where art collides philosoperontap

Snowing again. Walked to the shed at around eight thirty. Had to switch to a warmer jumper before setting off plus I’m wearing my mustard colour felt hat/fedora/whatever it’s called. Had switched the heating off before leaving on Friday afternoon which makes sense. Sgonna take a while to warm up again now.

The snow ain’t going to last. Not cold enough. Cold enough though. Two degrees according to the boffins at the Meteorological Office. Boffs. The heating is set to twenty one degrees. Half thinking of nipping back to the warmth of the kitchen for half an hour or so but we shall see.

Whilst we were watching a fairly tense Liverpool v Man U game last night played in atrocious conditions I caught up a bit on THG’s family tree. Others had done the work but we currently are back to 1605 in Scotland. Och aye. The Fletcher side of her family only made it to Liverpool at the end of the eighteenth century. Presumably for work. He was a Fletcher but the move wouldn’t have been to make arrows. Unlikely anyway.

…

The shed has warmed up. Twas fair cawd nay freezin when I got there this morning. Getting back into the swing I have tidied it up a bit and started shredding the pile of waste paper that’s been there for weeks if not months. The pile in the in/filing tray still needs addressing. I’ll leave the shredder in place for a bit as I’m sure I’ll get the motivation to run through that at some time today.

Biggest conundrum right now is where I’ve put my leatherman multitool. I need to open the box with the new neon sign but I’ve put it down “somewhere safe”. Used a broken Stanley multitool I came across when looking for the Leatherman and can confirm the sign is working. Needs properly hanging it its final resting (glowing?)  place now.

As part of the tidying I’ve decided to chuck the old acoustic guitar that’s been hanging around forever. Bought it maybe 15+ years ago from the British Heart Foundation shop in Fareham when we were down visiting an ISP we bought. Embarrassingly I’ve forgotten the name. We acquired at least eight in my time. It’ll come to me.

The banjo is also going. It was a thirtieth birthday present to meself (from THG) but whilst I could play it the chord shapes were different to those on the guitar so I always found it easier to just pick up the geetar instead. 

Finally the telescope needs a decision on its future. Picked up cheap somewhere but we never really used it. 

I also need to decide on a book strategy for the shed. Currently the bookcase is packed with miscellaneous blokey stuff. How to tie knots, wood identification, History of railway signalling. Good stuff like that. I am however thinking I should consolidate all my family history stuff in the shed for ease of access. No rush to decide when things move at the pace of tref.

Excellent afternoon at the rugby. Extremely boozy day out. Lincoln got walloped. Good time was had by all though the home players would probs (defo) have preferred a different outcome. Ended the afternoon singing rugby songs on our table in the corner. Great culture. Got a lift home with Adie and Zara. Thanks Zara.

Delighted to see THG home from da smoke. Doubt I was much company.

Light dusting of snow overnight but it will soon be gone. We are back to the usual miserable wet and not quite cold enough to freeze weather.

It is now nine ey em. Breakfast over and in the snug with a cuppa enjoying the company of THG before she jumps into action to get ready for church. I will not be jumping into action. Tref’s the name, easing into the morning is my game.

The last day of the Christmas holidays. Tomorrow the roads will be busy again. Mummies and daddies dropping little darlings off at school before heading to spin their grindstones. Slowly at first no doubt but it won’t be long before they’ve forgotten they ever had a holiday.

Rain now lashing down. At least sounds like that on the conservatory roof. When we built the conservatory we had the choice of polycarbonate or glass roof. Cost apart, the difference seemed to be that polycarbonate would be slightly cooler at the height of summer (??) versus noisier when it rained. There wasn’t a right answer and we went for slightly cooler in summer. That’s why I can hear the rain despite being three rooms away. When it it really pelting it down I quite like sitting in the conservatory.

It isn’t that bad now. Just miserable. A double decker bus just raced by. It’s all apnin.

Had a funny dream last night. I seemed to be sat on a train/bus/plane/wasn’t obvious when someone I knew on Facebook, no idea who now that I’ve woken up, discussed a project relating to grapes and wine. Can’t even remember what the project was. I do remember looking him up on Facebook at the time and sending a message as a placeholder. Needless to say there is no message there this morning. Strange innit. Armchair psychiatrists speak now or forever hold your peace.

Twelfth night today btw. If you haven’t already done so, get those decs down. Well actually it’s up to you. I’m (almost certainly) not your dad but the notion is out there. You can’t cling on to the Christmas holidays forever. Move on. It’ll soon be Easter. It’ll soon be summer for goodness sake.

…

Interesting to see how things change in life. At Waitrose I bought some milk and a pack of chestnut mushrooms for tomorrow night’s risotto. Also got some coal, kindling and logs. We have plenty of wood for kindling and logs but it is v wet out there and it all needs chopping to size so took the easy way out.

