Happy New Year

Last day of the year. Sara and Mary went into Salisbury leaving Tom and me to tidy up the house and the front drive. Tom worked hard cleaning up the wet leaves which we bagged up into four large plastic sacks to take down to the recycling station in Salisbury. We also dusted and polished the furniture in the lounge. My plans for this afternoon were to take the leaves to the recycling plant, spent an hour in the gym where our friend Anthony would meet me so that he could come back with me to Winterslow and spend the evening with us to see the New Year in. The first part of the plan went well and I was able to off load all the leaves at the dump but when I arrived at the Leisure Centre it was to find that it had closed at lunchtime and Anthony was not due for another hour. I decided that I would not waste the hour but put it to good use by going for a long walk to replace the exercise I would have had in the gym. I therefore walked to Stratford-Sub-Castle and back - around one and a half miles - which used up both time and calories! Anthony arrived a little before 4 p.m. and we set off for Winterslow. This evening Sara cooked a fantastic pork roast - absolutely beautiful piece of pork - with a red cabbage accompaniment washed down with an American wine. Afterwards we had Eton Mess. We all dressed up for dinner and i was delighted to discover that I had lost sufficient weight to be able to wear my old silk waistcoat which I had bought several years ago in Paris. Anthony kindly took some photos of us in our smart gear. After dinner, Anthony and I went down to the Lion's Head where we found the bar pretty full with people in fancy costume. Still wearing my waistcoat I felt that I could pass for Dennis Taylor, the snooker player. The prize went to Mick Gong as "Mr. T". Richard and Linda joined us and after a couple of hours in the pub came back with us to see the New Year in over a glass of bubbly and to play charades! They left us at around 1 a.m. and we continued to play charades until 3 p.m. in the morning. I am afraid that I seemed to lose track of both the time and the amount of wine I drank! I am sure that I have well and truly blown the Fight Fighter regime today!

Another Butter Pack (Half a Pound) Lost!

Was up early again this morning as I had a meeting with one of my clients in central Salisbury at 9.00 a.m. I drove to the Park & Ride and caught the bus into the city centre in good time for the meeting - in fact I also had time to visit a couple of banks. My meeting over, I called in at Staples for some stationery supplies before returning home in time to take Tom's friend Douglas back home to the Wallops and going on to Fat Fighters in Andover. The usual location for our meeting was closed due a burst water pipe and do we had to visit a dance studio on an industrial estate. I had mixed feelings about finding the location as I was convinced that I just have put on at least 2 pounds weight over the Christmas period. Sara had indeed put on one pound but to my astonishment, and that of the person weighing me, I had lost a further half a pound! Not much, admittedly, but at least I hadn't gone the wrong way and I would have been satisfied if I had stayed the same. Thank goodness I had gone for those long walks otherwise I certainly wouldn't have done it. This evening the whole family went swimming again but Sara, who hates swimming at the best of times, retreated to the hot tub after only a couple of lengths in the main pool. Tonight I attended a drinks evening at Debbie and Jonathan's (Ben's owners) which was well attended by many of of friends. Unfortunately Sara and the children didn't come with me as the children had misbehaved badly at home and were grounded - this meant that Sara had to stay behind too. A lovely evening though with excellent company.

Swimming

The snow has completely gone this morning but in its place we have the appalling fog - down to 10 yards visibility. Sara went off to Morning Star this morning but wasn't required as most of the homeless have found hostels to stay in over the festive season and don't require the banquet food. In view of the mounting rubbish I drove to the amenity tip in Amesbury to take the recycling - paper, wrapping paper, tins and cans and domestic rubbish so we don't get overloaded with them. Tom had his friend Douglas (from The Wallops) over for the afternoon and night and they spent most of the time on his Xbox or making movies on his laptop. Mary and I went swimming for an hour which was good exercise seeing as I hadn't done done any long walks over the last two days. Tomorrow we go to the Fat Fighter's Weigh-In at Andover which I am not looking forward to as I fear my weight loss may have turned to weight gain over the last week. I've certainly eaten and drunk far less than I would normally at Christmas so here's hoping. Tonight I dealt with some important bills and correspondence whilst Sara did some more ironing.

Sporting Triumphs

It was a strange day today because being a Tuesday, and a bank holiday, it felt very weird indeed. It was made even stranger by the fact that Saints were playing a home match against Huddersfield Town at 3 p.m. this afternoon and so it felt like a Saturday. I also spent some of the morning working - a strange state of affairs as in my previous life I would try to avoid work on a bank holiday at all costs! Tom was also confused as football matches on a Tuesday tend to kick-off in the evening and he was convinced that the game was an evening affair. He was, therefore, taken quite unawares when at 12 noon I asked him to get ready to go to Southampton. He was still in his pyjamas playing on his XBox! The weather was very foggy as we drove across to Southampton and the traffic in the city was terrible. We managed to get parked at just before 2 pm. - still time to visit the chippie where we shared a portion of chips and I had a fried cod (removing most of the batter to reduce the points!) before getting to the stadium. The ground wasn't as packed as I had expected and we were all rolling our eyes upwards when, after 13 minutes, we let in another silly goal. Shades of the Brentford game descended! However we equalised shortly after that and by halftime we were 2-1 up. Two further goals in the second half and the results elsewhere going our way meant that at the end of the day Saints jumped from 11th place to 5th in the space of ninety minutes and only two points behind the automatic promotion spot. We all left feeling pretty good. Tonight I went to bed early so that I could listen to the fourth and final day of the 4th Ashes Test Match in Melbourne. England only needed to take four more Australian wickets to win the match and retain the Ashes. I listened to the match in bed on my sports radio on headphones. Needing only one wicket to win the match and secure the Ashes my radio frequency suddenly changed to the Shipping Forecast which lasted ten minutes. Once over, listeners were greeted to the news that England had indeed won - so I missed the actual final ball of the game. Never mind, the result was what mattered and I was able to switch off and go to sleep by 1 a.m. A very satisfactory day in the sporting calendar!

