Thursday 31 December:

Didn’t go for a dawn walk today (despite the good weather)…
Decided on a(nother) lazy day instead – beginning with setting up my usual ‘end of year review’ blog post and then with a google/streetview sketch of Staithes, North Yorkshire (one of the places featured in M+W’s ‘Christmas Good Fishing’)… following usual morning coffee with Moira.
Read more of my ‘Shepherd’ book before cheeseboard lunch (of sorts).
I did some more (quite quick) sketching in the afternoon re-watching the ‘Marianne+Leonard’ film… occasionally scribbling ‘freeze-frame’ sketches… not particularly good, but good to be drawing people at least!
Evening telly: ‘Lindisfarne’ (villages on the coast series); Mark Lawson interview with Diana Rigg; and ‘Christmas Sewing Bee’.
Didn’t stay up to see the New Year in (boring old codgers that we are!)… and I’m actually conscious of feeling a little ‘down’ at the prospect of the Covid restrictions continuing for several months ahead (which, with Moira’s current sciatica/hip problems limiting her ability to walk any distance, feels incredibly restrictive)… and, of course, with all the uncertainty and with potential health implications for families and friends etc.
Image: dawn window reflections (Clifton façades) from Cumberland Basin (yesterday’s walk).

Wednesday 30 December:

Today is our 48^th Wedding Anniversary!
Beautiful, frosty morning… I went on one of my dawn walks (‘the long way around the harbour’ via Hotwells), but it was pretty treacherous at times. I didn’t fall over (although I felt if I could have done so at any time!)… but I was passed by LOTS of runners who, strangely, didn’t seem to be having ANY trouble speeding by!
Mark Hardy contacted me after seeing my facebook post about Eric+Anthea – which was good (and we duly exchanged further updating messages).
Moira and I had a lovely anniversary morning coffee (without any cards, presents or treats!), but reflected on how sad it was that we weren’t able to go out for lunch somewhere.
The number of Covid cases is continuing to rise and I suspect that the government will be introducing some additional, tighter measures later today (extra Tier4 areas? Even extra Tiers?)… we’ve remained in Tier3 – but for how long?
No Bloke’s Prayer this morning (Christmas break)… and spent part of the morning dealing with various domestic chores.
Finished ‘Bridget Jones’s Diary’ (enjoyable, again).
Watched ‘Singing In The Rain’ on catch-up (great dancing and Rain sequence… but otherwise slightly painful!).
Evening telly: yet more ‘Christmas Only Connect’ and ‘Christmas University Challenge’ (and, somewhat ridiculously, I watched the 'Christmas Gone Fishing' for the third time - AND it still made me smile!).
Image: From 30 December 1972 (we didn’t have a ‘proper’ photographer – only Ted!). 

Tuesday 29 December:

Yet another lazy-between-Christmas-and-New-Year day!
I decided to forego my early morning walk in favour of a bath and shampoo… and also to set aside time to write a note to Matthew regarding Eric+Anthea.
Moira went for a short, local walk in the sunshine (but had to limit the distance once more – but at least enjoyed the best of the weather, because it was raining by lunchtime).
I spent a large part of the remainder of the morning re-reading Helen Fielding’s ‘Bridget Jones’s Diary’ after a television documentary about Fielding herself and her ‘Bridget’ newspaper columns of the 1990s (I decided that ‘The Shepherd’s Life’ would make an excellent book to start 2021).
In the afternoon, we watched the 1996 film ‘Emma’.
Evening telly: ‘Christmas Only Connect’ and ‘Christmas University Challenge’ (not particularly compelling)… we avoided a programme (the start of a new series!) entitled: “Celebrity: A 21^st Century Story” (my worst nightmare).
Image: Eric and Anthea (an image I 'stole' from Eric's facebook profile!). 

Monday 28 December:

Bank Holiday… and yet every day post-Christmas always feels like a Sunday!
Went for my usual dawn harbourside walk… overcast and very cold (quite a few oarsmen out on the water).
Banksy’s ‘earring lady’ has had her mask repositioned already!
Moira and I had our usual morning coffee catch-up (which obviously included reflecting on Alice and Dave).
Another lazy day… I did some sketching (sitting on the sofa) and also some reading (‘The Shepherd’s Life’).
Emailed Jackie and also David about possible zoom catch-ups over the coming days (had a rather ‘I’ll get back to you in the New Year’ response from Jackie).
In the afternoon, I re-watched ‘The Death of Stalin’ on catch-up.

Had an email from matthew at the end of the afternoon to say that Eric Hardy had died on Boxing Day (aged 94?) and that Anthea had died 6 days earlier. Very sad but somewhat poetic that they died just six days apart.
Evening telly: ‘Only Connect’ and ‘Christmas University Challenge’ (pretty boring).
Image: pair of swans on the water this morning.

Sunday 27 December:

I went for my usual ‘normal’ harbourside early morning walk today… on my own, despite the fact that it was Sunday – when Moira and I normally walk together (Moira was suffering a little with hip pain). We both skipped streamed church completely today.
Finished my Kenneth Grahame book… and started ‘The Shepherd’s Life’.
Both Alice and Dave have tested positive for Covid (and need to isolate for 10 days)… I know Alice is especially feeling very anxious. Thinking of them all.
Spent a fair amount of the morning reading the Observer (and generally catching up).
Had a very enjoyable lunch of poached eggs/toast/bubble+squeak.
Scribbled out some blog thoughts on ‘Brexit’ (as the UK prepares to ‘take its leave’!).
More Christmas cake after lunch and re-watched ‘The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society’ film (ideal après-Christmas viewing).
Evening telly: documentary on ‘Bridget Jones’ Diary’ and ’30 years of Have I Got News For You’.
Image: ‘Her Mask Has Slipped’… (Banksy needs to undertake some repairs). 

