Season's Greetings

No, BlipFriends - not yet: I shall save up my online greetings till the season of Christmas is upon us, that being the beauty of operating a computer and having instant communications at your fingertips. No, this refers - partly because I only had one brief, photogenic moment today, and admittedly this was not it but I thought you'd be tired of the grey Firth - this refers to the cards in my photo, which I was opening in a brief moment before scurrying out to go to Pilates. (In the event, I arrived on the right side of the road just as my friend's car came over the brow of the hill, thus avoiding the Curse of the Damp Leggings...)

But what I wanted to say is how happy receiving these cards makes me. They are all from people I don't stay in regular contact with - someone I met on a Cursillo weekend, where lasting connections are often forged; Himself's former singing teacher; Dunoon friends we rarely bump into. News from one of a hip replacement which has transformed her life, from another of becoming a grandma; all indicating by this annual contact that they are still alive, still well, still remembering us. That never changes, and the contact is maintained and the memories preserved despite our never meeting online or sharing email addresses. Other friends - some that we see on a regular basis - have made beautiful cards, and we are touched by the effort that has gone into this lovely thing from people we care about. It makes such a change from the catalogues and bills which form our usual post in the morning, and such a change from the emails that increasingly fill up my inbox, and I'm in danger of sounding like a Luddite. Ah well.

I seem to have scampered around a lot today - Pilates was supposed to be less taxing than last week, but there were some sneaky wee moves slipped into the lesson that had us grunting, again. I put a loaf in the machine when I got home, so that we have some bread for breakfast. I had to go to the surgery to discuss my blood sugar levels - this made much less disagreeable by the nurse, who is a former pupil with whom I get on very well: we make each other giggle. Then it was home for a parcel and off to walk to the Post Office, mercifully better staffed today with three windows in operation so that I was only there five minutes. When I got home I thought of Blipper Sally and marzipanned my Christmas cake - I made rather a cod of it, partly because the shop had sold me a slightly smaller block of marzipan than usual, while the cake is the size it always is. (In answer to any scathing comment: yes, I once made my own marzipan, but life is verily too short.) When that was finished I made my cranberry sauce and put the two jars in the fridge. And I had a phone chat with my sister.

Then it was switch off time, time to watch Vigil (I'm really enjoying it), time to fall somnolent after the news, time not to answer the phone. 

Why do people leave phoning till after 9pm?