Another Long Walk (and for Ponting!)

The weather has warmed up a little today and is now above freezing. Unfortunately not enough to be able to get my car out of the drive. I tried several times and although I shovelled the top layer of snow off the drive it was not sufficient to get the car right out; although I did manage to get it to the top of the drive and was only a foot or so away from getting it out. Southampton FC have announced that the game against Huddersfield Town tomorrow is still on so I will need to get it out tomorrow morning. Let's hope the slow thaw continues. Today I went off for another long walk - 3.26 miles this time. My route took me down Cobb Lane to Dunstable Cross, through Church Hollow returning via Weston Lane (through the copse) and across Barry's Field to the Village Hall and back home. The journey took me an hour and a half as I stopped off to take some photos (see one of Cobb Lane above) and the track down to Dunstable Cross alongside the Roman road was not easy to walk on. Tonight Sara served up an amazingly good paella from a Weight Watcher's recipe and we all watched National Lampoon Christmas Holiday which the kids thought hilarious. Tom then spent some time gaming on his XBox whilst Sara and Mary watched Sister Act. I went to bed early and watched the highlights from yesterday's third day of the fourth Ashes Test Match. England ended yesterday on 444-5 and tonight I watched the live coverage which brought their First Innings' total to 513-All Out. Overnight, Australia struggled to 169-5 against the English seam bowlers. An English win and the retention of the Ashes look inevitable barring an absolute disaster. Not much sleep tonight!

A long Boxing Day walk

The weather continues with its cold snap and my car remains trapped in our drive. After yesterday's excesses of food I thought it a good idea to go for another 3-miles walk today and walked my circuit to East Winterslow and back - 2.8 miles to be precise. Sara and Mary also went for a walk and did the 2.4 miles circuit down Weston Lane, Livery Road, passing the Rectory on the way back along The Plantation back to The Common. There had been a deep frost last night and the frozen snow was quite difficult to walk on especially where it had been compacted. I found that Clough Lane was so dangerous that Pheasant Hill had been closed to traffic. Nevertheless, I plodded on along Pincroft Lane and took some lovely snowy photographs with my Blackberry across Salisbury Plain. I felt really invigorated by the time I returned (after 70 minutes). I had a warming home-made mulligatawny soup on my return and we had a video chat with Sara's Dad, Andrea and Andrea's son, Rick/Duff who I guess is Sara's step-brother. He is spending Christmas in North Carolina from New Hampshire where he currently lives (a little north of Boston). this evening we watched Crocodile Dundee and Some Mothers do 'Ave 'Em on the TV. I actually went to bed quite early tonight feeling quite tired. I watched some TV before Sara joined me well before midnight. This wretched cold weather which seems to go on and on is really quite debilitating and interferes with many things I'd like to do - for example clear a load of things and take them down the dump. Still we are on holiday. Today's Southampton match against Charlton was postponed and the Saints have dropped to eleventh in the table. However some good sporting news is that England are thrashing the Aussies in the Fourth Ashes Test Match and look like retaining the Ashes on Aussie territory.

Christmas Day 2010 - A Stilton Fest!

Christmas Day has arrived - very cold and icy. Unlike previous Christmases, nobody seemed in a hurry to get up this morning - including the children who had to be woken up. Sara made tea for us and as traditional has it put a splash of Scotch in mine. The children came in and we opened our stocking presents - generally small items which we allow ourselves to have before breakfast and our trip to church. I served up cold gammon and warm boiled eggs for breakfast washed down with ornage juice. Elizabeth took a pack congregation for the Christmas Day Eucharist in her usual relaxed and humorous style - using her shoes to bring across the message that Jesus came down to Earth and is always in our shoes which ever ones we are wearing. After the service we returned home and I lit a nice wood fire and served bucks fizz before we opened our presents. We haven't gone mad this year but had a very good spread of gifts. Sara was given a new digital camera from me and she gave me some Vie aftershave and quite a few books and DVDs. The children had a variety of quite inexpensive presents. We missed the Queen's Speech this year as we were still at the dinner table - traditional turkey, pudding and Stilton cheese with a good vintage (1988) Medoc wine. The diet has certainly hit the buffers today! The Stilton was placed on our coffee table and over the course of the evening shrank dramatically and pieces of cheese were scooped out using my 1912 antique Stilton spoon. Such a lovely cheese - but deadly for the diet! We had a very quiet day with no phone calls from any relatives and this year we made none. Tonight we watched TV (Dr. Who and On the Buses films) before having a relatively early night at 11.15 p.m. Need to get some walking in over the next few days!