Saturday 26 December:

Lazy start to the day… catch on diary stuff…
Moira and I had a coffee re-cap on our Christmas day and also planning today.
Saturday newspaper… and I made up bubble+squeak ready for the evening meal.
Cheeseboard lunch.
Arranged to meet up with Ruth+Stu+Iris+Rosa at the harbourside in the afternoon (despite the miserable weather)… and lovely to see them all.
Read more ‘Wind in the Willows’ before supper… and also watched the last 10 minutes or so of Villa’s 3-0 win over Crystal Palace (sixth in the table with a game in hand and no goals conceded in 4 games!)… AND Bears won 27-19 away to Harlequins.
Evening telly: ‘Repair Shop’ and ‘Celebrity Sewing Bee’.
Image: Family at the harbourside.

Friday 25 December:

Well, a simply stunning day weather-wise… clear skies and bright sunshine (very welcome on a lockdown Christmas Day!).
Moira and I enjoyed our traditional champagne and bacon sandwich breakfast and then opened our presents in the living room.
We even managed a walk to the harbourside (somewhat reduced from our ‘normal’ walk – but great that Moira’s hip was able to cope)… followed by a long bath and hot chocolate for Moira!
Spoke to Alan over the phone…
Simple, but very nice, smoked salmon lunch… plus Christmas cake!
We played Scrabble (I won narrowly won!)… the first time since January 2016, apparently.
The remainder of the afternoon was spent reading and vegetable preparation (for me), while Moira had a ‘lie down’ in readiness for frenetic food preparation!
Actually, everything went very smoothly (with the slight exception of the turkey taking longer to cook than anticipated) and we ate at around 6.30pm. Really excellent meal (and a rather lovely ‘black forest gateaux’ style pudding).
Inevitably, LOTS of washing up (for me!)… but everything went very smoothly.
I even joined Moira to watch ‘Call the Midwife’!!
Reasonably early to bed… it had been a good day. X
Image: Christmas meal table!

Thursday 24 December:

Decided not to take my early morning walk today because Moira and I had planned to take a Christmas Eve walk a little later. Sadly, in the event, Moira’s hip was playing up and so we ended up drastically reducing our walk and limiting it to a walk ‘round the block’. Felt very sad for her.
Ruth(+Stu) popped round very briefly to collect various things from Ruth’s studio (and also pick up their presents and family meal). They’ve decided NOT to have Stu’s dad round for Christmas lunch at their house… instead, they’re driving to Wells with picnic that they can eat in his garden (which sounds sensible… and nice).
Completed a harbour/boat sketch before breakfast (I was conscious that my library of sketches was somewhat depleted… so I think I’ve now compiled enough to see me through to the New Year!).
I rang Dave Shorey to see how he was getting on… and it seems that he’s been pretty busy dealing with the admin aftermath. But he seemed in a reasonable ‘place’ considering… and his neighbours have been very supportive. I suggested that Alan and I might join him in a zoom chat sometime between Christmas and the New Year.
Read more of my Sophie Ward book in the afternoon.
Thankfully, the UK and EU FINALLY sorted out a ‘deal’… great relief (still hate Brexit, but a deal definitely beats a ‘no-deal’!).
Had Christmas Eve supper at the dining table (we ate the ‘family meal’ that Moira had prepared for everyone). As I raised my glass of red to toast the family, Moira responded by knocking over a full glass of tonic water ALL the table and ME! Not a good start to the Christmas festivities!
Evening telly: I watched ‘Paddington 2’ again and, together, we watched ‘Christmas University Challenge’ (despite the infuriating introductions!)... and also the Comic relief Christmas pantomime (which was very funny).
Image: Christmas Eve candles (we renewed some of the old ones!). 

Wednesday 23 December:

No early morning walk due to Bloke’s Prayer. Great that Jonny was able to join us from Denmark! But no Ed. Some people’s Christmas plans obviously disrupted by Covid restrictions.
We’d originally arranged with Hannah that Moira and I would (plus Ruth) would meet her at noon by the harbourside for flasked coffee… it seemed that Ursa and Fee weren’t able to join us (for some reason?). But, in the event, due to the rain, Hannah cried off and so H+F+U would come round to number40 late this afternoon to share Christmas greetings and exchange presents (as/if necessary) instead… Sadly, another change of plan in the end – it was just Felix able to make delivery/collection. All a little disappointing in the end.
I went down to Hugo’s just before lunch to collect our food order… and they were clearly overwhelmed – long queues outside etc. Lovely, lovely people but totally disorganised (took me an hour… and, even then, there were lots of errors/omissions with the order). But, hey ho, it’s Christmas! Apparently, there were also 2 hour queues outside Rare Butchers this morning!
Had a lovely zoom call with the Buckleys mid-afternoon (Mikey only joined us briefly)… they all seem in good form and looking forward to the Christmas celebrations (AND their oven/hob has been fixed!).
Did some sketching in the afternoon between zooming and Felix.
Evening telly: ‘The Last Igloo’ (excellent documentary) and ‘Christmas University Challenging’ (laborious!).
Image: zooming with the Buckleys!

