Friday 29 December 2017

Daily December diary

My last entry for 2017
 Yesterday I watched the net and Harry Potter as I have just realised I did last year too!
Tomorrow, a family get together with my sister and family, and for the last day of the year, lunch with good friends.

Achieved last year
A trip to beautiful Budapest, and Lisbon too
visits to Kew in Spring and Autumn
Art class joined and continued
French learned sporadically
Alpha bear next level reached

Flexible blog plan for 2018

Jan    Read and reviewed
Feb  Postcards of the world
March   Declutter diary
April    Na Po Wri Mo
May   Art journey
June   Captured moments
July  Postcards sent to --
Aug  Prompts to tell a tale
Sept  Read and reviewed
Oct   Crafts revisited
Nov  Illustrated rhyme
Dec  Daily December diary


and wishing to all the happiest of New Years !

Tuesday 26 December 2017

December diary

my daily posts abandoned in the pre Christmas rush. Festive greetings to all.

Thursday 21 December 2017

Daily December diary

Twenty one
A flurry of cards arrived today. Wrote and hand delivered cards for neighbours. Ironing cleared,plants watered and finished reading Their lost daughters by Joy Ellis, an absorbing thriller. Energy levels still somewhat low.

Wednesday 20 December 2017

Daily December diary

Twenty
A long newsy email from my Aunty, a dim sum lunch and shopping at a Chinese supermarket with husband and friend, fulfilling shopping requests from children too, then home and finished reading Winter's guardian, the first part of a supernatural tale involving were wolves and vampires with a sprinkling of angels and witches thrown in for good measure.Feeling much better today as my cold is now receding.

Tuesday 19 December 2017

Daily December diary

Nineteen
Ironing, cooking and watched Holiday.A letter in French from my penfriend arrived in todays post.

Daily December diary

Eighteen
Quiet relaxed day after yesterdays activity.Still feeling under par.

Daily December diary

Seventeen
Cooked roast dinner for six followed by mango and raspberry crumble after an early clean and tidy. Meal and chat with friends who left around four. Energy levels low but still enjoyable.

Daily December diary

Sixteen
Cold and cough developing so cancelled proposed visit to our daughter's flat for lunch and to deliver her Christmas tree [stored in our loft]. Instead had a much needed tidy up in preparation for tomorrows visitors. Finished reading The variant saga. Very enjoyable and believable dystopian alternate reality. Also managed to progress to next level in Alpha bear after over a year of trying!

Daily December diary

Fifteen
Concert day. Practice then sang our seasonal collection of songs to friends and family. Lunch with my sister and her partner in a Lebanese restaurant by the river then exchanged our Christmas gifts. A lovely pre Christmas catch up!

Thursday 14 December 2017

Daily December diary

Fourteen
Food shopping, becoming busier now Christmas is approaching. Awoke with a tickly throat so hope it does not develop before tomorrows concert. Ironing, posted cards and wrapped presents for my sister and her family. My son will visit after he finishes work.

Daily December diary

Thirteen
A walk in the park on a somewhat rainy day with a friend and her dog Tia. Two big herds of deer lying under trees to shelter from the weather. Home on two buses and wrote the rest of my cards ready to post. Good news from my daughter who heard her job interview yesterday was successful.

Tuesday 12 December 2017

Daily December diary

Twelve
Time to start writing and sending Christmas cards to post and to send my small packages to France and Germany. Bought a few more Christmas cards from a local charity shop too.Looking forward to take out Malaysian food this evening.

Daily December diary

Eleven
Last Monday singing group this year. An enjoyable get together complete with Christmas cake, sherry and Sri lankan curry puffs as well as pitch exercises and seasonal singing.

Sunday 10 December 2017

Daily December diary

Ten
A leisurely morning chatting with our daughter. Snow where she lives in London but we had rain, with only a few showers of very wet snow which didn't settle. After lunch we dropped her at the station to catch a train and tube home.