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve and the snow still lays on the ground around us. Very cold again today with further cold spells forecast over the next few days. After dealing with a number of business emails which came in overnight and early this morning I chatted with Sara's brother, Adam, via Skype before setting off for a 2 mile walk to deliver Bible Reading Fellowship books and some presents for Richard and Linda, Dave and Bev and Ben the dog. My trip took me nearly an hour and a half as I was invited in at each location having a cup of coffee and a lovely chat with Bev and Dave at Morning Star. Tonight I cooked the traditional gammon joint for our Christmas Eve supper which we had with cider - the remainder is in the fridge to server up cold with boiled eggs for Christmas Day breakfast. I know Sara is anxious to open some presents tonight but I always prefer to leave them until Christmas Day and enjoy the surprise that day. We decided not to go to the Crib service this afternoon and as we are going to church tomorrow morning we will give the Midnight Eucharist service a miss too.

First Stone Lost!!!

The weather remains cold today but my trip to Stockbridge to attend the "Fat Fighters" meeting warmed me up no end! After a few indulgences this week I expected a poor result at this week's weigh-in. You can imagine how surprised and delighted I was to discover that I had lost a further 4 pounds this week - twice my target! This also meant that I had lost over a stone since the beginning - some five weeks ago - indeed I have now lost 16.5 pounds or 1 stone 2.5 pounds. Sara has lost a further pound making her total 7 pounds or half a stone - so we both got awards - in my case a little glass pebble to represent the stone I had lost. Now working for my second one! I had a lot of case work to deal with today as my clients are anxious to get their severance agreements sorted as much as possible before the Christmas break. This afternoon I drove to the printers to pick up thirteen boxes of parish magazines (some 800 copies in total) and delivered them to the distributors. This meant that time didn't permit me to go on a walk today. Richard came around this evening and brought us a bottle of late vintage port as a Christmas present. I shall enjoy drinking this with some Stilton cheese of Christmas. Went to bed quite early tonight.

All Aboard!

The weather was a little warmer today but never reached much above zero degrees Centigrade. More work to do for Complex clients this morning and this afternoon I had a meeting with Trethowans the solicitors in Salisbury to discuss arrangements for referring some of Complex's clients to them for signing off compromise agreements. We are truly busy at the moment. A very satisfactory meeting and it was also nice to see Julie from the Lion's Head in their offices - a familiar face. I hadn't realised that as well as being married to Anton, the landlord, she had also been employed by Trethowans as their Facilities Manager for 30 years! After my meeting I went into Salisbury to do some essential shopping including Sara's main Christmas present - it's a surprise so cannot divulge it just yet. Finished up in Waitrose getting some final grocery items and filling Sara's car with fuel - we both have to use it at present as mine is still stuck in the snow and ice in our drive - it hasn't moved since last Friday! At least I am getting plenty of walking in at the moment which I hope will keep my weight down - it's Fat Fighter's "Weigh-In Day" tomorrow! I finally managed to get the model railway layout working after filing down the ends of the rails and piercing my thumb with a piece of fishplate in the process - blood on the track looked like there had been a major rail disaster in miniature! I have mounted the rails on an old pasting table which, unfortunately, bows in the middle and that has caused all sorts of problems. Still, Tom is taking an interest and there is much room for creativity. Sara and I ended the day watching "Grumpy Old Women" on the TV. Not sure why as we are both grumpy ourselves and tend to agree with everything said!

"Mrs December"

I little warmer today but the snow still remains and some of the side roads are certainly treacherous. I spent most of the morning working on Complex matters with a couple of teleconferences with clients. There is quite a bit of pressure to get compromise agreements in place before the end of the year hence the pressure here at the moment. Additionally I had to print off all the quiz questions and answer sheets for tonight's Church quiz and social at the Lord Nelson. The Bible Reading Fellowship (BRF) books arrived at lunchtime today so I also needed to sort these out and get them into envelopes for the recipients so I could give a few out at this evening's event. Sara has decided to go ahead with her "Calendar Girls" idea and asked me to kick-start the process by taking a picture of her as "Mrs. December" which she can then send to other prospective "Months". She has three, possibly four volunteers but needs another six or seven. The resulting photo is posted here. This afternoon I went for a three-mile walk to East Winterslow delivering some of the BRF material as I went along. The air was crisp but not too cold and wearing proper hiking boots and using my ice stick did the circuit in about an hour and a half. Clough Lane and Pincroft Lane were very icy but I did meet a runner along Pincroft Lane moving very rapidly. I stopped off for chats with Lynne, Chris, Hilary and Richard on my way round. Despite this long walk I did not have a very good day "pointswise" as at the social event tonight I had three pints of beer and some buffet food/nibbles which I really should have left alone - hey but it was a treat! Still not used up all my "naughty points" this week. Late on this afternoon I got my model railway out as Tom has expressed an interest to build a proper layout. I managed to build a small circuit and tested all the electrics with a small shunter which worked okay for a time but there is a loose connection to the track which will need soldering. I am quite enthusiastic about getting all up and working and Tom certainly wants to vent his creativity on the landscaping. The social and quiz was a success but we were missing quite a few stalwarts - mainly due to the weather. We were a little amazed that the bible round of the quiz did not score as highly we expected - seeing it was a church function! Back home, Sara and I watch the first two episodes of the dramatisation of The Nativity. More work tomorrow.