At Waitrose I let a young woman go before me. Her trolley was rammed full of provisions that looked as if they were for a young family. Mine was as previously mentioned. I pushed my trolley, not without difficulty (arthritis) to our Peugeot 208. THG’s Peugeot 208. She unloaded her stash into a SUV type of family car. New looking car and unlikely to have been cheap. That car probably cost a fair chunk of their monthly budget.

At home I unloaded the boot and am about to start setting the fire using a copy of the Weekend FT as a starter, brought home from the Soho hotel we stayed in before Christmas. The hotel stay cost roughly a third of what we paid for THGs car.

Not totes sure what point I am trying make here other than I found the contrast between her shop/car and ours interesting. I’m not sure I’m about cars n possessions, although I have plenty (no car). We don’t need two cars, living in town as we do.

Fire now lit and roaring away in the grate. Who needs the telly when you have an open fire. Mind you the fireplace doesn’t stream Liverpool v Man U at fourth thirty this af. V relaxing though.

Outside the snow continues to turn into slush. The Waitrose car park was v wet underfoot. The result was no queue in the caff for a coff. Folk clearly preferring to stay indoors, or go to church. THG said there was a good crowd in attendance.

Did you know it’s a Saturday. For some time yesterday felt like Saturday but at some point in the afternoon the realisation came that it wasn’t. Today doesn’t particularly feel Saturday like yet but there again I am still in bed listening to the wireless.

The name of the game today is rugby. Lincoln 1st XV v Hinkley 2nds. Whilst the game is I’m sure important, isn’t every rugby match, the main attraction is the lunch beforehand. Crowd of us meeting for beef stew and dumplings with a pint or two of Guinness.

There are two issues with that paragraph. One is whether the game goes ahead. The weather is v cold and it is touch and go as to whether the pitch will be frozen and consequently the match postponed. Happens a lot at this time of year. As a former player having the game called off used to be a bit of a result when it was v cold. Safety considerations are obvs the main reason but for players it is not nice running around with a ball in that weather.

The other issue is the countrywide shortage of Guinness. The rugby club will of course

have alternatives but on such occasions Guinness seems to fit the bill. 

Will find out later this morning after a pitch (and barrel) inspection. Fingers crossed eh? My gut feel is we will be ok, touch wood, rabbits foot and any other good luck charm that may happen to be to hand. 

Other parts of the country seem to have worse weather. Being in the flatlands of the east we tend to get less “weather” but it does get cold, especially when the wind blows across the North Sea from Siberia or down from the arctic circle. Wrap up warm folks or stay inside in front of the fire, or both.

I must now force meself out of bed to stick some bacon on. A hot breakfast is essential on a day like this.

THG is in London and must brave the train network to come home later this afternoon. Trains don’t like weather.

Ciao bebes 

…

In other news the continuation of my drop in status amongst the travelling elite continues, if that’s the right way of putting it. With BA I’ve gone from Gold – Silver – Bronze in three years and Hilton has just dropped me from Diamond to Silver in one go. I knew it was coming. 

It doesn’t matter anymore. It may have mattered when I was doing a lot of business travel. Use of the lounge, priority boarding, upgrades, that sort of thing makes it easier to travel. I have very few trips planned for 2025.

When we went on Ajax & Coops’ 60th birthday weekend to Moscow I got us all checked in at the First wing in LHR T5. Coops and I went through the fast track security to the first class lounge and drank champagne. Then when we got to the hotel everyone got an upgrade to the exec floor with lounge access which saved a fortune on booze before going out for the evening. Happy hour (2 hours) free drinks versus ten quid a pint or similar in the hotel bar! Plus I got a load of points for booking all the rooms. Happy days. No going to Russia anymore so I don’t need the travel benefits.

Sausage (sausage) sarnie for breakfast. Up earlyish as I need to drop THG off at the gym. The bangers (sausages) are sizzling away as I write, perched on the end of the butcher’s block. Tis a freezing cold morning out. The car windscreen will need some defrosting before we set off.

Our last visitors leave today and THG sets off for da smoke to see a show with Hannah. Daresay they will also take in some shopping. Who wouldn’t? This is all best left to the experts. Not moi.

Dunno if you’ve ever been shopping on a high street, be it Oxford Street or where you live, but it is nigh on impossible to walk in a straight line. There are so many people! What’s that all about? Where’s the enjoyment? Queuing up for the instore caff and then trying to find a free table! Nah!

I did go to John Lewis in Liverpool with THG last autumn. Only because it was next door to the hotel. She was already instore and I met her there to “do” lunch. 

My lack of understanding of the system really came to the fore. THG had a voucher for a free hot drink (beverage). Our paths diverged. Me for the sandwich section and she for a bowl of soup (soup). Something like that anyway. I paid for my sandwich at a different till. No hot drink voucher! She waved at me but I couldn’t understand what she was trying to tell me across the crowded cafe. 

I had a bottle of sparkling water anyway. We took advantage of the voucher after finishing the food so all was well. Like I said, I’m an amateur. Well I didn’t say that. I just alluded to it.

