where art collides philosoperontap

Dazzling low sun shining through the kitchen window over breakfast. We are slip sliding headlong towards the shortest day of the year. It’s only when you look at a globe that you understand how far north we are. Lucky we get any light at all at this time of year.

Winter. Autumn eases us gradually out of summer into winter. You only realise we are there when one day you look up, the rain is beating against the window, trees swaying in the gale and you say to yourself, ah this is winter. I have a plentiful supply of kindling and firewood to keep us going through the coldest of the winter months that lie ahead.

Today am off with @Wayne to the smoke for a spot of dinner. Thirteen twenty four direct express. Read in the news that they are rebranding LNER to Great British Railways with Union Jack based graphic design. Not sure it does it for me. I quite liked LNER. A classic brand. GBR instantly makes me think of curled up British Rail sandwiches. The good old days?! I did like the logo. Iconic.

All is quiet in the house. THG has returned from her pool training. Said it was getting quite busy. I am officially back in the pool meself as of yesterday though I haven’t actually been for a swim yet. Got the official goahead from the surgeon to drive, sleep on my side, walk, swim, bike, row etc and that I could ditch the compression stockings. Didn’t tell him I’d done that a week ago. So today will be my first trip to London without a crutch for some time. Wow.

Am staying at the Waldorf so as to be reasonably close to the restaurant – Ivy Market Grill. Got a private room downstairs that I use fairly regularly for these dinners. The point is I am not sure how far I can walk yet. About to find out innit. It’s looking promising.

Re swimming I suspect I’m not going to renew my membership at total fitness until after Christmas. Got so much going on there seems no point. I can always squeeze in the occasional dip at Yarborough Leisure Centre.

Fox news: Single muntjac 12.55 am, fox 1.45 am

A dark and dismal morning in the shire. Not nice out there but warm and cosy in the kitch and there is bacon a sizzling in the pan. Through the now lightening window the branches of trees are buffeted by the winter wind.

The herd came through at four minutes to midnight last night. Stayed lakeside for five mins or so before naturally continuing on their regular migration route. Presumably. Fox came briefly at twelve minutes to five. The twain have hitherto not met.

THG has left for the gym on her bike. Two weights classes this morning. Hardcore.

Advent. First Sunday of. I do have an advent calendar to open but I rarely eat chocolate these days and haven’t yet made my mind up whether to start on it. Still mulling it over. In the meantime the great jar of marmalade hunt has started in the kitchen. We definitely have some as THG used it yesterday but blowed if either of us can find it in the fridge. Fortunately, this being a storecupboard item, we happen to have a backup in said storecupboard. In case of nuclear winter etc. It is not helped by the fact that we have two jars of apricot jam (I don’t know either) and a marmalade jar containing pickled cucumber (yup) in said fridge. You might already have guessed I’m having toast for breakfast. The simple things in life.

Booked a trip to Liverpool whilst lying in bed this morning. £27.25 return. Nine pence a mile. To Liverpool. Not first class for that money but there ain’t a first class option so couldn’t do that anyway. The drive to Liverpool is v tedious and the parking would have cost that much. I’ll be able to do useful things on the train innit. Look at the scenery. It’s almost a four hour journey. Let’s hope that travel isn’t disrupted by snow. Don’t mind being disrupted once we’ve made it to Liverpool and have to stay over a few extra nights.

Fox News: visitations at five to midnight, half past four and twenty five past five suggests he was a busy lad.

2 fox newses. Wednesday night at quarter to midnight and last night/this morning at twenty past midnight.

Nice hard frost out there. I like a nice hard frost. Tis as it should be. Hard winters, the wind screaming down from the north, freezing the ground and driving honest folk indoors to their hearths. Make sure that window seal is sorted. Newspaper will do the job. If you don’t get a paper just nip to Waitrose for their free weekend job.

One of the nice things about the cold is that I can start wearing my chunky black yak Himalayan sweater. Green. It’s very cosy. Today I’m going to see how I get on with putting on a pair of jeans. I’ve been wearing loose tracksuit bottoms for the last month but they aren’t warm enough for this weather, especially as I’m hoping to walk to the barbers, finally. Desperate for a haircut especially as tomorrow I’m off to London for the CCUK Christmas lunch. Tracksuit bottoms would not be appropriate for that. Also need to see how I get on with my physio exercises wearing the jeans. Might need to change back for that. Seehowitgoze. shudbeok.

