Christmas Lights Away

Day 291...

Well another quiet day and the last day of my Christmas break.

After updating my online grocery order the main focus of the day was to take down our outdoor Christmas decorations and lights. So we had candy cane lights, Christmas tree shaped lights, door wreath, small trees, baubles in trees, a swag, multiple strings of lights and three blow molds all to disconnect and store for the next 11 months.

I did decide to leave some of the string lights up in our back garden as these are just plain lights that go down each side of the garden and into a couple of bushes. I think these will brighten up in the garden but by leaving them on static rather than twinkly mode they won't look like Christmas lights.

Back in the warmth it was time for a little Disney research prior to recording this weeks show with my co-host Michelle for the Disney Dream Girls podcast. We chatted about some news and history as well as looking forward into 2021 and what maybe coming new to Walt Disney World. Hopefully the Disney parks will be able to carry on with their plans for new attractions and begin to open up more as we move forward and, fingers crossed, we begin to get a control of this virus situation.

Not long after recording it was time for this weeks Disney Quiz via Zoom. I was tasked with writing the questions this week and they were supposed to be all about the new live action version of Mulan, however as I haven't yet seen the film I had to come up with something different. I'd hoped to get the movie watched at some point last week but the time seemed to have escaped me. But having played so many board games the last few days I decided to use some of the questions from the Disney Trivia game as this weeks questions which worked really well. But next week it will be questions on Mulan so I really need to find the time to watch the movie.

And that is where my Sunday draws to a close, as well as my break from work. We are back to work tomorrow and while there are calls for schools to close and further, tougher lockdowns, we will be back until the powers that be tell us otherwise.

Take care out there.
xx

End of 2020

Day 288...New Years Eve...

Well here we are at the end of 2020 and I don't think any of us could have predicted how this year would turn out this time last year.

Today has been another quiet day, especially as we are now in Tier 4! The morning was spent updating my online grocery shops...I like to have two booked in advance...and then getting on top of the laundry and ironing!

Just around lunchtime we took a short walk out over the fields which gave me the opportunity to try out my new wellington boots that had arrived today.

I must admit that I was a bit dubious about getting welly boots as my experience in the past had always been of ill fitting boots that felt like buckets on my feet. But with walking as often as we now do it seemed the sensible approach to take. Simon had bought himself a pair of Hunter boots a few weeks back and was really happy with them so I had tried to get myself a pair but after weeks of trying and never being able to find my size in stock I decided to look elsewhere. 

So these are Lakeland Active Helston boots and they fit me lovely and were cheaper than Hunters! They adjust around the calf of my leg and are made of neoprene so are soft and warm. So our walk out today saw us going over the fields for the first time in a few weeks and so far I am very impressed...feet were warm and dry, boots were comfy and easy to walk in and kept me upright!

This afternoon has seen me catch up on a little TV, make a start on my next jigsaw and Simon has taken over the kitchen table with electronics for his R2D2 build.

As I type this I am about to get ready for this evenings New Year celebrations...there will be no hosting of a party, or going out to celebrate instead it will be a table of food and an evening of board games!

Molly and I have made a trifle of sorts as we have made it with chocolate sponge soaked in a combination of Disarono and Cointreau rather than the usual vanilla sponge and sherry...should be interesting to try! Although we still have cream to add on top...so I'll share photos and a verdict tomorrow!

So as I stop typing to enjoy (not sure that's the right word!) the last few hours of 2020 I notice a lot of people online sharing their 2020 stories and trying to find the positives over the last 12 months. I admire those that can find the positive and don't get me wrong I have my own positives but there was also a lot not to like about 2020...obviously!

We have over the past 12 months embraced the time that we have had together; we have adapted and resolved to 'carry on'; we have dealt with sorting our 'other house'; we have re-discovered the countryside on our doorstep; we had a couple of lovely weekends away at the beginning of the year; we have learnt to appreciate the 'normal' things in life that until now we had taken for granted; Molly and her fella have survived despite everything and are going from strength to strength; small gestures from friends have meant the world, opportunities to see friends have been taken (safely of course) and enjoyed; we have educated ourselves and kept a breadth of all the information out there, from all sources and are becoming more sceptical as the days go on...and on!

But amongst the positivity that we can find we have to also admit that this has been the strangest of years, probably the most worrying for a lot of us, at times depressing, confusing, making us angry and frustrated, plans spoiled, life halted, liberty and freedom stomped on, anxiety levels rising and concern for those around us.

So let's hope that 2021 can bring about some change for the positive, that the powers that be can get their act together and get us out of this mess one way or another and we can all get our lives back to normal so that we can live them to the fullest. We take hope with us into 2021 because what else can we do except hope for things to get better.

I wish you all the happiest and healthiest of New Years, take care whatever you maybe doing.

xx

Baking and Present Giving

Day 280...

Today was the first day this Christmas break that we didn't have any critical plans that we had to be up and about for so we had our first 'lie-in' of the holidays. Which after a rubbish nights sleep was much appreciated by me.

So after a steady start to the day we formed a plan; we had presents to drop off at friends, my dad to see, baking to be done and more paint spraying for R2D2.

We decided to brave the grey and rainy day and take a walk out to distribute presents and see my dad. It was at this point that Simon decided to surprise me with his latest, and secret, purchase...a Christmas jumper! Now to put this into context I have a number of jumpers and t-shirts all of a festive vibe that I will wear throughout December but this is something that I have never known Simon to take part in. Simon has always tolerated my love of Christmas and puts up with the ever expanding number of ornaments, decorations and lights each year...which also seem to go up earlier and earlier each year. He has always found Christmas to be stressful for lots of reasons but this year is the most relaxed he has ever felt and he decided to surprise me with his jumper as he knew how much it would mean to me to see him joining in the fun. It is, of course, a Star Wars themed jumper which is as it should be for him and was rather appropriate today as I was wearing my Darth Vader Gingerbread Man t-shirt.

Braving the rain we were able to walk to my dads to make sure he is doing okay and arrange for him to be with us on Christmas Day. We then stopped by a friends house to drop off a present and have a chat - how I miss my friends and just being able to pop by, chat, enjoy a drink, give them a hug and just enjoy their company.

Back home and Molly was all organised ready for an afternoon of baking. We (well I say we but Molly did most of the hard work I simply helped and washed the pots!) made a coffee caramel cake ready for Ethan's birthday tomorrow...

...some Christmas cupcakes (like mini Christmas cakes)...

...and most importantly the waffle batter ready for tomorrows breakfast of Mickey waffles. It has become a tradition over the years that on the kids birthdays and at Christmas we have Mickey shaped waffles for breakfast...with maple syrup...bacon...and of course ice-cream!

While Molly and I baked Simon was in the garage air-brushing more paint onto various parts of his R2D2 build. He is hoping to get all the painting done so that he can start some of the final assembling. This has been a long project that has been done in between work and prop and art commissions and has been a proper labour of love for Simon but it is getting closer and closer to completion.

So for a day when we didn't really have any set plans I think we had a pretty productive day. I am trying to avoid the news as much as possible at the moment. I am aware of more areas of the country going into Tier 4 as from Boxing Day and the possibility of more nationwide lockdowns in the new year but to be honest I am just very tired of it all now. I think for my own mental health I just need a few days without it being the only thing that we hear about. While doing jobs today I have felt fine but without the distraction of things to do I was very aware of how anxious and panicky I was feeling and I think I just need to try and avoid too much news and being overloaded with the same thing over and over again.

Please take care and look after yourselves.

xx