Ok, so I had all good intentions to blog most days but I have ended up with the flu and it feels like all the sap has been sucked out of me so nothing much has got done.

I did dress up for Christmas day as we had booked and paid to go out to The Roast Ox in Painscastle for lunch.  I know for a fact that I cannot taste anything properly at the moment but the food was still delicious (tried Beef Wellington for the first time!)- so it must have been good.

It’s now that wonderful time between Solstice and New Year that feels somehow liminal, and that is helping me to feel less guilty about lying on the couch and doing absolutely nothing except doze, read and watch what has actually been some pretty amazing telly.

Also have I zero urge or energy to be sociable which could lead to a un-merry sharing of my virus. (I kept well away from my fellow Christmas lunch guests)

Added to all that is the weather,very grey and soggy sponge like.  If you do go out it is wise to stick to the roads as Mr T has learnt to his cost – walking Toastie in the fields and ending up on his back in the slippery mud ;-(

Anyway – enough, I need to get back to doing not much..

Hope you are all well 🙂

Toastie the Solstice dog

First off – MERRY YULE EVERYONE!!

Second – I have the bot.. oh yes, I am feeling crappity crap.  So this post will be short and sweet.

We are going into the light half of the year now, that should cheer everyone up (in the Northern Hemisphere anyway, the rest of you are buggered), oh yes and the world didn’t come to an end – Excellant..

Our tree

Share and Enjoy..

Almost the first thing I saw when I opened my lap top this morning was a link sent to me by a friend the contents of which purported to be horribly hilarious . Now, normally that would go straight in the bin but as this particular friend and I share a similar sense of humour I thought I would check it out.

I couldn’t even read the whole thing because I was seriously worried I was going to do myself an injury by laughing too hard and too long.  I waited till I got home from work to read a little more – still couldn’t finish it.

So here is the link for you my friends – hope you haven’t read it before but if so, it’s still funny a second time..think of it as a Solstice present to you all.

The 25 Funniest AutoCorrects of 2012

Share and Enjoy

one more sleep..

thought i’d share..

Thought I would share with you three of my favourite blog posts this year.  All are from the same writer – Katyboo1, all have been in the last couple of weeks and all had me cheering – she does put things so much better that I could.  The first one is a fantastic diatribe entitled ‘Rant, Rant, Rant’ on the subject of the recent mass shooting in America.

The second – ‘Kill all the Chartered Accountants’  is on the subject of Geoffrey Clarke, former member of UKIP (until they dumped his ass), candidate for Kent County Council and total gobshite.  Apparently Mr Clarke is not only a rascist git but it is also reported in a BBC article that –

He calls for a national debate and an urgent government review of the NHS, which he says “risks becoming unaffordable in the future”.

The review should look at “compulsory abortion when the foetus is detected as having Down’s, spina bifida or similar syndrome which, if it is born, could render the child a burden on the state as well as on the family”.

He says the review should also look at medical treatment for those aged over 80, “which is disproportionately costly to the NHS” and might also include “legalising euthanasia and giving free euthanasia advice to all folk over 80”

I seem to recall a vast number of Brits and allies died fighting against people with ideas like him seventy odd years ago no?

The third of Katyboo1s wonderful blogposts entitled ‘In Support of Anarchist Soccer Mom’ regards the lack of affordable health care in the United States and in particular the needs of those with psychiatric disorders.  This posts touches me deeply as I too (as some of you know) fought the black slug of depression, losing my job and being unable to work for years.  Poverty or the threat of poverty places  a huge burden on people with disabilities.  I am reminded of that when  people come into the Community Support office where I work, who are obviously seriously disabled by their mental health condition, and who are terrified because our arsehole Conservative government have decided to ‘work test’ them to see if the’deserve’ their pittance of a benefit.

See Geoffrey Clarke – you don’t need to go to the effort of euthanasia to save money..

Hmm – now I am feeling very cross..

So I will leave you now and go and feed Ms Toastie who has been giving me grief for the last half hour vis-a-vis dog food.  Nothing like a small terrier to cheer one up 🙂

3 more sleeps..

Got to be my most favourite image of the year..

Paul Kidby’s ‘The Band with Rocks In ‘

p.s. this will make no sense to you if you do not know of the Discworld – if you don’t know, you should 😉

(3 more sleeps)

Monday, Monday..

I’m tired tonight.. Even with the huge mug of coffee that I have taken to inhaling after work – normally that perks me up a bit for the evening.

Mondays are usually pretty much the same around here.  I leave work at 4pm and walk the short walk home.  This time of year it’s rapidly getting dark and as I cross the bridge over Cusop Dingle I can see it’s flooding.

At home Toastie is waiting and we scoot out the door together, me fully Mac’ed up against the rain and Toast in the lead.

Tonight, half way up the Dingle Road, we had the good fortune to hear two owls calling each other and one swoop down, crossing the road in front of us.  The bats we usually see flicking around, have vacated the air space for the time being.  I hope they are holed up somewhere safe for bats – belfrys?

When The Toastilator and I  have walked till it’s nearly too dark to see properly, we turn for home, both of us keen for fire and food.

Later, while I did the dishes and stared out through the window into the black night, I reflected on just how lucky I am to have this warm home to hole up in. How I really need to appreciate it now – because everything can change, just like that.

My Squash Monster cushion, I’ m sort of glad I sewed his mouth on a bit wonky.

Printers drawer I got for my birthday. I love collecting tiny things to put in it. Sad no?

A little joyful job for this evening – pinning out the snow flakes I crocheted for bunting 🙂

 

 

Three for Sunday..

It may be hellish dark outside, the rain stabbing at the glass, but in here it is mmmmmm…

Last years damson gin added to hot berry cordial and a lovely husband making enchiladas for tea..

Only five more sleeps till the Solstice 🙂

All is good here – hope it is for you too.