After yesterday’s success with the grapefruit the story is different this morning. I had enough confidence to keep my specs on but on this occasion a squirt of grapefruit juice spurted up, squeezing through the gap between face and specs to catch me straight in the eye. Hey, one of life’s experiences eh? Oh how we laughed. Rich tapestry and all that.

This morning I have the joy of having to fix my mac mini. Developed a software glitch yesterday pm and now won’t progress more than a millimetre on the progress bar when moving on from the login screen. This is not without its challenges as the mac mini is on a rack screwed to the underneath of the desk and the screens on the desktop face the other way to where the power button sits. I need to be able to see the screen to boot it in recovery mode. I’ll work it out. Might be able to swing the Apple Studio Display around sufficiently. 

Not bothered renewing the mac mini support and it is unlikely that anything will go wrong with the hardware and if the worst comes to the worst they aren’t as expensive to replace as the Macbook Pro. Maintenance on the macbook renewed today. That is real value for money if you have a habit of knocking a glass of red wine all over it.

Successful scout group meeting last night. Moved a few things forward and got a lift home afterwards from Steve Quinn. Was dog tired and went straight to bed. Reynard came twice in the night. Twenty to eleven and twenty to five. Managed to do his round twice obvs. Still looking for food on this cold night. Second physio session this pm.

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Lake frozen over btw. Totes in keeping with the conditions.

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Walked to Antonio’s. Furthest I’ve walked in a looong time. Over a km fwiw. Things are on the up. Nice crisp walk for which I was well wrapped up. Passed the Number 151 National Express going the other way. Birmingham. On it’s way from somewhere on the coast by the looks of it as the names Louth, Wragby and Lincoln scrolled by as interim stops. Not many people on it but I guess it might pick up a load in Leicester if the final port of call is Brum.

No sign of Antonio. Just his son in law Alfio who is very quiet. This isn’t the New York barbershop social experience. Hey, he does the job. Couple of old geezers in there including one whose parting comment was “see you in a couple of weeks”. Gotta stay on top of it I guess 🙂 

My main job for this afternoon, apart from a trip to the physio, is to choose the menu and wine for the next dinner I’m hosting in London. TBH when it comes to the menu I usually just run my finger down the right hand side and choose the most expensive but in this case the wines get quite pricey and considering we usually get through at least fifteen bottles I have to choose a mid, ish ground. Well slightly higher than mid ish. Life is short, eat good food and drink good wine.

I also need to decide what to wear for tomorrow’s Christmas lunch. I do have a very nice bright red silk jacket that might do the job and a v shiny party bow tie. Trouble is it’s effin cold out though tomorrow does look as if it’s going to warm up a bit. Take the edge off at least.

It is noted that Melvyn Bragg will be a guest editor on Radio 4’s Today programme over the Christmas break. I’ve been listening to his “In Our Time” podcasts in the wee small hours to try and get back to sleep. Last night was v successful. The subject was “hypnosis”. Didn’t make it to the end of the programme 🙂 I like Melvyn Bragg. Had to filter out most of the news on the wireless. It’s all bad, including the sporting results. For some time I’ve tried to shut out the news and just look at the sport. Can’t even do that now! Maybe I should just listen to the back episodes of In Our Time. There are 1,700 of them.

It’s a grey day out there. Hiphop2 +27. I’ve decided to ditch crutch 2 a day early. Did the same thing last time as I recall. Life is a lot easier on just one crutch. Just imagine what it could be like with no crutches. That will be Hiphop2 +42 if I stick to instructions. 42 sounds like a lot. It’s odd to think that the term Hiphop2 will shortly be retired when it has been such a big part of my recent life. What comes next? Christmas. In six days, ie December,  I will officially allow myself to talk about Christmas.

Just got meself dressed, as usual. Socks apart. Uhuh you say. Valid. Where I’m going here though is tshirts. I usually take the tshirt on top of the pile in my wardrobe. This means I tend to always wear the same few shirts as the washed and ironed ones just get put back at the top of the same pile. I wonder which ones are at the bottom. Chucked a load this year and at least the shelf is a bit tidier, more manageable. My sock selection process has also been streamlined as all my winter socks are now in the same drawer, second one down from the top.