Didn’t buy anything in the shop. I don’t need anything and at the time didn’t know I “needed” a serrated grapefruit spoon which has since been acquired. I doubt whether John Lewis sells grapefruit spoons at £1.99 for two anyway. Had they sold such an item, which they likely do being John Lewis, price would not have been an issue as they are never knowingly undersold. 

I guess there are grapefruit spoons and then there are John Lewis grapefruit spoons. I would probably not have had to wait a month for the spoons to arrive from China had I sourced them instore which is their proposition innit.

When I bought the grapefruit spoons it wasn’t so much the price that attracted me. It was more the fact that I only needed one and most offers were for a set of six at a higher price (natch). The two for £1.99 therefore did it for me and I can now eat grapefruit in the comfortable knowledge that should I ever mislay one spoon I have a spare to fall back on. They aren’t particularly posh spoons but yanow what, it’s only a grapefruit spoon.

…

Observations from the drive to the gym:

Hard frost on the car windows at nine am. Had to get the scraper out. Yesterday I just let the engine run but today time was more of an issue. Car dashboard said it was minus one degrees out. Metoffice says it would be three degrees by ten o’clock.

Recycling day on Newport. Lots of packaging left over from Christmas put out including a flymo box. Presumably someone got what they asked for in their letter to Santa. I imagined it was a bit like buying your partner an iron or a new hoover. Could have been bought in the the sales I suppose. Won’t be using it for a few months. Not sure the sales are much cop these days.

Sun was very low and quite dazzling on the trip back. It has its work cut out if it is going to raise the temperature by four degrees by ten am.

At the traffic lights I saw someone I’m sure I knew but hadn’t seen for a long time. Aged a bit but I guess we all have. She was pushing a pushchair containing a small child. The things grandparents do! I assume it was a grandchild. I’d like to bet that the kid was wondering what on earth they were doing out on a freezing cold morning such as this. Me too. I’m nice and snug back home in the snug.

Got home and checked the thermometer in the greenhouse. Barely above zero. Needs sunshine to improve its effectiveness as a place for growing plants. The plants in the heated propagators seem to be doing ok though.

In case you are wondering, the words in brackets (parenthese) are the American words for the original English. Communication is my middle name 🙂 (actually it’s Trefor).. Up earlyish as I need to drop THG off at the gym. The bangers (sausages) are sizzling away as I write, perched on the end of the butcher’s block. Tis a freezing cold morning out. The car windscreen will need some defrosting before we set off.

Our last visitors leave today and THG sets off for da smoke to see a show with Hannah. Daresay they will also take in some shopping. Who wouldn’t? This is all best left to the experts. Not moi.

Dunno if you’ve ever been shopping on a high street, be it Oxford Street or where you live, but it is nigh on impossible to walk in a straight line. There are so many people! What’s that all about? Where’s the enjoyment? Queuing up for the instore caff and then trying to find a free table! Nah!

I did go to John Lewis in Liverpool with THG last autumn. Only because it was next door to the hotel. She was already instore and I met her there to “do” lunch. 

My lack of understanding of the system really came to the fore. THG had a voucher for a free hot drink (beverage). Our paths diverged. Me for the sandwich section and she for a bowl of soup (soup). Something like that anyway. I paid for my sandwich at a different till. No hot drink voucher! She waved at me but I couldn’t understand what she was trying to tell me across the crowded cafe. 

I had a bottle of sparkling water anyway. We took advantage of the voucher after finishing the food so all was well. Like I said, I’m an amateur. Well I didn’t say that. I just alluded to it.

Didn’t buy anything in the shop. I don’t need anything and at the time didn’t know I “needed” a serrated grapefruit spoon which has since been acquired. I doubt whether John Lewis sells grapefruit spoons at £1.99 for two anyway. Had they sold such an item, which they likely do being John Lewis, price would not have been an issue as they are never knowingly undersold. 

I guess there are grapefruit spoons and then there are John Lewis grapefruit spoons. I would probably not have had to wait a month for the spoons to arrive from China had I sourced them instore which is their proposition innit.

When I bought the grapefruit spoons it wasn’t so much the price that attracted me. It was more the fact that I only needed one and most offers were for a set of six at a higher price (natch). The two for £1.99 therefore did it for me and I can now eat grapefruit in the comfortable knowledge that should I ever mislay one spoon I have a spare to fall back on. They aren’t particularly posh spoons but yanow what, it’s only a grapefruit spoon.

…

Observations from the drive to the gym:

Hard frost on the car windows at nine am. Had to get the scraper out. Yesterday I just let the engine run but today time was more of an issue. Car dashboard said it was minus one degrees out. Metoffice says it would be three degrees by ten o’clock.

Recycling day on Newport. Lots of packaging left over from Christmas put out including a flymo box. Presumably someone got what they asked for in their letter to Santa. I imagined it was a bit like buying your partner an iron or a new hoover. Could have been bought in the the sales I suppose. Won’t be using it for a few months. Not sure the sales are much cop these days.

Sun was very low and quite dazzling on the trip back. It has its work cut out if it is going to raise the temperature by four degrees by ten am.