Tuesday 22 December:

Went for my usual harbourside dawn walk… dry, but pretty grey… and, again, virtually no one about.
Morning coffee with Moira – discussing chores that need to be done, people to contact etc.
So, for me, the morning was largely spent cleaning the bathroom and vacuuming. Also exchanged texts with Alice and agreed that we’d have our family zoom get together tomorrow afternoon. Also spoke to Hannah: she’s asked if we can have our ‘meet up’ tomorrow morning instead of Christmas Day (they’re getting together with neighbours it seems)… sounds as if it’ll be little more than a doorstep exchange of presents/food… but, hey, at least we’re able to meet up.
Oh, and we also had our Asda Christmas delivery!
Had an extra couple of rounds of toast at lunchtime and ended up with stomach ache! Fingers crossed it’s not a repeat of a few weeks ago!
Read more of my Sophie Ward book and also did some sketching (indoor!).
Had a zoom get-together with Gareth+Alan+Iona and Merry-Carol and Gerry at the end of the afternoon… and it was very good to catch up again.
Evening telly (pretty rubbish): a bit of ‘The Good Life’; Christmas University Challenge and an hour-long Nigella Christmas special (which I backed out after 20 minutes).
Image: photographs out of the front bedroom window a couple of days ago: Saturn+Jupiter ‘Great Conjunction’ (almost!). 

Monday 21 December:

Winter solstice.
Went for my usual harbourside dawn walk (very murky/drizzly)… and very few people about.
Morning coffee with Moira – trying to plan various Christmas-related things (need to confirm when we’re ‘meeting up’ with R+S and H+F over the holiday period; need to confirm when we’re zooming with A+D; when we’ll eat on Christmas Day; need to plan our ‘day’ and plug in particular things etc).
We usually arrange to meet up with Iris+Rosa during school holidays for chips at the Watershed. In the light of the Covid restrictions, we decided to make some chips at home; keep them warm in foil-pouches; then meet up (with I+R+Ruth) on Gaol Ferry Steps; and then consume them! It proved to be good fun… basic, but fun – despite the rain (and so good to see them again after what seems like ages).
Finished my rather ordinary sketch of Broad Street Oxford during the course of the afternoon – and also found time to read more of my Sophie Ward book.
Frustrated that rain/overcast sky meant that the Saturn/Jupiter 'Great Conjunction' (the first since 1603) wasn't visible tonight. Fortunately, I'd been watching their juxtaposition over recent days. 
Had an early evening zoom ‘meeting’ with Alan and Barry later… very good to catch up and reminisce about our Christmases from days gone by. Think we’ll re-connect again via zoom early in the New Year.
Image: Rosa+Iris+Ruth+Moira chip-eating on Gaol Ferry Steps. 

Sunday 20 December:

Fetched the newspaper first thing and then Moira and I went for what was to be our regular Sunday morning walk… but, in fact, we only got as far as Raleigh Road before having to turn back (Moira’s hip was painful).
Tuned into Streamed church (Lee/Laura/Alan).
Went to Wilko’s to buy a replacement lightbulb for the anglepoise and later to Storysmith to collect my book (‘Wind in the Willows’!).
Sketched a little via google streetview (Oxford Broad Street) and read a little.
Afternoon and evening telly: watched the excellent ‘Eagle Huntress’ (which I’d previously seen at the Watershed 4 years ago) and last episode of ‘Dark Materials’.
Took some more (poor) photographs of Jupiter+Saturn (tomorrow is the day they virtually coincide – ‘great conjunction’ - the last time this happened was nearly 400 years ago (1623).
Villa beat Albion 3-0 at the Hawthorns… Albion down to 10 men after 36 minutes. Bears beat Connacht 27-18 away from home in the Cup. 
Image: some (old) BS3 posters on a Dean Street wall.

Saturday 19 December:

A strange, sad, slightly unreal morning.
I went to collect the Saturday Guardian as usual, but at 9.30am received a phonecall from David Shorey to say that Sally had died earlier this morning (at around 5am). I knew from a previous email that she hadn’t been very well earlier in the year (breast cancer; then what effectively was a stroke; followed by depression and difficulties with walking), but David explained that she had subsequently collapsed 6 weeks ago, had been in hospital since, had had Covid, but that her death was due to a rare brain disease associated with PV. What made everything so much worse was the fact that David wasn’t allowed to visit her (until 2-3 days ago when doctors realised it was an ‘end of life’ situation). Terribly sad. I didn’t have a good relationship with her, but I do feel especially sorry for David… and what the future might hold for him (with no children or close relatives and a potentially lonely existence in his autumn years).
After reading the newspaper, I spent much of the morning writing up a blogpost based on my various ‘reflections’ compiled since the start of the pandemic. Interesting to look back on one’s reactions and emotions over the months.
Spoke to Alice by telephone (which was nice)… and Moira and I discussed the need to arrange suitable ‘meeting up’ plans with Ru+Stu and with Han+Fee (and zoom call with the Buckleys).
In this afternoon’s press conference, the PM announced further changes in Covid guidelines (with Tier4 for London and SE)… and also significant changes to the Christmas holidays: three households acceptable together, but for Christmas Day ONLY (not 5 days as originally announced).
Evening telly: watched a rather wonderful interview with John Le Carré (by Mark Lawson).  
Image: “Somewhere Over The Rainbow”… (thinking about all the people who’re going to have to change their plans for Christmas).