THG has gone weight training. I need to get out of the house meself. Hair cut. See how it goze.

Fox strolled by at 01:35

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15 min walk to the traffic lights at Ruskin Avenue and back. 0.4 miles. Couldn’t be bothered to go as far as the Tesco caff but could have made it physically. Google suggests my route is an 8 minute walk so half speed. Not too bad at this stage. 

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Pitch black out there. Came in from the shed at around four thirty. There were no lights on at the back of the house and the floodlight was switched off so I felt my way there in the dark. Bit of artistic license being employed here 🙂 Watched “the great mountain sheep gather” again. A timeless classic. It’s available on YouTube.

Tonight’s tea, currently in the oven, is an aubergine parmentier bake. The parmentier bit refers to the use of parmigiano apaz. We are having asparagus to start. I like a bit of asparagus. I’ll let you know about the bake. THG is off to choir practice ce soir so we are eating a little earlier than the usual six thirty. Tomorrow it’s fish finger sandwich and wednesday it’s burger. Thursday I am in London for the CCUK Christmas Lunch and won’t want an evening meal. Probs. Maybs.

Was listening to the cricket when THG came in with the tea tray and had to switch to the news cos she likes the news. It was coming up to tea at the first test anyway so I acquiesced. Would have done anyway. I have a technique of filtering out the news nowadays. I have a bucket of sand next to the bed and I stick my head in it. Metaphorically obvs. Better kip despite the cricket score. Early days yet.

Frost on the car, I am informed. There is a metoffice yellow warning of ice. Beware of yellow ice. Should be a nice crisp walk to the shed. Whilst, at hiphop2 +24, I am still three days away from being allowed to put my full weight on the new hip it already feels as if I’ll be back to walking properly. No soreness in either joint. It’s a miracle I tell you, a miracle. The biggest test will be walking to the pub, whenever that may be. 

Up now and note the frost on the kitchen roof. Pantiles. Greenhouse too. Good job THG moved her delicate plants into the greenhouse the other day. We’ve stuck the low level background heater on in there.

I have a meeting arranged today. 3pm. Not an onerous one. My meetings never are. I’ve managed to avoid doing anything onerous. Life is too short. Avoid the onerous.

Switched the telly on my laptop in response to an exclamation from a son on the Davies Lads whatsapp group. He wasn’t particularly specific but having tuned I find the aussies are thirty one for four. Test match cricket is emotionally exhausting.

So a gentle enough start to the day. THG has set off on her bike to the gym and I’ve breakfasted well on sourdough toast, bacon and crushed avocado as one does. She put my socks on for me before going. Now in the snug with tv coverage on mute and TMS providing the commentary. There is a bit of a lag for the vid. I could delay TMS but really can’t be bothered. Just popped to the kitchen to check on whether we have the ingredients for an aloo gobi (bit left field I know) and whilst I was gone we took another wicket. Was only away for a minute. Must do that more often.

I am reminded that it is a Friday. Weekend in front of us yay. Eighty three for six.

Fox action at 04:27 and 06:04.

Storm Claudia is still doing her thing. Feels as if she’s been around for some time. My records suggest we are at day 4. One of those people who come to stay without telling you when they are going home and you have to start dropping hints. Claudia has quite an icy attitude towards some parts of the country. Giving them the cold shoulder. No snow here though, just rain.

Another restless night partly spent listening to Claudia knocking on the window. Did sit in on a 2 hour TMS podcast but it was too much. I think you can overdose on cricket pre match build up. I suspect I’ll be listening to the start of the first test on Friday morning. A beneficial side effect of post operative sleepless nights. As long as we are doing ok 🙂

Used some of my time awake to delete facebook posts on American politics. Not friends’ posts. Those that facebook deems worthy of pushing my way. I’m hoping fb will get the hint. I spend much of my time avoiding political stuff. There is an element of my also avoiding religion but I do find some artistic aspects of it appealing. Nice architecture and hymns for example. I also find the history of religion interesting. All these different sects/groups who argue over slight differences of interpretation.

Anyway thought for the day is on. Très boring. I’ve switched the wireless off.

