Christmas Shopping

In the Victorian Quarter in Leeds

First, yesterday's caption competition delivered some wonderful responses. You really are such a clever and funny lot of people. I had to enlist the help of No.2 son in order to choose a winner, but the quality was so good that I'm going to put three of you on the podium.

1st: Ripitup with "In the hood or under the hat"?

2nd: The minimalist i with "What do you mean, you just got a text"?

3rd: Neoreoscar with "You don't pay that kind of attention to my melons".

Possibly the funniest responses (thank you PaulFS) didn't quite fit the stipulated rules.

I'm not very good at Christmas Shopping. I dread it every year and tend to put it off until the last minute. I came completely unstuck one year when I went into Leeds on the afternoon of Christmas Eve, thinking that it would be nice and quiet with everyone having bought their gifts already. Well, that was true enough. It was very quiet indeed, mainly because most of the shops had closed already! So, with plenty of time to spare this year I caught the train into Leeds on another miserably wet day. Perhaps because of the foul weather the shops were not quite as crowded as I expected them to be and it didn't hurt too much. All gifts either functional or educational and no crap. My boys are just going to love reading that!!

Blipping late due to having indulged in the Strictly final tonight. I quite unashamedly declare that this is the very best show on television. Everything (except for BF, but you can get away with anything when you're a national treasure!) is so incredibly slick. It's sometimes hard to credit that this is broadcast live. Every single person involved should be applauded. The talent of the three finalists was breathtaking. Any of them would have been a worthy winner, but is it fair to suspect that Louis Smith won because of a predominantly female vote? One cannot quibble. He was amazing. I wouldn't be at all surprised to see him turning professional.

So, a day of shopping and popular television. I could start getting worried about myself!