surrey to visit my ex-flatmate and meet her 11-month-old daughter. I also met her two-month-old nephew and other friends, including two cats who first lived in my old flat. My ex-flatmate and her husband have done a great job of doing up their three-storey house on a leafy estate next to a riverside ( Read more... )

This was another slow week, partly because of an unplanned day in the office to replace a faulty mouse. It was a sunny, cold morning and a pleasure to get up early and see the frost and autumn leaves from the train. On Friday, my birdwatching club had the first in-person meeting since the pandemic started, and we heard about vultures and other ( Read more... )

This has felt like a long week, mainly because I was in the office on the printing rota on Tuesday and Thursday. The commute is only a couple of miles, but it feels like a big expedition now I have to take my laptop. Also I had a club meeting on Monday evening and a check-up at the dentist after work on Tuesday. Fortunately my electric brush is ( Read more... )

Recently the bosses at work decided it was time for all staff to return to the office two days a week, but the rising Covid rate made them reconsider, so we're sticking with the printing rota. That was good as it meant I could stay at home while getting used to the earlier sunset. Despite the lack of lockdown, I found myself slipping back into last ( Read more... )

On Sunday I set off for four days in Norfolk with my birdwatching club. The group goes there every autumn, but I hadn't been before as it usually clashes with a family occasion. It was certainly a change to swap the rolling hills of home for endless flat land and zigzag ridges leading to the North Sea, where the strandline's natural treasures ( Read more... )

This has been my busiest week since February last year and I'm getting used to the once-familiar feeling of having lots to do out of the house. After all these months filling expanses of time with reading, jigsaws, walks, TV and internet in various orders, now I have to organise those activities around things happening in the real world.

On ( Read more... )

Last Tuesday I set off for my traditional October break with my parents in Pembrokeshire. As usual, Mum cooked excellent food and Dad uncomplainingly drove us around. Mostly we went to familiar places, but after lockdown I never take for granted the privilege of being allowed out of the house. One morning Dad and I went for a walk on a spectacular ( Read more... )

Last night I went to a piano concert in the next town, which wouldn't be a big deal except that it was my first evening event since 9th March last year. I dressed up a bit and enjoyed seeing lots of familiar faces (mostly unmasked) although I sometimes felt that I'd forgotten how to converse with acquaintances. The programme started with the ever- ( Read more... )

It feels like a long time since my holiday, partly because I had two days in the office last week. That meant a welcome change of duties, although I spent a lot of time looking for documents unsuccessfully.

It's been a week of remarkably warm and mostly sunny weather, which has gone some way to make up for the disappointing summer. I was even able ( Read more... )