Today has been filled with thwarting annoyances interspersed with minor successes, so pretty much a mortadella of a day. It started badly when, having resolved to do my physio exercises, the equipment had gone a-missing. Cue an hour of cursing, door slamming and generally prowling around like an avenging angel. Thankfully, the aforesaid items turned up behind the bedroom curtains before I exploded. A long, if a bit lame, walk around the riverside followed and did blow away most of the ill-temper (though it did little for the dodgy hip). Anyway, progress stands as follows:
- Mince pies consumed – none as yet but, again, the evening is young. I do also have designs on an amaretti biscuit..
- Christmas jumpers knitted – Nothing so far but I have good intentions, the night is young and I think there are a few murders yet to go.
- cards written – none, but `I have written ten Christmas letters to go with the various hampers and packages I have yet to fill (some, to be fair, say little more than “here is your stuff, merry Christmas”). Keith has declared that “tomorrow is the day”. Could be…to quote Hong Kong Phooey
- Presents – hampers still unfilled, but I decanted the hedgerow vodka into bottles and made up some noodle pesto, so there is that.
- bulbs planted – none – by the time we limped back from the river the moment had very much passed
- pilates exercises completed – a few, but to be honest my heart wasn’t in it.
- Christmas stories written for small boys – one. It rather crystallised on the river walk. One of the day’s small successes (I think).
Down by the river the moles (or one tremendously fit mole?) are out in force. Lyra can’t fathom why the usual walk is full of bumps. The mystery black and white bird universally known (to me and mine) as the Coldstream penguin is back by the river. I had largely convinced myself it was a tufted duck but actually, the beak is too white and it’s skinnier than that. I remain completely stumped, all suggestions welcome. And now I am closing my laptop in the hope of getting a fair isle stripe in before bed. And an amaretti biscuit….
Quiz question and answers below the pics:
15: Who is the quirky policeman originally from Kerry who features in Ciamh McGarry’s Dublin Novels
| 14: Which UK AI entrepreneur recently shared a Nobel prize for Chemistry? | Professor Demis Hassabis has won a share of the Nobel Prize for Chemistry for work on proteins, the building blocks of life. Prof Hassabis, 48, co-founded the artificial intelligence (AI) company that became Google DeepMind. (I ran across him once on a fund raise, I think I managed to irritate him in the way only a lawyer can….) |