At the traffic lights I saw someone I’m sure I knew but hadn’t seen for a long time. Aged a bit but I guess we all have. She was pushing a pushchair containing a small child. The things grandparents do! I assume it was a grandchild. I’d like to bet that the kid was wondering what on earth they were doing out on a freezing cold morning such as this. Me too. I’m nice and snug back home in the snug.

Got home and checked the thermometer in the greenhouse. Barely above zero. Needs sunshine to improve its effectiveness as a place for growing plants. The plants in the heated propagators seem to be doing ok though.

In case you are wondering, the words in brackets (parenthese) are the American words for the original English. Communication is my middle name 🙂 (actually it’s Trefor).

At 0737 this morning THG declared it was time to get up and flung the curtains wide open. It made little difference to the light level in the room and I  continued to hibernate as most honest folk would deem sensible for this deepest midwintertime. 

Outside the temperature has plummeted. Yellow warnings of snow and ice are evident. We have a supply of fuel and still plenty of food in the larder and will see it through to easier times.

I’m glad I left the heating on in the shed and should be able to make it along the garden path if I wrap up warmly. My plan this morning is to restore the hatstand, removed to the house for additional coat hanging capacity over the festive period, to its rightful home int shed. I will take the opportunity to  clean out “hatstand corner” before putting it back. An overdue exercise. In fact that corner has never been touched.

The restoration of the hatstand will have the knock on effect of tidying the rest of the shed as the collected garments and tote bags that had made it their home are moved back into place from the floor under the spare desk where they were peremptorily dumped before the start of the yuletide holiday. A final act of the restoration to the normal state of affairs, were it not for the fact that tree is staying put until after the weekend. With this I am OK.

Right. Time to pause hibernation and join THG for breakfast. 

…

Fire is lit and blazing away in the front room. Just right for today’s weather conditions. It is a nice sunny day but bitterly cold. I’ve been reading my new book – SAS Daggers Drawn. Boys own stuff. I am a boy. The fire gives off a perfect heat for the size of the room. They knew what they were doing when they built the house in 1939 although at the time the windows were single glazed and metal framed so bloomin cold.

Dawns the year twenty twenty five. A time of hope and optimism. A year ahead that has not yet had the opportunity to disappoint. I predict big things. 

The shed, for one, is going to undergo a revamp. Nothing drastic but some of the posters that have adorned its walls, perhaps since the dawn of shed time are going to be replaced. Some are irreplaceable and are part of the fabric of tref but tref is an evolutionary being and as tref time moves on shift happens. Small touches that keep the shed alive and make the difference.

I’d like to make more of the shed. In my mind it is at once a place for discussion, drinking, sport, creativity, a destination, meeting place, at once a haven from the outside world and a place that influences and shapes the world around. Everything to all men.

My hip is going to undergo a revamp. The right one at least and we will see about the left when the right one is sorted.

We have a wedding in the family. Hannah is marrying George in September. 9 months of planning and looking forward to the big day.

…

Already a dramatic start to the year as a large tree fell onto the Dawkinses cars writing three of them off and blocking the road. Interesting to think that this sort of thing has been a regular occurrence in nature for millions of years without anyone noticing it happening.

…

All is calm in the Davies household. Was going to wait for a couple of visitors to get up before having breakfast but have now been informed that since they didn’t get to bed until 4am I should just crack on.

The decs are gradually coming down and being returned to their boxes ready for next year.

Just ordered A History of Wales, 1660-1815 by ED Evans. It was referred to at the end of the chapter on primary sources in The People of Seion and figured it was in the sweet spot for my continued research into the family tree. One of the primary sources referred to was The Religious Census of 1851 which coincidentally I took delivery of just before Christmas. Happy days.

THG mentioned the ED Evans was v niche but I replied that it wasn’t nearly as niche as The Welsh Methodist Society: The Early Societies in South-west Wales 1737-1750 which as you can imagine was an interesting read.

Being of Baptist extraction I’m not specifically interested in the Methodists. Just with the general dissatisfaction in the way the established church was run and how it led to the formation of dissenting alternatives, which is where I come in.

Had a couple of breakthroughs yesterday in the ole research. I’ve been trying to trace the footsteps of various ancestors using the Census but google provides no data on some of the places they lived. The answer is old OS maps. In the nineteenth century they specifically named farms and mills. After some poring over different maps and correlating what I’ve found with the names of surrounding properties in the census I’ve been able to identify some of the places. Even got modern street view images of the name of the place at the farm gate. Before registering the usefulness of old maps I was virtually “walking” the roads in areas hoping to find clues as to place names.

I found one former mill that is in the census as Glandwr but on the map as Lan Dwr. A streetview zoom showed a stone embedded in the otherwise whitewashed wall with LD1776 on it. Glandwr and LD1776 are without doubt the same place.

Some places still remain hidden, I suspect no longer there, as might be the case with the “woollen factory” building in the map shown. I think places like this will involve actual visits and walking the ground which will have to wait until after the hip op. Still, it’s progress. I’m planning to spend a week touring all these locations sometime in 2025.