Friday 18 December:

Our plans for meeting up with I+R had to be cancelled – because Iris had a paediatric appointment at the hospital (the previous one had been cancelled when she’d been self-isolating and so she had take the offer of a new appointment at short notice).
So, I went for my usual dawn walk… on a pretty miserable, wet day (it didn’t improve through the day).
Moira and I sang 'happy birthday to Ursa' (she's 9 today!).
Morning coffee with Moira as usual… looking ahead to the coming days up to Christmas.
Looked at more Blurb pages… it’s a time-consuming process, but little and often seems the best way to proceed.
In the afternoon, Moira and I watched ‘Tamara Drewe’ film from 2010. It was all very light and amusing, but I found it somewhat irritating… Moira enjoyed it though.
The postman delivered my ‘Roy Bailey Remembered’ CD… and so I started listening to it during the course of the afternoon. Rather lovely.
Evening telly: 'Portrait Artist' (final celebrity challenge).
Image: From the ‘Roy Bailey Remembered’ CD.

Thursday 17 December:

We’re considering ‘getting together’ with Iris+Rosa (possibly tomorrow as term finishes tonight) for some ‘outdoor food’. With continuing Covid restrictions on food outlets, the original intention (collecting chips from Salt+Malt on the harbourside) isn’t possible. So, we’ve made a tentative arrangement (subject to R+I’s social diaries and the weather) for us to take pizza and maybe chips down to the harbourside anyway… so I got supplies in from Tesco very first thing this morning.
Beautiful morning – which meant that today’s usual ‘dawn walk’ was VERY different from yesterday’s miserable wet excursion.
Moira cooked a simple ‘family meal’ for distributing to Ru+Stu and Han+Fee et al (to be consumed ‘sometime over Christmas’ as a gesture of ‘togetherness’ – even if we can’t meet over the dining table).
I started trying to sort out potential images for my ‘March 2021 Blurb book’ (if I leave it until March, there’ll be SO much work to do that it might put me off altogether).
Read some of my Sophie Ward book in the afternoon.

Moira ALMOST set fire to the house... she left a pan of wax on the hob (fumes everywhere!).
The government announced today that Bristol has moved from Tier3 to Tier2 (food outlets will be able to serve stuff/pubs can open until 11pm from Saturday onwards, I think… amongst other measures).
Evening telly: ‘Portrait Artist’ (final)… then early bed with book.
Image: Symbolic 'family meal' in progress…

Wednesday 16 December:

No dawn walk due to Bloke’s Prayer zooming. It seems clear that everyone else in our group will be getting together with their families over the Christmas period… and, although I have huge reservations about what such actions might mean nationally, I accept that people will make their own choices (presumably based on the government’s current confirmation that it won’t be backing down from its original 4-day rule relaxation period).
A horrible day – quite heavy rain all morning and only brightening up towards the end of the afternoon.
Went for my usual harbour walk before lunch (duly dressed in full waterproof gear!).
Spent some of the morning wrapping Christmas presents.
Finished my Bradbury book in the afternoon (very enjoyable).
Evening telly: ‘Repair Shop’ (repeat)... followed by early bed to read my next book ('Love and Other Thought Experiments' by Sophie Ward).
Image: today’s very wet marina view…

Tuesday 15 December:

My usual harbourside dawn walk… and, like yesterday, a gradually brightening morning (although the sun only appeared at the very end of my walk).
I packed the Buckley Christmas box ready for posting, then had morning coffee with Moira.
Still thinking about preparing for the post office when I had a text from Hannah (she was due to meet up with a client to make an ‘art delivery’ and wondered if I had time for a rapid coffee at Whapping Wharf – she was running a little early). So, I put together a quick thermos flask of coffee and ‘trotted off’ down to the water… very good to catch up (and the sun was shining!).
I returned home to discover that Moira had gone down to the post office to send off the Buckley parcel… which made me feel somewhat guilty!
Received an email from Si Smith turning down my suggestion of a zoom meeting (he has a hatred of video conferencing… which I absolutely understand). His email was a lovely update on what they’re all up to… and so I wrote a similar response.
Evening telly: watched an old Malcolm Muggeridge interview with John Le Carré (who died yesterday).
Image: Harbourside: Hannah, rainbow and old geezer… 

Monday 14 December:

Usual harbourside dawn walk on a brightening morning…
Moira and Ruth had already had coffee by the time I returned, so I spent some time trawling through ‘drawing’ images and putting together another ‘lockdown drawings B’ folder (the original version ‘disappeared’… and, whatever I do, I haven’t been able to track down the old file… very frustrating!).
Went into town mid-morning to buy two small canvasses and some acrylic paints for Rosa… hardly anyone about, almost ghostly.
But, after that, I rather enjoyed myself hunkering down and watching ‘The Godfather’ and then the Mortimer+Whitehouse ‘Gone Christmas Fishing’ special!
Yet more telly in the evening: ‘Only Connect’, ‘Nigella’ and ‘University Challenge’.
Image: one of the Advent window decorations around the corner in Milford Street.
 

Sunday 13 December:

Moira didn’t feel up to a walk this morning (her hip has been quite painful recently and she was mindful that she needed to walk to North Street later to get her hair cut) and so I ventured out on my own. It was a full waterproofs day – rained for the entire walk (my usual harbourside circuit).
Had coffee over the Sunday paper.
Urban Sketchers ‘met up’ in Siena, Tuscany from 1pm (there were probably 10-12 of us)… good fun and some lovely sketches. An African location next time perhaps?
Watched ‘Whisky Galore’ 2016 film on catch-up in the afternoon.
A sort of roast supper (chicken – but we’d forgotten to include a roast joint on the recent Asda order!), including sprouts and roast potatoes!
Evening telly: ‘Dark Materials’ (the penultimate episode)...
Image: one of my Siena sketches.