Fire and Snow

More snow again overnight - "snow on snow" and my car is, once more, firmly stuck in the drive. Fortunately, Sara has been able to keep hers on the main road and so it was she who went into town today to take Mary to the doctors' (Mary had a lump behind her ear which, thankfully, was simply a swollen gland connected with her sore throat and general cold). Tom and I stayed at home and the morning hum-drum was disrupted by the site of three fire engines in Weaver's Close and smoke pouring out of our neighbour's (the Biggins's) house. Apparently a tumble dryer had exploded in their integral garage and the whole contents of the garage had caught fire destroying, amongst other things, their boiler. They have had to evacuate their house and will not be spending Christmas there. What a horrible situation and it makes any problems we have seem very insignificant. This afternoon I went for a short walk up to the top of Gunville Hill and delivered Christmas cards on the way including one for Petra up on Red Lane. The snowy views looking across the village from up there were magnificent. There can be no doubt that the golf tournament tomorrow will be cancelled and I expect I shall be spending another day at home. More and more work, however, seems to be coming in so I certainly have plenty to do.

Walking in a Winter Wonderland

Snow everywhere again today. The freezing conditions last night made sure that yesterday's fall of snow didn't disappear this morning. Nobody was particularly excited at the prospect of getting up early and going to church but as I was this mornings intercessor, I needed to get up and get to church early. There was no prospect of driving to church today so I set off on the one mile walk to church in the frozen snow leaving home at 8.50 a.m. and arriving at 9.20 a.m. Nils took the service this morning and it was well attended despite the appalling weather and the coldness of the church building. I used the opportunity to give out as many local Christmas cards as possible and on the way home called in at the Maces and Dawn - whom I helped clear her car of ice and snow. This afternoon we all joined Klynn on a long 4-mile walk around Bentley Wood with Otis, their setter dog. Sara hated it - she doesn't like walking and doesn't like the cold so a long walk in the cold snow is not her idea of recreation. I. on the other hand, love it and would happily have walked some more. All the walking today earned me a lot of points and so Klynn and I agreed to meet in the Lion's Head with Commander Chris who is on leave from the Chagos Islands. We had a few pints in the small bar as the main bar was full of people attending the pub draw. It was good to see Chris and catch up on old times. He spent a lot of time down in the South Atlantic and so I tapped him for information as to how I could get to Antarctica for a holiday. This cold weather is certainly good acclimatisation for it!

Snow Again!

Well the dreaded snow finally arrived this morning - we woke to about four inches of snow on the ground and my car deeply covered and stranded in the drive. Fortunately, as we had expected this, Sara's car was in the lay-by at the top of the close so we had at least one means of transport should we need it. Much of the rest of the country is also covered and there is massive disruption at the airports, particular London Heathrow. Thank goodness we are not spending Christmas abroad this year. I spent an hour this morning delivering church Christmas cards to houses in our neighbourhood and enjoyed the exercise - I also took the opportunity to deliver a few of our own cards to our friends and neighbours. Mary's friends had stayed over and they had great fun building a snowman. I had a late brunch today (helps keep the points down!) and this afternoon wrote out the last of the local cards - until I ran out. Sara cooked a lovely smoked haddock fishcake for supper washed down with some New Zealand bubbly from Waitrose. This evening I wrote my prayers of intercession for church tomorrow and Sara and I watched three episodes of Air Crash Investigation before going to bed - a nice warm bed thanks to the electric blanket. It is just so cold. I think that I will be walking to church tomorrow.

Chocolate Sleep-Over

The expected snow did not arrive overnight but it is mighty cold this morning! I was up very early today to attend the last Ambassadors' Business Breakfast meeting before Christmas. Ate bacon and scrambled eggs with mushrooms missing out the black pudding ans sausages which I would normally add to my plate. I am determined to reach the one stone loss mark by next Thursday - achievable with care. I returned home and worked on some Complex matters as well as finishing off all the postal Christmas cards - job done! Mary was still feeling under the weather today and so I collected her from school so that she could have a hot meal (soup and a roll) for lunch and returned her at 1 p.m. to take part in the school Christmas service which, this year, was not open to the parents as it was being held in the school assembly hall and not the church and so all the parents could not be accommodated. I called in at the Lord Nelson to see Sara and bumped into James who bought me a pint of excellent porter (well I couldn't refuse could I?). Tonight Mary had a couple of friends over for a "sleep-over" and the chocolate fountain came out again! I took Tom up to Sarum Academy this evening for his football practice although his game tomorrow (as is the Saints game at Walsall) postponed. My intention was to drop him off and then spend an hour in the gym to earn some activity points but when I tried to get into the gym I was reminded me that my membership only allowed me to use it before 6 p.m. and not after that time! This meant that I would have to borrow some of my weekly "naughty points" if I was to have a couple of pints of beer with Richard in the Lion's Head tonight - a previous appointment we'd made so we could finalise the questions for the church quiz next Tuesday. Never mind, I bit of walking tomorrow is now in order. Had a very pleasant evening with Richard and two other villagers discussing diets, flags, schools and generally putting the world to rights. Anton also has a fine winter ale on at the moment.

The scales don't lie - or do they?

