Crown and Sceptre at dusk

I've had a deeply relaxing day. Started with making breakfast and accidentally slicing my finger with a knife (not relaxing, blood on the walks...) then after a bath and changing the bedding (blood on the duvet cover, luckily it's a dark colour) I settled down to watch a series of films on TV.

First up was Scrooge: a Christmas carol (1951) followed by It's a Wonderful Life. I'd never seen the whole film before! Glad I watched. During the many ad breaks I made brandy butter in the Kenwood (following on from the other night's ice cream making incident, the motor of the food processor appears to be working again, but I'm not going to push my luck).

As it was still light when the second film finished, I walked round the block to deliver a Christmas card, then up to the little park, Daisybank. As I sat on the swing for a moment, I realised what was missing from this Christmas (apart from money, heat, a postal service, and family): little children!
No nursery kids for me this year, no close friends with grandkids, no children to nanny. This seems strange, all of a sudden, though of course I left young children behind when I changed my.job in May. I also miss my friend GS today. She died in September, but Christmas always brings back memories.

As I walked around the cemetery (new and old sections) I saw families arriving by car to lay wreaths or lighted decorations on the graves of their loved ones. That's a custom around here. Dusk was falling. I hastened home on the path past the allotments, glad of my walking boots to protect against the mush of mud and fallen leaves.

The third film of the day was Chariots of Fire. Splendid.stuff! How can it be more than 40 years since it was even made? I think I heard that Vangelis, the composer of the iconic soundtrack died the other day. I hope it's not true. Steve watched the end of the film with me, then I had to go and have a little rest. I read my book (Klara and the Sun, by Kazuo Ishiguro), and Steve cooked dinner. We had our special Christmas ice cream after our main course. Delicious, even if I made it myself!

Now we are watching a drama about the poisoning of Litvinenko on catchup TV. Not very festive, but we've already had a snatch of Carols from King's.

Happy Christmas, everyone!