Saturday 12 December:

No walk today… just the usual trip to Tesco for the newspaper.
Lazy morning reading the paper, sketching our ‘cardboard’ nativity scene on the dining room mantelpiece!
Bacon sandwich for lunch.
Lots of decent films scheduled over the coming week (according to the Guardian’s telly guide)… watched the excellent ‘Brooklyn’ (again) after lunch.
Villa beat Wolves (away from home) with a last-minute penalty, but Bears lost in the cup.
Enjoyed another Bristol Old Vic theatre evening later (‘Swallows and Amazons’ – which we’d previously seen at the Old Vic)… another good evening (and very good value – except that there were no sub-titles).
Image: our mantelpiece nativity! 

Friday 11 December:

Usual dawn walk (in reverse) on another pretty overcast morning… but I noticed the complete absence of any wind and, as a result, the harbour was mirror-like.
Usual morning coffee routine with Moira… always an important part of our day.
Spent the rest of the morning dealing with ‘domestic stuff’, including: sorting out the freezer, so we could get some more bread in(!); sorting out an address list for our emailed Christmas card/letter/photo; clearing away Christmas decoration boxes; wrapping Moira’s present; archived some of my photo folders to the hard-drive…
In the afternoon, I added some watercolour to the quick ‘sketch through the bedroom window’ I did yesterday (experimentally and not particularly successfully).
I also started to send off our email Christmas cards etc.
Read some more of my ‘Dandelion Wine’ book.
Evening zoom get-together with my “Bloke’s Books” friends… a mixed session (the majority felt the book was pretty disappointing/awful), with people obviously trying not to criticise Robin too vehemently! Actually, it proved to be a useful and balanced discussion finished reading it(!) – despite the fact that Robin+Nick hadn’t quite (Jeff+Robin very positive 8-10/10; Nick quite positive 7/10?; but the rest of us very much less so – 5 or 6/10… and Dru 3/10!). Crucially, people have agreed that the next book group date (10 February) needs to be a fixed date AND that people need to have read the book!
Image: Staring out of the bedroom window (again). 

Thursday 10 December:

Usual early morning harbourside walk… pink skies as the sun rose. Walked down Leighton Road and then looked back up the hill to see pink sky… and similarly at the marina (with my fisherman friend). Rather lovely.
Morning coffee with Moira and then Asda delivery before lunch. Recently, we’ve been either over-ordering or forgetting to order stuff (no Sunday roast, but LOTS of sliced bread and butter!!).
Sketched briefly after lunch (staring out of the front bedroom window)… and then, as tradition dictates, watched “It’s A Wonderful Life”!
I’d signed up for an evening zoom link with the Guardian’s Marina Hyde and John Crace… and it was excellent (and amusing). Two of the people who’ve made 2020 tolerable.
Image: Leighton Road at sunrise.

Wednesday 9 December:

No early morning (or, in the end, any) walk today… 8am Bloke’s Prayer currently coincides with sunrise, which is a shame. But a good prayer session – even if it only lasted 45 minutes (which seemed a little strange).
Morning coffee at home with Moira… general catch-up/Christmas present round-up etc.
Did a simple line drawing of a Siena façade (in advance of Sunday’s urban sketching get-together).
Went to Hugo’s for fruit and veg (a little frustrated by the fact that it took four attempts to accept my bank card!).
Read more of my ‘Dandelion Wine’ book in the afternoon.
I also watched (thanks to Ed) Bristol University’s “Life sciences in a post-truth world: A COVID-19 case study” via YouTube. Excellent and very informative.
Had a zoom ‘meeting’ with Adrian Howkins and friends (Sarum College Local Learning Group)… could have done without it, but quite interesting nevertheless.
Image: this morning’s crescent moon from the front doorstep.

Tuesday 8 December:

Early morning walk just after sunrise (8am ish) to Bathurst Basin/The Ostrich/near St Mary Redcliffe/M-Shed/Gaol Ferry Bridge and home. Initially very grey and overcast but, albeit briefly, followed by beautiful orange skies.
Ru was already in the studio when I left (she worked there all morning).
Moira and I had morning coffee as usual and left a coffe+mince pie on the stairs for Ru.
Collected my next Bloke’s Books book (‘The Crossway’ by Guy Stagg) from Storysmith and also bought envelopes and sellotape dispenser(!) from Wyatt+Ackerman.
Completed Christmas card/letter/grandchildren photo card (with Moira’s approval)… and Ru posted off copies to Alan+Lesley (probably our only ‘actual’ Christmas card etc).
Started trawling google maps for possible urban sketching locations in Siena (for this coming Sunday).
Watched ‘The Belles of St Trinian’s film on catch-up in the afternoon (as you do!).
A couple of small concerns: first, the radiators were cold (late afternoon) and second, the kitchen sink wouldn't drain (thanks to candle wax?)... hopefully, now sorted.
Had a zoom catch-up chat with John Tom in the evening (seemed like an awful long time since we last properly spoke… possibly 3 years?).
Image: orange sky behind St Mary Redcliffe on my morning walk around the harbour.