The weather was much milder this morning but because of the severe weather warnings for the north I had decided, last night, not to venture northwards to Grimsby for fear of being stranded by the appalling severe weather predicted for the weekend. Sara and I went to Stockbridge this morning to be weighed in at "Fat Fighters" and I was disappointed to find that I had only lost one pound this last week. I suppose fish and chips on Saturday and an evening ball haven't helped. I have also not been dog-walking this week and been quite sedentary. Still at least its a pound in the right direction. Only another pound and a half before my first stone has come off. Sara also lost a pound so for the first time in four weeks we lost exactly the same. Whilst at the meeting I received a phone call from a grateful client who had managed to successfully negotiate a substantial increase on his severance package thanks to advice I had given. This afternoon, after lunch of a bacon roll, I went into Salisbury to buy Tom's new laptop from PC World and to do some banking and other errands. I also went to the Leisure Centre and spent an hour in the gym doing some cycling and walking - 6 pro-points. I weighed myself whilst there and the machine recorded my weight as 6 pounds lighter than the Fat Fighter's scales! If they are correct I have definitely lost more than a stone since the Summer! Not sure which scales to believe now. I also did some shopping in Waitrose and bought us a duck for either Boxing Day or New Year's Day. This was at Mary's request. On the way back to the village from Salisbury the snow started to come down quite heavily confirming my worries that a trip to Grimsby was not such a good idea. Tonight we all watched the Royal Variety Performance on the TV. Tomorrow sees the last day of school for the kids. Up early tomorrow, weather permitting, to attend the Ambassadors' meeting.

A day at home - more bad weather on the way

Sara was out at Morning Star this morning leaving me to finish off the Christmas cards - only a few more to do before the second class postage cut-off date. I made myself a good breakfast of bacon rashers, mushrooms and an egg. I also sent off the Mission Giving cheques to the various charities which the church is supporting this year. It will be good for them to get these before Christmas. I received two lovely letters from Morning star in respect of the donation given to them by the church and from the pub quiz. Tom went with the school to Southampton this afternoon to see the pantomime, Aladdin, starring Paul O'Grady and I went to his school in Stockbridge this evening to pick him up from the coach. Dinner this evening was a stir fry but I felt quite stuffed and with no dog walking this week can't see how I will have lost any weight. Tomorrow sees another trip to Fat Fighters but I am not too optimistic of a very good result this week. Still in a quandary as to whether or not I should drive up to Grimsby. The weather tomorrow might be okay but there are severe weather warnings for Friday night and Saturday up there with a possible 20 cm of snow. There is a very strong possibility that I might not be able to get back for Christmas. As things stand at the moment I think I might have to abandon the trip - and possibly the trip to Walsall on Saturday. This awful weather is likely to cause major disruption throughout the UK. Let's see what tomorrow brings - I'll do any packing in the morning!

Happy 10th Birthday, Mary!

Mary's tenth birthday today - Happy Birthday! Mary came into our bedroom quite early to open all her presents and read her cards. Unfortunately for her, it was a normal school day and Sara bought Freddo chocolate bars and fingers of fudge for her to distribute to all her classmates. Sara spent the morning ironing whilst I dealt with Complex work - accounts and drafting a dismissal letter for our client in Liverpool. I also spoke to another client concerning his severance package. Lunch was soup and a roll and I spent the afternoon writing my two articles for the Parish Magazine and writing the remainder of the Christmas cards which need posting - I will be so pleased when they are all completed. Tonight we had a Chinese supper (one of Mary's favourites) and I was delighted to find that special chow mein was only 12 points. I indulged myself with a couple of glasses of wine too! I spoke to Mum and my sister Heather and Sara's father phoned from the States to wish Mary a happy birthday. Sara's brother Adam also called from Thailand and we had a long chat about his proposed visit to England and France in May next year. It looks as though I will be taking them over to Paris at some point for a couple of days. We can't decide at this moment whether to use the car, plane or train. Plenty of time to decide. Very tired this evening after a late night last night. Will look forward to my bed this evening.

A Vie-lly nice evening

It's always good to get dressed up in a black tie outfit and tonight I was accompanying Sara to her Vie Christmas party function at the De Vere Hotel in Southampton forgoing a trip to my usual masonic Christmas dinner in Brighton. However, I had much to do first today including a trip to the dentist's at 8.20 a.m. for a check-up and to discuss some further cosmetic dental work. I met Sara for coffee at Caffe Nero and then she went off to have her nails "done" whilst I went to Poundland to get some essential gifts for Morning Star to give to some of the homeless men on the streets of Salisbury e.g. scarves, hats, gloves, toiletries, chocolate etc. We met up again at the nail bar and spent some more time together shopping for the family. We returned home separately and I then spent some time this afternoon on consultancy work in the study before we got dressed up to go out this evening. I spoke briefly to my sister on the phone to discuss Mum's problem about having no one to look after her following an operation next week. We are both tied up with our own responsibilities and live great distances. The weather looks as though it is likely to turn nasty and we both think Mum should try and put it off until after Christmas if possible. I am due to go up there later this week, hopefully when the weather is reasonable but will need to get back on Saturday afternoon before the weather closes in. Going up on Saturday could be a problem. I am sure the hospital can keep her in overnight if necessary. Sara and I had a pleasant evening in Southampton although the food was minimal - no problem for us on our diets. The room was beautifully decorated but very dark. We had to sit through some award ceremonies and Sara nominated me as Supporting Partner of the Year or some such thing. I had to go out on the stage with my nomination envelope in front of 170 people - what a shock! I didn't win but it was a nice surprise and Sara had some written some wonderful things in the nomination envelope. I really am proud of her and her successes with Vie and love her to bits even if I am planning my revenge now!