Up now and ready to head to Waitrose for a bacon roll and a cuppa with my pal Nagy Ervin the Hungarian concert pianist. It’s not even nine o’clock. Gosh. On Hiphop2 +22 the lakecam revealed a vulpine visit shortly before six. The return of the fox. He mosied around the back of the greenhouse for a bit looking for some breakfast, checked out the lake and then moved on.

THG has already headed out for the gym. Good night on the sporting front last night as Scotland scraped through to the World Cup Finals with two last minute goals and the mighty Wales walloped North Macedonia seven one making light work of the tough opposition (I should have been a sports reporter). Doubt I’ll watch much of the world cup tbh. Might watch the mighty Wales if they make it through the playoffs. If they play like they did last night, I don’t see why they shouldn’t.

Traffic has quietened down on the road outside. Kids already delivered to their place of continuing educayshun and parents moved on, either to chain themselves to their desks or to a supermarket of their choice to stock up on provisions.

Weather is nice out. Claudia must have moved on.

HipHop2 +15. Recovery, phase 2. Sounds v clinical doesn’t it? Well it is v clinical 🙂 Today I feel like taking on the walking to Tesco challenge. 0.4 mile across flat pavemented terrain with no hills to climb or rivers to cross. It’s all weather dependent. Forecast is rain. Just looked. See how it goze. If I don’t go today I will tomorrow. Weather looks better tomorrow. It’s all relative innit.

It’s a dirty autumn day out there. A few leaves still cling to the apple tree at the bottom of the garden. Lots of them are on the lawn, again. A pink rose clinging to the arch above the path between the house and the greenhouse stands out, the only bit of colour against the glum grey green backdrop. You almost feel it is time to do final preparations for hibernation.

Now upstairs, showered and partially dressed. The partial bit refers to my surgical stocking and socks which I can’t put on meself and have to rely on my chosen life partner for assistance. I’ve decided that this is quite a nice time of day, laid back on the bed, phone in hand, waiting for the arrival of THG. A calm time :).

The deck is practically invisible under the leaves. Take care when visiting. I daresay they will get brushed away in due course. All is quiet.

Last night’s fox action was at around 02:12. He mooched around the back of the greenhouse for a while.

Feels a bit more comfortable now that the sutures have been removed, btw. I think it was the same last time. Mr M has done another great job with his needle fair play.

HipHop2 +14. Stitches removal day. Fox appeared in the front garden at 02:28. Lake cam caught him at 00:23. Separate visits. Off to Waitrose with THG. Her running club meets in the carpark, pounds the streets for an hour or so and ends up in the caff for a coffee and a natter. I’m headed straight to the caff for a cup of tea and a bacon roll followed by a short shop. THG has given me a list which I typed into my “Tref’s Shopping List 2025” doc. I keep it online so that I can easily refer to it when at Waitrose. The last entry was August! That’s long gap between shopping trips.

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09:35 the Pink Ladies running club set off from Waitrose carpark. I’ve just finished my bacon roll. Should have taken more time over it. Quiet in the caff. Woman sat in a booth opposite waited until her pal came back, saving the seats. Pal returned with two packets of socks. First woman went to get the coffees whilst the pal studied the socks packaging. She returns with drinks and ironmongery and female talk ensues. 2 x scrambled eggs and toast arrive. Not big on scrambled eggs meself.

Did me shopping and bumped into old uni mate Phil Davies at the checkout so went back to the caff with him to await the return of the Pink Ladies. The sock woman and pal hadn’t moved. Home now. Forgot to buy lime juice!

HipHop2 + 13. Terrible weekend of sport. I don’t want to talk about it. Good job it’s only a game. On the bright side, getting the stitches removed tomorrow. Looking at HipHop1 + 13 it all looks very much the same progress as this current HipHop. Rubbish sleep. However it was two weeks before I made it to the shed the first time around so in that respect this time is an improvement as I am there every day.

Old Reynard visited last night. 01:03. Mooched around for a minute or two. It was absolutely bucketing it down. A fox doesn’t let a bit of rain get in his way.

Two small slices of toast and a piece of bacon for breakfast. Also finished off the grapefruit I started yesterday. To call it a half would not be accurate. More like a third. So yesterday was a two thirds portion. It would not be easy to split it into three thirds and make it last three days. Unconventional anyway. You still have to take all the precautions with a third; ie remove specs whilst eating. The meals planned for the rest of the day are a slice of Waitrose orange and marmalade ham and a tomato for lunch and a fishfinger sandwich for tea. It’s all I want. 