Monday 7 December:

Went for my usual harbourside walk first thing (around 8am)… still pretty drab and overcast – although the sky did briefly ‘pink over’ very briefly as I approached SS Great Britain.
Wrote up some brief thoughts to email to Ru in connection with her forthcoming exhibition.
Got my hair cut (so I look neat and tidy for all those Christmas parties we’ll be attending, obviously!!).
Finalised our Christmas card etc… for what it’s worth.
We retrieved all the Christmas decorations from the back bedroom wardrobe… and Moira (more or less single-handed) did the business… even though only one set of tree lights actually works!
I made some more mince pies (and I must admit I was quite impressed by the quality of the pastry!).
Evening telly: ‘Only Connect’ and ‘University Challenge’ (plus ‘Nigella’ in between).
Early to bed to read.
Image: Christmas Tree.

Sunday 6 December:

Usual Sunday harbour walk with Moira at 9.30am (lovely sunny/slightly misty morning), before streamed church (good talk from Maria, but I’m afraid I tend to ‘opt out’ before the end of the service these days!).
Read the Sunday paper… and also put together a ‘grandchildren’ Christmas card – based on the very few pics I’ve taken of them this year (and relying on Alice’s pic of Mikey, Dan+Jemima – because we haven’t seen them at all this year!).
Did some ‘wax scribbles’ that might be used as the basis of a Christmas card… we’ll see.
I’ve been thinking of possible items for inclusion in Ru’s forthcoming “(nearly) LOST and (not quite) FOUND” exhibition in January…
Evening telly: ‘Dark Materials’.
Early to bed to read my Ray Bradbury ‘Dandelion Wine’ book.
Image: draft Christmas card? 

Saturday 5 December:

No walking this morning… apart from fetching the newspaper.
So, another lazy day spent reading the paper and then finishing my ‘Rebecca’ book (which I really enjoyed) and scribbled a quick review.
‘The Railway Children’ was on the telly (again!)… 50 years since ‘birth’… and so, of course, I felt I HAD to watch it. I really do wonder how many times I must have watched it… 30? 40? 50 times?? A LOT!
Watched another Bristol Old Vic streamed production in the evening (“Christmas Carol” – last year’s version, not the one Felix played Scrooge). Just like when Felix played Scrooge, the actor playing the ‘lead’ was excellent… but I thought the ‘musical score’ and general production and script was pretty average. Disappointing.
Received another letter from “my mate Matt” (Health Secretary) giving me Covid advice – albeit several days after the advice had come into force. But, hey, he now says I can go to school or work!
Image: another letter from “Matt”.

Friday 4 December:

Went harbour walking first thing (currently, I end to set out about 8am – more or less sunrise), although there haven’t been many decent bright mornings of late. I’ve started to do the my harbourside walk in the reverse direction (ending up walking up Leighton Road) in order to avoid schoolchildren and parents (although it does mean dodging people on their way to work across gaol ferry Bridge etc). Uneventful (apart from watching two cormorants argue over a fish!) and pretty overcast.
Morning coffee with Moira when I got home.
Tony (Hadland) sent me a first draft of his "1971 Minibus Tour" blog (about our marathon trip to Greece and around Europe).
Lazy day… I sketched some bookshelves (badly) and I read a fair amount of my ‘Rebecca’ book.
Evening telly: ‘Grayson Perry’s art club exhibition’.
Image: Cormorant taking off. 

Thursday 3 December:

The Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine will be made available across the UK next week (although it could take weeks/months before everyone has access to it).
I read in bed (‘Rebecca’) immediately after breakfast and then went for my daily walk after Moira and I had had morning coffee. Light, continuous rain and grey skies.
We’ve decided to give our daughters £100 each (as a sort of Christmas bonus?)… essentially acknowledging that things have been tough for all of them financially, whereas (because we’ve doing less!) we haven’t been spending as much as usual – and hence had some spare cash to spare (albeit only a small amount).

Set up another 'virtual' urban sketching trip (to Siena).
Sketched briefly after lunch before watching ‘Nativity’ film on telly.
Evening telly: ‘Portrait Artist’.
Image: Stewy’s sheep (Cooperage Lane).

Wednesday 2 December:

First day after Lockdown #2… Bristol is now in Tier 3 – which, as far as we are concerned, is effectively is the same as Lockdown #2.
Bloke’s Prayer ‘attended’ by everyone and everyone seemed to be coping ok (Jeff always struggles with zoom; Nick’s always travelling on a bus which makes things tricky; Robin is due to return to Bristol tomorrow after several weeks in the Canary Islands.
No dawn walk (or walk of any kind) today… just bumbled around doing bits and pieces.
Did some sketching in the morning (related to the Drawing Group ‘Parks’ theme).
Finished my Bryson book in the afternoon (excellent) and then made some mince pies (with rather mixed success… but they tasted good!).
Evening telly: ‘Repair Shop’.
Image: mince pies. 

Monday 30 November:

Had breakfast and then read in bed for a while.
Morning coffee with Moira and then I had my doctor’s appointment call scheduled for 10am. In the event Dr Davies didn’t ring until 10.30am but, hey, she’s busy!! I explained my symptoms of the past 10 days and went on to indicate that, essentially, things had more or less got back to normal over recent days (4 decent night sleeps etc). Her general thoughts were that, as I seemed to have made a decent recovery, it was best to leave things as they are (unless symptoms re-occur). She felt what I’d be doing (re-hydrating/fruit/exercise etc) seemed appropriate. I queried if it might have been gallstone-related (in the light of Mom and Alan) and she felt this could well be the case – but take no further action at this stage (simply monitor and contact her if things re-occurred).
Took a walk via Greville Smyth Park, harbourside and then home via Gaol Ferry Bridge (oh, forgot to say that I saw rough-sleeper Phil for the first time in ages - happened to have £10 on me! - he’s obviously finding things very tough at present).
More reading and more sketching in the afternoon.
Evening telly: ‘Only Connect’, ‘Nigella’ and ‘University Challenge’.
Image: another Katmandu sketch.