The Twelve Days of Christmas

A really busy day today - and that was without going to church this morning. As Sara and I were leading the Food for Thought service this afternoon in the Village Hall we decided to use the time, this morning, to finalise everything including the fine tuning of Sara's playlet which Richard and I were to perform. I also set about ensuring that all the Questions and Answers for tonight's pub quiz were together and accurate. I felt that the Food for Thought service went really well and was well received - especially the singing of The Twelve Days of Christmas. At the beginning, Sara explained the the significance of the song and that in the Middle ages it had been a contemporary "Deck of Cards" type song with hidden religious significance. Unfortunately, the service was poorly attended with only about 15 adults (three of whom were clergy) and a similar number of children. We certainly seemed to be "preaching to the converted" - literally. There was certainly plenty of sausage rolls and mince pies left over. It was then a mad rush to clear up and get ready for the pub quiz at the lion's Head. I gave Mum a quick ring and learned that she is to have an operation next Monday, just before Christmas. According to the weather forecast we are due for some really appalling arctic weather by the weekend and my trip up to Grimsby this weekend might have to be postponed for a second time. The pub quiz at the Lion's Head was really well attend this evening and we raised £70 for Morning Star. We were complimented on the questions and the way we had put everything together. The Twelve Days of Christmas appeared again - as did connectino rounds on Titanic and Winterslow. I was delighted to see many members of the our House Group and the church in attendance. The downside is that we will have to do a fresh quiz for the 21st December at the Lord Nelson when we are putting on a similar evening for the the church members. We had hoped we could have used the same questions. Anton bought us each of us (me, James and Richard) a pint afterwards. I finally got home at 11.30 p.m. - tired but satisfied that we had given a good account of ourselves today - both at FFT and the Quiz. Up early again tomorrow to see the dentist again!

Poor Day for Football

Not a very good footballing day today. Up bright and early again as Tom had to be up at the Hilltop Grill for a trip to Winchester to play for Clarendon Juniors. We all arrived at 9.15 a.m. or thereabouts and as usual I led the merry band using my SatNav. This time we arrived without any SatNav bungles onloy to find that the game had been called off because the pitch "might have some frost under the surface" to quote the groundsman. Five away football teams, ourselves included, were livid. We could have stayed in Winterslow. Gary inspected the pitch amd reported that he could see not frost at all - the temprarature has been above freezing over the last 48 hours. As Tom and I were going on to watch Saints play Brentford, this afternoon, we decided to drive on into Southampton and do some shopping. We parked at our ususal car park and walked to the stadium for me to pick up the cup tie tickets against Blackpool and also an away ticket for the Walsall match next week. We then walked to the main shopping area and bought Tom some new football boots - pink ones! - his choice. We had some Harry Ramsden's fish and chips (27 pro-points aaagh!) which I found difficult to finish - I left most of the batter. After some further looking around the shops we walked back to the car and then back to St. Mary's to watch the match. Saints were terrible - I can hardly bring myself to describe how ghastly they were. Two stupid soft goals at the hand sof our goalie, Kelvin cost us the three points. A bad day - especially as our rivals didn't do so well and we could have really capitalised on a win. Not a happy bunny today as far as football was concerned - one postponed match; one appalling game and one pair of pink football boots for Tom! Tonight I had to make do with chicken breast in tomato sauce and broccoli and a glass of red wine. Fortunately becasue of the amount of walking I did in Southampton today - 4 miles - my fish and chips won't have done too much damage. It really is amazing how bad they are on this diet!

Village Carol Concert

A very busy day today with the weather a little warmer than recently. I was up early and dealt with a number of items in the study before setting off for Salisbury where I was to meet a client at Caffe Nero. I chose to use the Park and Ride service which I had been told was currently free - it was not and I had to pay £2,50. Still, as it happened, that was still cheaper than it would have cost to park in town for three hours. My meeting went well and just as I was leaving I met Bev and Dave from Morning Star in the coffee shop and stopped and had a chat with them. They were waiting for some flyers to printed for distribution at tonight's carol concert. Following my meeting I did some Christmas shopping/birthday shopping for Mary - picking up a chocolate fountain from Argos and some fair trade chocolate from Poundland. I visited the cash n'carry after I left Salisbury and picked up some USA wine and other drinks and nibbles for the Food for Thought service on Sunday. With VAT going up in January I thought it appropriate to stock up on wine for home at the lower VAT rate - that's my excuse for now having a garage full of wine! Back home I dealt with another client's matter before taking Tom up to Sarum Academy for his football training session. Having dropped him off, I rushed back home to go with Sara to the Village Community Carol Service. A lovely ecumenical event hosted by the pastor of the Baptist Church. Coffee and mince pies followed - I stuck to the coffee. Really lovely occasion. Richard and I met up at the Lion's Head for a couple of pints and discussed Sunday's quiz with Anton, the landlord. Anton bought us each a pint of bitter - a real red letter day. Sara has been working on the Food for Thought presentation today and we are just about there. Mary had a sleep over with her girl friends, Ally and Molly. They were still up laughing and giggling at 1.30 a.m. Little sleep for any of us!

Success at Fat Fighters

The sun shone this morning as Sara and I drove into Stockbridge for the great "Fat Fighters'" weigh-in. I was delighted, though shocked to find that I had lost five and a half pounds this last week. I can only put it down to quite a bit of walking and not attending a couple of planned dinners. Again I was the star member and I have also achieved a 5% total weight loss in three weeks! Celebrations! I was really delighted. Sara and I had a coffee in the hotel before returning home where I had a telephone conference with a client at 11.30 a.m. After a light soup lunch I went into Salisbury to deal with some important banking and errands before returning home to prepare for tonight's House Group. This evening we watched the TV film Five Minutes of Heaven starring Liam Neeson and James Nesbit about a UVF assassin being confronted by the brother of his victim 33 years later as part of a truth and reconciliation process. Richard, James and I finalised the quiz questions for Sunday's Pub Quiz.