Anyway enough of this talk about old things. Today is New Year’s Eve and will involve looking ahead to new things. Hope you have a good one.

I feel a period of monastic austerity approaching. After the rampant hedonism and over consumption of December the body, as is normal for this time of year, is saying no, Tref, enough is enough. It will help that all the nice Quality Street chocs were eaten some time ago and I’m about out of tonic water making the surprise presence of gin left in the bottle quite superfluous.

I have a pile of Michael Mosley Fast 800 recipe books on the desk beside me and will shortly be compiling some menus for consumption over the next week or two. There are some outliers. We are off out on the lash early doors New Years Eve and then there’s the lunch at the rugby club on Saturday but other than that there is a clear run of healthy eating until my sister Sue’s birthday bash on the weekend of the 11th Jan.

In the meantime I have a proposition to make. A prize giveaway. The first person to post a genuine photo of Easter eggs in a supermarket either in my timeline or as a comment in this post will be the winner. You need to be honest to yourself. No digging out photos from last year please. I won’t be checking because I trust you but others might.

The prize is a fantastic pair of tropical trefbash tiki cans left over from the night plus some custom trefbash beermats that the club forgot to put out. These are v limited edition. No more will be printed, ever!

Thassit. I have menus to compile. Ciao bebes

It isn’t New Years Eve yet but the media is pushing out 2024 retrospectives. Maybe they use NYE to look ahead. I did start writing some stuff about the highlights of 2024 but decided not to publish. You will have seen them here as they happened anyway. Time to move on and look forward to an exciting 2025.

The biggest change I always need to get my brain around is the fact that it will be 2025 not 2024. An irreversible change. I guess we could extend 2024 to having an infinite number of days but that would truly mess things up. 

Think of calendars already printed and online. The chaos would be tremendous. We would need to invent new months. The change would need to be planned well ahead of time and would inevitably cause rows as people would have different opinions on the subject. Worse even than Brexshit.

On balance I think my vote goes to keeping the system as it is and just changing the number to 2025. It’s a good enough number anyway. I’ll leave it at that.

Feast of the Holy Innocents today. This is one of the most popular and entertaining Christmas traditions in Spain. December 28 is the day when everyone is allowed to play practical jokes and when it is customary to buy prank items at Christmas markets like the one in the Plaza Mayor in Madrid. Not here. Anyway Lincoln council pulled the plug on the Christmas market, miserable gits.

The spiel about Spain came from the country’s official tourist website. Came up number one in search results. A bit strange. All the other sites majored on King Herod massacring babies which is v gory but highly relevant. I think I prefer the Spanish attitude to the day.

No feasting here. Don’t think it’s appropriate plus we’ve had enough food to last us a while. We can now go into hibernation in the happy knowledge that we have enough bodily reserves to last until the snows start to melt.

Coincidentally, ish, it’s the pope doing thought for the day on’t wireless. I guess they line up their top attractions over the festive season. Trying to take advantage of the mood of the moment by fielding big hitters. I would. Get the message across while people are still receptive. Suitably boring delivery mind you with a voice over in English. Tuning out. All you need is love ❤️. 

I am downstairs in the snug. THG is in the kitchen having an early breakfast before doing the park run, fair play. Still a bit misty out there but as long as you can see the person in front of you you should make it around the circuit.

After yesterday’s start the process of emptying the house of offspring continues today as another leaves for home. This time Berlin. In my mind it will be cold there with icy winds blowing across from the east. Shutting my eyes I can hear the sound of jackboots ringing out across no mans land and a shout as someone is spotted trying to escape. 

Not like that anymore obvs. That’s just an influence from a childhood growing up during the cold war. The Spy Who Came In From The Cold. Stuff like that. When we moved to the Isle of Man dad, as a senior civil servant, was offered a place in the nuclear bunker there. Told em to stuff it. 

I remember one evening standing in our front garden hearing the wail of a siren coming from Douglas three miles away. Dad and I looked at each other wondering whether that was the three minute warning (or however many minutes it was supposed to be). Turned out to be the signal for the Douglas lifeboat to go out. 

We don’t want to get back to those days do we? Nostalgia doesn’t apply.

Today I start to throttle back on the feasting, as I said. This does have to be a controlled throttling back. You can’t just go from full on feasting to totes austerity and dieting in one day. It would be like falling off a cliff. There are some planned feasts that will be difficult to avoid. New Year’s Eve for one plus the lunch at the rugby club on 4th Jan. 

I guess I could drive to the rugby club but the temptations will be great and manifold and peer group pressure needs adding into the mix. Also the last time I drove to watch the rugby I got done for speeding on Bunkers Hill. 35mph. Bar stewards. 

Not really a New Years Eve fan but our pals get together mid pm in the White Hart to avoid the rush and have a meal at six. Means we can be home in plenty of time for an early night and avoid the false bonhomie that comes out every year on that evening. Should be in bed by ten as usual. Phone will be on silent so don’t bother ringing. Bah humbug.