Sunday 29 November:

Another decent night’s sleep – for which I’m very grateful.
Moira and I went on our usual Sunday harbourside walk (pretty misty, but quite mild)… Moira’s hip was aching somewhat, so she made her way back home half way through (pre-planned).
Coffee and streamed church (Advent Sunday). I’m trying hard to focus on Advent this year – trying to come up with a discipline and a fresh understanding. Nick gave the talk – which felt more like him reading his essay (which was slightly disappointing)… and I ended up bailing out during the course of Liz’s prayers – because her home internet connection was so dire.
Urban Sketchers met in Katmandu (‘virtually’!) – I think there were 11 of us, plus 2 or 3 people who sketched remotely. Good fun, as ever.
Read a little of my Bryson book (as we age together – he’s slightly younger than me – we both seem to have become somewhat intolerant of a whole of slice of humanity!!)… he does makes me smile!
Delicious roast pork supper… candlelight and cosiness!
Evening telly: ‘Dark Materials’ excellent).
Image: one of my Katmandu sketches.

Saturday 28 November:

Another good night’s sleep(!) and feeling pretty well (almost back to normal?).
Went to Tesco first thing to get the newspaper (via voucher)… and realised that I also needed to get some paracetamol – which meant using my card for an item costing less than £1 (nobody carries money anymore). Ridiculous. Surely, there MUST be something else we need? Fortunately, I spotted the mince pies…
Life is full of difficult decisions.
Spent a small part of the day continuing to explore Katmandu sketching locations.
Watched ‘Swallows+Amazons’ on telly.
Spoke briefly to Ruth. Iris (after 2week isolation from her friends) was due to meet up with one her best mates today… BUT her friend had just received an virus positive alert (which obviously meant SHE had to go into isolation for the next fortnight). Understandly, Iris (and her friend) thinks the world is against her.
Moira met up with Hannah very briefly on Castle Hill to chat through Christmas possibilities and exchange a couple of things. I get the feeling there’ll be much juggling this Christmas!
Watched a streamed version of ‘The Grinning Man’ from the Bristol Old Vic, via laptop. Quite brilliant (how we’ve missed the theatre this year!).
Image: The Grinning Man.

Friday 27 November:

No dawn walk today. Was determined to make an online doctor’s appointment so tried very first thing, yet again, to log on to the Surgery website. In the event, this didn’t work out (none of my old passwords had worked and so I decided to click on ‘Forgot Password?’ and get a new password)… I simply received a polite response saying: “Sorry, we could not complete your request at this time”!! I gave up and decided to join the queue of telephone callers at 8.30am instead. Amazingly, I managed to get through within 10 minutes and, within another 5 minutes, had sorted out a telephone appointment with Dr Susie Davies at 10am on Monday!! Much relieved!
In fact, I’d had a very comfortable night and a pretty full night’s sleep until just after 5am.
Moira and I ended up going for our regular harbourside walk immediately after she’d had breakfast – but, before coffee! M was keen to wait until we returned home before filling ourselves with warm liquid!
Very misty morning, but with the sun just coming out when we arrived by the water – so our timing was immaculate!
Moira popped down to Hugo’s just before lunch (there are always queues outside these days – just one customer at a time – but that’s fine).
I watched another film on catch-up in the afternoon (‘Brief Encounter’).
Moira, Hannah and Ruth trying to confirm Christmas arrangements… (ongoing).
Moira had bookgroup in the evening.
Had my first glass of wine for 8 days (just hadn’t been feeling like wine in my present ‘state’.
Did some brief preparatory for Sunday’s urban sketching meet-up in Katmandu.
Early to bed and hoping for another decent night’s sleep.
Image: swanning around in the morning sunlight…

Thursday 26 November:

