Culture

Bike, though not a very successful stint - Archie decided to stand right next to my pedals, every now and again standing up on his hind legs trying to stop me. I obliged after half an hour.

He went out with Elizabeth about midday, and I took a spurt of energy and helped JR with the decorations. JR, still not feeling too well, and getting quite p***ed off, got up to supervise nail hammering. There is now a rather large, but fabulous, greenery thingie (a sort of horizontal Christmas tree) on and around the mantelpiece. What got her up suddenly was the sudden bright idea of using an old set of LED lights through the greenery. Perfect.

I deemed the weather ideal for visiting the photographic exhibition at the City Art Gallery - not raining, but not lovely enough to want to go somewhere. And so something unusual happened - I went into town while JR stayed on the sofa! I can’t remember if that ever happened before. I set JR up with a film on Netflix and a cup of hot lemon.

The exhibition was quite interesting, a few prints had red stickers on, and I might have bought the one of a baby in one of those huge big old prams parked outside a shop, as was the custom in those innocent days. But the £400 price tag was a bit high...

Town was mobbed. Every pub, cafe, restaurant was bulging at the seams. I walked through the gardens, opposite the 'Winter Wonderland' hoping to get a good shot. Nope. I then had to negotiate the CROWDS to get out of the place. Wall-to-wall people. If you fell, you'd be trampled underfoot. I wouldn’t think it'd be a pleasant (or safe) place to bring a child.

I was home before the end of the film, with the requested Bounty Bar...