Cold Climate

Another day in the village - unless I have to go out I am content to stay at home in this exceedingly cold weather. Sara did her usual stint at Morning Star this morning and I attended the Mid Week Eucharist up at St. John's Church which was conducted by Nils. It gave me an opportunity to speak to Elizabeth and others about their roles at the Food for Thought service on Sunday. I spent much of the afternoon writing Christmas cards as well as doing some consultancy work for Complex. An established client in Liverpool is going to have to lay off staff and I have been asked to assist in the process by advising on the fair way to do this. All our work at the moment seems to be of a negative nature as businesses struggle in this equally cold economic climate. I cannot see things getting any better in the New Year as VAT is increased. The true costs of state overspending under the previous government are now beginning to take their toll as the coalition seeks to redress the balance. Tonight, Sara had a Vie party in Salisbury and I watched the Oliver Stone film, JFK. If only it wasn't so cold.

England Win the Second Ashes Test

The cold weather continues with freezing conditions including freezing fog. Getting up this morning, I was so glad that I wasn't driving the 260 miles to Grimsby. After breakfast of sausages, bacon and mushrooms, Sara and I started work on the Food for Thought service for Sunday. We have chosen the music, Sara has adapted a play (skit) on the subject of gifts and we have the poster printing in hand. I still need to prepare my talk/facilitation on the gifts of the Holy Spirit and we need to organise the food. At lunchtime I took Ben out for his second midday walk of the week. This time we walked down Witt Road to Bentley Wood and did our anti-clockwise picnic area walk - a total of 2.8 miles if you include my walk to and from his house. Neither Sara nor I left the village today. This afternoon I had two telephone conferences with clients - it is so good to be doing something I am trained for again - legal advice. Tonight Sara cooked one of my favourite meals - lambs liver, onions and mash - only 10 pro-points too! The only thing missing was the sage which I love. This was all used up on the stuffing for the Sunday roast. I spoke to Mum again who confirmed that the weather in Grimsby has not improved and that I made the correct decision in staying down here. This was also confirmed in a brief telephone discussion I had with David Kaye when I phoned him to let him know that I would not be seeing him tomorrow as planned. Hopefully I will be able to get up to Lincolnshire next week. Feeling really tired tonight. Probably the result of staying up late last night to watch England win the Second Ashes Test when they bowled out five Aussies in the space of less than an two hours. Well done lads, another win and we retain the Ashes on Australian soil!

Trip to North Polar Regions (Grimsby) Abandoned!

The icy weather continues but isn't as severe as it seems further north. This morning, Sara and I went into Andover to do some Christmas shopping in advance of my three-day trip to Grimsby tomorrow. We managed to get most things there - I find that the number of shops and variety really helpful for finding presents. Sara picked up her ordered dress for the Vie ball next Monday night - it looks really good on her. Once back home I took Ben out for his lunchtime walk - this time going over Mill Lane and down into the woodland at the bottom of the hill. As we walked down the farmer in the field adjacent to ours started muck spreading - what an awful experience that was - the smell quite overpowering. The walk was a little over 2 miles so Ben had a good trip out. After a light lunch I was delighted to get my car out of the drive - the first time it had moved since last Wednesday evening - and went into Salisbury to get top up with fuel and also to get some cards and a present for my nephew, James, to take up to Grimsby tomorrow. As I returned home I encountered freezing fog and a temperatures of -2 degrees C. Once again the roads are turning nasty. This evening I phoned Mum and Auntie Mim and read the weather reports on the Internet for Grimsby. They still have two feet of snow and temperatures falling at night to -15 degrees C. I therefore made the decision to abandon my trip up to Grimsby this week and will go next week with the prospect of going to Saints' away match at Walsall on the Saturday. Now, this week, I'll be at home to plan the Food for Thought service and deal with other pressing matters. Feeling really tired this afternoon and evening.

Icy Sunday in Winterslow

Still very cold when I got up this morning. Nobody was very enthusiastic to attend church today so I made myself a sausage bun and walked to church across the fields. The journey took about half an hour and I had to walk carefully to avoid slipping on the ice. Elizabeth took the service this morning - an All Age Eucharist - and I gave the reading from Isaiah. We are now already at the Second Sunday in Advent - Christmas approaches faster each year. As I walked back home after the service the sun had come out and the remaining snow and ice were melting making the tracks across the fields quite muddy. Back home I had another coffee and set about writing some more Christmas cards. This afternoon, Sara and Mary went into Salisbury shopping at Tesco's to buy groceries and some Christmas presents and cleaned and dusted the lounge - its amazing how much dust comes from the fire. I watched some TV as well as writing some more cards and letters. Tonight Sara cooked us all an excellent pork roast which was very welcomed as I had only had a light lunch of tinned crab salad. The freezing weather came back this evening with a vengeance and the melted ice and snow froze deeply. Sara made the mistake of driving down the drive with groceries and the car was subsequently stuck. I managed to get it back up to the road but it became stuck in the ice there. Hopefully we can move it down the hill tomorrow otherwise my car is now well and truly stuck in the drive. I had my now usual couple of pints with Richard and James in the Lion's Head to discuss the quiz next week and some church matters. It really is cold - must be near -10 degrees tonight. Not sure whether the Grimsby trip is going to be on this week.

Spaced Out!