Daily December diary

Nine
Awake at 5a.m. Not the best start to concert day. Cleared my daughters room of Christmas preparations ready for her to stay over after the concert. Cooked chilli con carne, steamed salmon and broccoli with oyster sauce and found time for a short nap. Shortly after her arrival  my husband dropped us at the venue. A kind audience of mainly family and friends! My son and his new wife dropped us home afterwards. A chat and meal after before bed at midnight.

Friday 8 December 2017

Daily December diary

Eight
A run through today at singing for fun in readiness for Christmas concert number two. Sandwich and coffee lunch then upstairs for art class. Tonal study in one colour using a paint medium of our choice. Subject  still life  fruit , vegetables and sandals in totality or a small portion. Challenging but absorbing, our last session of the term. My chosen colour was blue.

Daily December diary

Seven
Our choir" dress rehearsal" not in concert dress but a full run through at the venue of our concert repertoire. Eighteen songs in total. Not a total disaster as last year but our first half was better as we tend to tire being of a certain age! Home by train and bus in time for a late lunch. Cleared another load of ironing. Cooked a chicken curry and watched two episodes of Mister Robot with my son who came home for an overnight stay. Watching season three of this dark but somewhat compelling drama.

Wednesday 6 December 2017

Daily December diary

Six
Our weekly food shop and a few Christmas extras. Working through my list so
cleared out old garlic, ginger and onions
old potatoes
old fruit, vegetables and herbs from fridge
sorted concert music for choir and singing for fun
sent and replied to emails
More ironing to tackle tomorrow!

Daily December diary

Five
A conversation about Enneagram on Monday prompted me to search on google and try the online testing. Fascinating! A bus trip to town this morning to see the Christmas market stalls and decorations. Not tempted to buy anything but nice to have a walk around. Finished book one in the four book saga. It is easy to procrastinate at this time of year so wrote myself a to do list which usually spurs me into action!

Monday 4 December 2017

Daily December diary

Four
Wrote and hand delivered my first Christmas card of the year. Singing group at Liz's house has now expanded to twenty two members, most of whom attended today. We were challenged with pitch exercises involving simultaneous note singing with corresponding hand signals, not an easy process for the aging mind. Our repertoire today was Mozart's four line Ave Maria in Canon, a seasonal "Snow" and Is this the way to Amarillo. Coffee was accompanied with home made pineapple cake. Arrived home to find my expected package delivery sitting on my doorstep. Lunch was Waldorf salad and feta cheese. Started reading a four book dystopian fantasy series yesterday. This should take me a bit longer to get through.

Sunday 3 December 2017

Daily December diary

Three
Read Slouch witch by Helen Harp in one sitting today. I loved this book, quirky and addictive! Another pile of ironing completed and chicken curry cooking as I write.

Daily December diary

Two

To start the day with coffee in bed is one of the joys of retirement. Finished reading " Fugitive of Magic" by Linsey Hall, first in a series of fantasy thrillers which was a very enjoyable read.A little bit of ironing and phone catch ups with my daughter and my sister were part of a lazy day. Cooked a Chinese meal in the evening.

Friday 1 December 2017

Daily December diary

One

Blogging and knitting both a bit neglected in November! Only three items knitted but not as yet made up. You can see I prefer the knitting to the sewing. A cold and frosty morning to mark the start of December. Our son stayed overnight so after seeing him briefly before he headed to work I prepared my bags for singing and art and ventured into the cold to catch the bus.
   Singing for fun is always a joy. We were in the main church today as our usual hall is having new heating installed. Sound travels so differently in a new venue. Only one more full rehearsal before our concert.
  After a sandwich and coffee, our art class. My Christmas collage is now complete. We were experimenting with tonal work today working in black and white. To see the different interpretations of the other participants is very inspiring too.
A few photos of my Art deco Christmas picture working from some of the art deco images from Pinterest.