St John The Evangelist’s big day d’aujourd’hui. I only know because last year I was watching some programme about how they celebrated Christmas in mediaeval times and a number of saints were feasted so to speak. Looked em up and inserted the dates in my calendar in perpetuity. Long after I am gone there will be calendar reminders to that effect (those effects?).

Doubt whether St John spoke French. Otherwise he might have been a St Jean which he aint, afaik. Might be in France I suppose. They have a mind of their own. Only apostle not to be martyred apaz. Side stepped that one. Probs saw it coming before the others and arranged to be out at the shops or similar when the Roman soldiers rocked up at the gaff where they were all staying. Just a lucky happenstance.

Tonight we will be celebrating ole St John’s feast with a bit of salad. Had enough big meals to do me at least until tomorrow 🙂 We do have a lot of stuff to eat up. Mind you I am considering having a full English to break the fast. Believe it or not I’ve avoided one up until now over this holiday period. Even Christmas Day. See how I feel in thirty mins or so. No rush. Defo avin half a grapefruit as well. Use my new grapefruit spoon innit.

Some FB pals (well one) has expressed a certain level of ignorance about the aforementioned John. I don’t feel inclined to help them out when they can easily google it, which is what I did in the first place. There’s a lot of stuff out there on tinterweb about Johnny boy, as you might imagine. Two thousand years of posting including some of his own stuff. I’m sure I found somewhere that his feast involves wine although I can’t seem to lay my hands on the source this morning. We still have a bottle or two of wine left so might raise a glass to the lad this evening. I’m sure there will be other takers if the suggestion is put to the table.

A miserable foggy day out. Despite this it would be worth going out for a walk were it not for the fact that I’m somewhat crippled right now and having a new hip in February. Just six weeks or so to wait. Over 100k people get it done in the uk every year (annually) apaz. That’s a lorra people. Since announcing the fact it’s amazing how many people have said they’ve had it done or they know someone who has. Enough of this hip talk.

I doubt St John ever encountered fog. Holy land is a bit warmer than the UK. Also references to snow are down to good King Wenceslas who as far as I am aware lived nowhere near the Middle East (Mid East if you are from across the pond). Don’t get much snow ere either. Do get fog though, as you know. In those days they didn’t have such a thing as replacement hips either. They wouldn’t have needed one anyway as JC and the gang were around to apply healing hands to any deserving cripple they came across.

Strange to think that the market for replacement hips, which is worth at least one and a half billion squid a year in the UK based on fifteen grand a pop, would not exist had there still been people around able to perform miracles. The art seems to have died out after the middle ages although the Catholic Church does still occasionally churn out a saint. I’m a bit sceptical of these newbie saints meself. Feels as if the church feels obliged to keep the tradition alive. They should be able to move on 🙂 .

As a Davies I am named after St David. In my part of the world (well in Carmarthenshire where my ancestors trod the sod) twenty five percent of the populace are Davieses. In the days before surnames sons were oft named after St David as might have been their fathers before. So David ap (son of) David morphed into David Davies’. Would more likely have been Dewi or Dafydd in Sir Gaerfyrddin where few people spoke the invasive English language that the church felt obliged to use to write down names.

I don’t feel particularly saintly otherwise I’d have fixed the hip meself. I can however fix breakfast which is what I am going to do now. Ciao amigos.

Kid 3 sets off for Caadiff today to spend time with his gf Lucy’s family. She is a lovely girl.

Lying in bed pondering the fact that I am still full from yesterday’s lunch and having had no supper. Didn’t even make the cheese course. Today’s repeat dinner has been put back until this evening. Toast and a bit of grapefruit for brekkie methinks. All subject to approval from the assembled masses who are all also still in bed. 

Gotta write out a birthday card for the heir. Momentous Christmas that was. THG went in to labour during the evening on Christmas Day. I had cooked lunch and subsequently fallen asleep on the sofa. When I woke up all the dishes had been washed, the house tidied and the process begun. 

Not sure we got much kip that night. Spent it noting times of contractions on a piece of paper by the bed.

By breakfast it was time to take her in to the hospital maternity wing which was just down the road from us. The rest is history.

Had that piece of paper with timings in the drawer of the bedside table for years but it is now lost. Birrofashame but not a biggie.

…

Now downstairs the kitchen is a hive of activity but no sign of any offspring. This is very much in contrast to the time when they were kids, particularly on Christmas Day itself. We’ve never got out of the habit of getting up early since then. It isn’t particularly early I guess. 8.30. Who knows what time the household will surface.

Today will likely be a day of sport. Armchair sport. Gone are the days of rocking up for the annual President v Chairman’s XV at the rugby club with a bottle of port at half time and a few pints afterwards before walking home to a repeat Christmas dinner. Was always a great atmosphere in the clubhouse for that game. The rugby club moved to Nettleham a few years ago anyway. No longer a walk.