Another chilly start today. Mary was off to London today to take part in a cheer leading convention or some such activity at Crystal Palace. The coach had to pick them up at the Hill Top Grill rather than the Village Hall because of the treacherous icy roads in the village and on the hills leading up to Winterslow. Sara dropped me off at the Lord Nelson on the way so I could join the Men's Breakfast Group there. Roger, the landlord, treated us to bacon, eggs, mushrooms and tomatoes (8 points in total!) and we spent half an hour or so after breakfast discussing the future of our planet with the ever diminishing resources as well as the WikiLeak scandal. Back home I discovered that another very senior executive was wanting my assistance on an employment matter and I did speak to him in the evening. I washed up and tidied the kitchen on my return as well as writing a few Christmas cards. My cold seems to be getting worse and i really did very little today after lunch except watch TV (there were a number of interesting programmes on astronomy and space travel - particularly the lunar landings). Sara made an excellent beef casserole for dinner (13 points with the two Yorkshire puddings) and a half glass of Guinness. As I write this I am well within my points budget today - in fact, I can have a small whisky before I go to bed tonight and still be within budget. I think I will to help my cold recovery. Purely medicinal you know!

A Snowy Dog Walk

Deep snow today still and very cold. Mary's school was open but she was feeling poorly so stayed at home. Tom's school was closed again so we were all at home today. My car remains snowed in. I was due to go to a business breakfast meeting this morning but thought better of it and decided to write up yesterday's blog in bed. This cold really does get to you. Lucy was unable to walk Ben today so I took him for a nice three miles walk which took us about two hours in the snow. We took the route Richard uses with Hugo and Ben had a wonderful time with his squeaky ball burying it and then digging it up again in the snow drifts. It really was beautiful up on the the hills around Bentley Woods - with the freezing fog about it was eerie too as it was not always possible to work out where you were. This evening Mary was demonstrating her cheer leading skills with others at the School Christmas Fayre which Sara and I attended. Later tonight, all four of us joined in the Quiz and Chips evening at the Lord Nelson. I was able to use the Weight Watchers points I had achieved on my long walk to treat myself to the fish and chips and pint of beer without guilt! We came fourth in the quiz which wasn't bad when you consdier there were really only two of us - Sara and myself. When we came out we discovered it was raining which was slowly dissolving the snow but leaving a lethal layer of ice in the current -8 Degrees C environment.

Winter in Winterslow

Woke up this morning to about four inches of snow. Brrrr! Both of the children's schools were closed today and so they had to stay at home. The bad weather also meant that the Weight Watcher's meeting at Stockbridge was cancelled but we could still be weighed in at a meeting at Andover. My car (see picture) was snowed in on the drive but Sara was able to get her car out on to the main road as she had parked in the Village Hall car park and so went off to Andover with Mary in the car with us. I was a bit disappointed as I had only lost one and a half pounds this week (making a total of six pounds in two weeks) but was assured that this was a good result. Bearing in mind that this week I have attended two meals (Morning Star's lunch and my masonic dinner last night) and had fishcake and chips in Southampton and beer and peanuts on Sunday at the Lion's Head not a bad result. Just very pleased that I have been out dog walking! We all went into Andover town centre and I did some banking whilst Sara and Mary did some shopping in the Chantry Centre. This evening we had a good turnout for the House Group - six of us, which with the appalling weather was excellent. Tomorrow morning I should be attending the Ambassadors' Breakfast at the Grasmere Hotel but in view of the freezing cold weather I think I'll have a lie-in.

New Nashers

The cold spell continues and the north of England is now gripped in intense blizzard conditions with temperatures as low as -27 degrees Celsius being recorded in Scotland. The east coast of England and South Yorkshire are particularly bad. Down here in Wiltshire we are fortunate that no further snow fell overnight but conditions are icy with temperatures of -2 degrees. I was up early because I had an appointment with the dentist at 8.30 a.m. to have my top teeth veneered. I took the Park & Ride bus and was in the dentist's waiting room at just after 8.15 a.m. which gave me time to read an interesting magazine article about the Chagos Islands (British Indian Ocean Territory) where our friend Chris is currently based (Diego Garcia). I spent an hour and a half in the dentist's chair - one of the most uncomfortable experiences in my life - but it was worth it as I now have a decent looking set of top teeth instead of the inwardly sloping ones I had before. My bottom teeth are still a mess but there is not a lot that be done about that unless they are removed - something no UK dentist will do. From the dentist's I had a meeting with a client in the upstairs' back room of Caffe Nero where I spent another hour and a half discussing his case and giving advice. Then it was home via the bus and car. It was bitterly cold. Mary had to be picked up from school this afternoon as she was feeling unwell - I have a horrible cold too following my dog-walking on Monday - and she spent the afternoon watching TV at home. Tonight I attended a lodge meeting in Salisbury and had to be careful what I ate as the meal was "pro-point" loaded. I was delighted, however, that my masonic suit seemed to fit me better - indicating some inch-loss around the waist. It will be interesting to see the measurements at Fat Fighters tomorrow. Tim from Brighton joined us tonight and we had a very convivial evening with carols during the festive board. On the way home the snow was falling quite briskly and I fear we may be in for a bit of a house siege tomorrow - pity because I would dearly like to go to Fat Fighters - just to see how I am doing after a second, and harder, week. Tonight Sara was also out - another Vie party - this time in Larkhill. Not a very lucrative evening with only 3 people there - but they did spend well. Looking forward to my bed tonight.