Had an uncomfortable night… restless and with some pain (and I was sweating too) so, despite the prospect of a beautiful morning, I resisted the opportunity to go for my usual dawn walk… all rather ironic.
Had a facebook message exchange with Alan regarding his own gallbladder/gallstone experience… and it does sound similar. Tried to make a doctor’s appointment (ideally online)… sadly, their website has been over by a rubbish “big boss” entitled ‘Patient Access’ (there’s a joke there somewhere) that can now offer you appointments all over the country. I sensed that this organisation might be the brainchild of one of Health Minister’s friends (no experience required, simply focussing on revenue… of course). Making an online appointment USED to be a doddle, but today I found it completely beyond me. At one point, I really thought I might have ‘cracked it’… and found myself being referred to an entire list of “services” (you could scroll down several pages) from ‘physiotherapy’, ‘psychological’, ‘hair’, ‘counselling’, ‘erectile disfunction’ (I could go on!)… but, for me and my small brain, apparently nothing that I could click to arrange a doctor’s appointment. I ended up having to ring the surgery and, completely unsurprisingly and understandably (when I did at last get through), I was then in a 5-person queue. The person I spoke was incredibly helpful (and was duly apologetic that I was taking up her important time etc)… she emailed me with new codes. I duly tried the new codes. I was told that ‘it’ recognise my password (which I’d previously ‘banked’ several weeks/months/years ago). I again went round in circles. I ended up phoning the surgery again (another 45mins of joyful queuing) and spoke to the same lovely person who’d tried to help me before. “Is it possible that I could just arrange a doctor’s appointment over the phone?” She empathised with my predicament completely, BUT the system ONLY allows people to book telephone appointments from 8.30-10am each day (I may have misheard the details… I’d glazed over by then)… and she absolutely acknowledged these queues are pretty huge etc. She suggested that she cancelled my existing ‘account’ details and that she should me completely NEW ones – together with crucial access codes/passwords. Anyway (I thanked her again – isn’t it brilliant to have such lovely dealing with such boring people like me!) and she was as good as her word… my online services access documents duly arrived… and, yes, perhaps tomorrow I’ll find the energy, enthusiasm and tech knowledge to try again. The thing I found just a bit scary was the second email from the surgery (they both arrived at the same time). This one read: “Your Online Services account has been locked. To access your account again, please visit the practice to confirm your identity”. Suddenly, I felt as if I needed to start seeing the world through Bill Bryson’s eyes… “It didn’t used to be like this but, hey, the sun is shining and Mr Trump is on his way out”.
In other words, a wasted day (probably quite sensible as I wasn’t feeling ‘brilliant’.
Ursa had three of her ‘silver teeth’ extracted at the Bristol Dental Hospital (brave girl)(brilliant caring staff).
Mr Asda made his fortnightly delivery.
Bristol has been earmarked as “Tier 3” (‘Very High Alert’ – the highest category) when the nation comes out ‘lockdown 2’ on 2 December.
Evening telly: ‘Portrait Artist’ and the last episode of ‘Berlin 1945’.
Image: Harbour water (bit like I feel at present). 

Wednesday 25 November:

Another relatively quiet day of continuing recovery. I went for my usual dawn walk (30 minutes later than usual – but you’d never have known, it very overcast and grey)… lots more people about on my homeward route past the local school.
I would usually have participated in Bloke’s Prayer, but decided to opt out for today (and also to back down from tonight’s ‘Books’ zoom meet – although the blokes ended up, against my wishes, re-arranging it for 11 December instead! It seems that at least two have made any inroads into the book at all… which is a bit frustrating to put it mildly.
Morning coffee with Moira.
It now seems as though BOTH Iris and Rosa are in self-isolation due to others (or one of their family members) having been found Covid-positive. All very frustrating for everyone.
I ended up managing to speak to both of them by telephone at the end of the afternoon and they both sounded fine and coping (but who really knows?). As things stand, Iris returns to school on Monday; Rosa will be off for 2 weeks.
I did a quickish coloured sketch loosely based on some crochet – reminded me of all my grandmother Rose’s shawls!!
Read more of my Bryson book (the perfect type of book for these times).
Chatting through my various ‘ailments’ with Moira, she wondered if I might some gallstone issues (and, having checked some of the symptoms online, I think she might be right).
Evening telly: ‘Repair Shop’… early to bed.
Image: ‘crochet’!?

Tuesday 24 November:

Resumed my dawn walks  – although, frankly, I had to force myself to make the effort! Very grey, dark morning… I’d probably set out much too early to have any hint of sunshine or bright sky. I was conscious of the need to get back into my routine quite slowly (essentially, I still felt somewhat ‘delicate’… lacking energy; stomach still had some way to go before full recovery; feeling a little stiff. Anyway, I completed my walk – albeit pretty slowly!
I had arranged to ‘meet up’ with Adrian via zoom tonight and had been considering postponing it until next week (and feeling a little guilty for doing so), but actually received an email from him first thing asking if we postpone our ‘session’ because Ellie had asked if he could collect her kids… so that worked out well (we’ve re-arranged for next Wednesday).
I’ve also decided to back out of both tomorrow’s “Bloke’s Prayer” and “Bloke’s Books” zoom meet-up… I’m just not in the mood (and the ”Under The Frog” book was pretty rubbish in my opinion!).
Collected a couple of books from Storysmith (another Bryson and another Bradbury)… and then stopped for a longish (somewhat overdue!) bath.
Read a little more ‘Rebecca’ after lunch.
Bloke’s Books want postpone our proposed meet-up tomorrow yet again (nice of them, but I’ve urged not to… it would be the FOURTH time it’s been re-scheduled!
Evening telly: Watched ‘Bake Off’ Final (Peter won).
Stomach and maybe even back (around the kidneys?) still annoyingly sensitive.
Image: Hotwells across the water… with streetlights.

Monday 23 November:

A really lazy day. I was feeling much better… no more stomach ache, but my stomach muscles were still a little tender… and I still had an annoying ongoing headache (so I just kept taking the paracetamol!). So, all in all, I just felt a little delicate…
I slept reasonably well (despite several visits to the loo), but the big bonus of the morning was that I actually managed a poo (and without straining etc)!! A GREAT relief, as you might imagine.
I didn’t go for my usual early morning walk and chose instead simply to read a little more of my ‘Rebecca’ book… and also to respond to an email from Lee asking how I was coping etc.
In the afternoon, I ended up watching the film ‘Amundsen’ on catch up.
As I say… a very lazy day trying to recover fully.
Johnson addressed MPs in parliament (via zoom – he’s in isolation) regarding relaxing/changing some of the Covid guidelines over Christmas (the message seems to be “so we can all be with our families for Christmas”… although, in truth, it’s more like “let’s get the economy back on track, despite the potential consequences”).
Watched some evening telly (half-heartedly, I must admit) ‘Only Connect’, ‘Nigella’ and ‘University Challenge’. Bed by nine.
Image: staring at the fireplace.