Christmas Eve. I realise it’s stating the bleeding obvious but I wanted to get it out there. Reinforce the point, sort of thing. Get it off my chest. Not that I’ve been suppressing it and now I’ve said it feel an enormous sense of release. You will just have to accept it for what it is. Christmas Eve.

For some there will be the realisation that omg they haven’t bought the present yet. Not here son, not here (blows on fingernails and rubs against shirt). There have been ‘incidents’ in the past like the year we agreed not to buy each other presents but THG sneakily got me one but I hadn’t got her one. Aaaagh. We stopped that nonsense and get each other prezzies.

Doesn’t mean to say you can’t find that little extra. Sgonna depend to some extent on the traffic sitch. There has been a constant flow of cars into town. Must be chaos down there. Don’t like going downtown at the best of times. Was bad enough going to Waitrose yesterday.

There will almost certainly be something left until the last minute so that it stays fresh for tomorrow. Croissants for example. I realise they should ideally be eaten on the day of purchase but they are easily refreshed in the oven. More milk. There are seven of us in the house so the milk levels go down a lot more quickly than usual. Bound to be other stuff I’ve missed.

The veg prep mostly gets done today. That’s not my department although I am charged with doing the roast potatoes as I am the master of that particular dish. I don’t peel the spuds though.

I am also responsible for ensuring the meat arrives at the table on time and perfectly cooked. For the beef that means pink in the middle. No shoe leather in this house mate. There will be two different gravies: beef and turkey.

Moved to the laptop now. A much more productive instrument for writing.

The last minute shopping list at the moment looks like this:

Milk
Croissants and pan au choc
Sourdough
Birthday card for Tom (he isn’t on Facebook so I’m safe to discuss here)
Coffee grounds
Cocoa powder

If I add anything else I’ll let you know, obvs. Natch.

This afternoon follows a pattern. We typically end up in the pub for early doors but I’m going to make that call nearer the time. The kids will defo go. There will be some pressure on me to do the same but not sure I want to this year. December has been such a full on partying month and we still have to get through Christmas Day and The Feast of St Stephen. Then it’ll be the Feast of St John the Evangelist, Feast of the Holy Innocents, Commemoration of St. Thomas Becket. A couple of days break that incorporates New Year’s Eve so not really much of a break before we pile into the Feast of the Circumcision and the Forefeast of the Theophany (Epiphany). Wonder what they traditionally do on the Feast of the Circumcision? Saturday 4th Jan is lunch before the game at the rugby club and then the Sunday is Twelfth Night which is really when the serious austerity and dieting begins.

In the meantime I have to nip to the shops. Milk doesn’t just appear in the fridge by itself yanow.

Oh and Happy Christmas everyone. I hope all your dreams will come true and that you don’t forget me in your will 🙂

Meat run this morning. Hard to know when to go. There is going to be a queue. Ribs of beef, turkey breast or crown, back and streaky bacon and spicy Lincolnshire farmhouse sausages. Ham maybe. I like to cook a ham but we will already have a lot of food in. See how it goes.

Might go before breakfast. 

…

Meat run lasted the 3 mins it took to drive there and 3 mins back. Mahoosive queue around the corner and down the road towards the Dog and Duck and nowhere to park. I’ll go back later when I’ll be more amenable to queuing.

At home, pancakes are being prepared in the kitchen. Our John is short order chef for the day. I have requested a side of streaky bacon with mine. Maple syrup and berries. Fair play to him.

…

I must say the pancakes were great. A fresh pot of tea is now a brewing. The kitchen is getting busier. Busyness. Busy busy busy. 

…

At some stage I’m going to have to psych meself up to going to the butchers again. I’m afraid I’ll just have to queue. Finding a parking spot is more of an issue. Also have stuffing to finish off. Like to get some of these jobs done well in advance. Mind you tomorrow is Christmas Eve so it isn’t that far in advance now.

…

Meat queue from arriving to getting back in car was 35 mins. Could have been worse. They had at least ten people working in the butchers. Back home we kissed goodbye to my sister Sue who was up for the Morning Star carol session and I set to making the stuffing. 

I have to say the stuffing is looking great: one rubbishy white loaf chopped into small bits, a few white onions ditto, chopped dried apricots, fresh sage, rosemary and thyme, chopped smoked back and unsmoked streaky bacon (whatever we had handy) and a wodge of butter chopped into small chunks. Forgot to put pepper in bit it won’t matter. Can still add some on the day.

We are mainly having beef and the turkey is just a smallish bit of breast for those who look upon it as traditional on the day so there is nothing to stuff. However we all like stuffing and I imagine everyone will have a slice of turkey to justify it.

Normally I make the pigs in blankets myself but the packs of premade ones in Fosters looked good so I bought a couple and cut down on the sausage and streaky bacon order (not much).

So today I have a titchy bit of shopping to do for that someone special but otherwise fairly chilled afternoon ahead of me. Festivities are mostly over and from our on it is all about family. Those of them who aren’t out on the lash with their old school chums anyway which could be a majority 🙂 It is no different to when I used to go home to the Isle of Man at Christmas. Everyone would be back so you would be out most nights in Douglas, or The Crosby which was the nearest pub to our house a mile and a half walk away.

Coming home from The Crosby was always an interesting experience. The first part was along the main road/TT Course but the second half was up a back lane with no lights. The only way of not veering off the road in the pitch darkness was to walk up the middle where you could feel the camber on either side. As you got nearer the entrance to Ballagarey Road lights started to appear so it was all ok from there on.

…

My god. Waitrose. Cars queueing to get in, mainly because of having to wait for other cars to reverse out n stuff like that. I got the last trolley and one of the few remaining scanners. Did get everything I needed this pm but the queue for the self scanner checkout was halfway down aisle 5!! Apaz it was worse if you didn’t do self scan.

Reminds me of the queues for NYE at the millennium. In those days scanners were new. The queues at the checkout stretched down two aisle halves for each till. In other words to the back of the shop. There were no queues for the self scanners. Defo made me a bit smug.

Anyways back to an empty house and some chill time. No wait I need to check we have fondue fuel!

The big day has arrived. Another big day. There are lots of them. This big day is the annual Morning Star carol session. A not to be missed banger where we sing all my fave carols accompanied by lots of beer (warm Guinness) and mince pies. 

Jacket potahtoes flunch today. Keeping it simple. Choice of toppings. Quite like beans meself though it does depend on the mood or the occasion. A jacket can form part of a dinner where something a little more savoury might be appropriate. A sauce of some sort. Gravy like. With a knob of butter. Anyway today it will be beans for me and I did hear others mention cheese and Coleslaw. I might even add a sausage. Living the dream. Then I won’t want much before heading to the Star. 

Now up and at it in da kitch. Our John is back from Berlin and also already up.

4th Sunday in advent today btw. I realise you already knew that. Probably lit your candle and  opened your advent calendar to retrieve the chocolate/whisky miniature/plastic scale model of the Virgin Mary. Is that a thing? For the devout perhaps. 

I’ve never had an advent calendar. I’m not looking for sympathy. Not sure it was a thing when I was a kid. I have had chocolate and a whisky miniature. Not when I was a kid. Obvs. The whisky that is. Actually our one annual tipple as a kid was a bottle of Babycham each on Christmas Day and maybe also Boxing Day. Disgusting stuff. Tried it a few years ago for old times sake.

There are noises off. Upstairs. Not sure this is just THG and Berliner John. I’ll nip upstairs in a bit. To check.

So this morning whilst THG is at her usual devotions in church, made extra special by the advent thing, I will be out and about sourcing more provisions and maybe even a small gift for that special someone. We keep thinking of new things to add to the shopping list. Hoping they will have had a new delivery of Epoisses.

My 2024 shopping list is drawing to a close. In January I will start a new one entitled Tref’s Shopping List 2025. Obvious really. You might be able to guess the name of the 2024 list. I never delete things off the list. Just add new dates and line items. It doesn’t represent a comprehensive guide to what I’ve bought over the year as things often appear in the trolley that aren’t on the list but it is part of my series of historical documents. Ditto Tref’s Jobslist 2024 etc. You might have to wait until I am dead and gone before gaining access but that is simply the way of things.

Anyway see ya at the Morning Star later, maybs. Ciao amigos.

Today’s banging tune is at the request of Guy Osborne. I do try to accommodate requests wherever possible.

We wish you a merry Christmas x3
And a happy new year!

Good tidings we bring to you and your kin;
We wish you a merry Christmas and a happy new year.

Now bring us a figgy pudding x3
And bring it us here!

Oh we won’t go until we’ve got some x3
So give it us here!

Oh we all like figgy pudding x 3
So bring it out here!

…

At ten fifteen this morning, on the 4th Sunday of advent (as you know) Waitrose was totes chaos. I left the main wine shop until tomorrow where they will hopefully have had another delivery. Ditto epoisses. The lady behind the deli counter said she had ordered some but it hadn’t arrived yet. Bought some brie as a backup.

Home by elevenish. That’s enough gadding about for now. The house is a hive of activity.

…

Back after another great carol session at the Morning Star. Biggest crowd we’ve ever had. Some guy said he’d come from Boston because he had heard how good it was 🙂 V satisfying. It was quite emotional really especially towards the end when everyone stood up to sing O Come All Ye Faithful and Hark The Herald Angels Sing. Two absolutely banging tunes.

Thassit now for public engagements for the year 🙂 Hereon it is all about family although the family was there tonight. The lads have shot off drinking in the Bail or simlar. The great thing is that I am pretty sure the kids will continue the carol singing tradition long after THG and I are gone. They all make sure they are home for it. Very satisfying.

Home now to a warm house. Might have a nightcap in a bit. Once I’ve finished left handed typing this post. I’m sprawled on a sofa in the front room. There are sounds of conversation emanating from the snug but I can’t quite hear what is being said.

If you were there, thanks for coming. If you didn’t make it you missed a great night. The cold shouldn’t put you off.