Made it to the bus stop this morning. This was a longer walk than you think as my start and end points were the shed. More like from the front door to Queensway, ish. A bit slippery under foot so care does have to be taken but it is a lovely day and a pleasure to be out in the fresh air. Really there is nothing to stop me walking further other than it is frustratingly slow. What I need is the companionship of another quadruped, ie crutch user, not a dog, to chat about subjects of mutual interest whilst we walk. Lakes n stuff.

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Absolutely chucking it down in the shire. I am stranded in the shed. All I have to survive on is a bottle of gin, some cans of tonic water and two packets of plain crisps purloined from the first class lounge in Kings Cross. I guess I could always order a deliveroo and direct them around to the back of the house to the shed. I’ll be alright for a while and it’s a bit early in the week to start on the gin. It would affect my performance on University Challenge tonight. At 14:15 is is quite dark out there, a contrast with the brightly lit interior of the shed. Good job I did the walk this morning innit.

HipHop2 +9 and counting. Another day another something or other. What really is there to report? The boys are playing golf today. Not me obvs. Another autumnal day out there. The apple trees in the garden are pretty much stripped of leaves, a few hardy stalwarts hanging on in there. Out there. Up there. Tomatoes continue to ripen in the greenhouse. THG picked the remaining greenuns and left them on a shelf and they have slowly been turning red. Nature’s gift that keeps on giving. A single pink rose provides colour around the arch near the apple tree and raised beds.

Last night’s visitors amounted to a/the cat at 22:16, 00:36 and 00:41 and fox at 03:13 and 06:14. The BIG NEWS is we had a hedgehog at the lake at 00:36. By 06:14 it was raining. 

The arrival of the hedgehog on the scene is very exciting. Having downloaded the lake cam media from the kitchen window the first thing I did after getting dressed was to hot foot/crutch it to the lake to make sure there was no hedgehog in the water. If a hog did enter the water it has a couple of exit points including the ramp at the entrance and the jetty at the far end, near where Brian fishes. No hedgehog there to worry about. Wondering whether it is the same little guy I rescued from the hole in the patio near the conservatory. Quite likely.

Anyway this is good progress and, I’d like to think, a dividend of the rewilding that has been going on in front of the shed. Earlier I’d checked the cctv as I do only to see a spider building its web in front of one of the cameras. You can see it in timelapse. If I get around to it I’ll put together a short vid of the process. I’ll also go around the cameras brushing off these webs. They are only visible at night but I don’t want them there.

Flurry of phone calls this morning. Firstly an expensive, ten grand,  cockup by the hospital where I had the hip done. They’ve invoiced the healthcare company with the wrong treatment descriptions and dates which Vitality has not recognised as a preauthorised activity. Sigh. It is all sortable. Just a pain that I have to do it.

Then I called the Bromhead hospital (now known as The Lincoln but if yer from around ere it’s the Bromhead) as they had sent me an email saying how excited they were about me coming in to see a physio on Friday, i.e. tomorrow. I thought I was going the following Friday. Turns out the physio from The Park Hospital had called the physio from the Bromhead and arranged it. Nobody told me! So now I’m seeing Clare who is the same physio I saw last time and not seeing Gabby Dunn who THG thinks is the sister of Harry Dunn and daughter of Pete and Caroline who we know. Harry was a good cricketer. Probably still is.

Now I’m on the phone to the dentist to book an appointment. Every thirty seconds I have to press 1 to continue to hold. Wtf is that all about. Just answer the effin phone. Given up. I’ll call back later. Called back and immediately got through. What’s more I got an appointment for next week! Unheard of. Not complaining.

Three red arrows just flew over in tight formation and then a minute later flew back the other way.

Usual crap night’s sleep but during my wanderings around the BBC podcast world I came across some triumphal works designed to help me nod off. One was eight hours of the sound of rain. I listened to ten minutes of it. Was good but didn’t get me off to sleep. Then I was offered an hour long shipping forecast with the sound of waves in between the voice. Wow. It did the trick. I set the sleep timer to the end of the show just to make sure that nothing else came afterwards and have no idea how far into the hour I nodded off. The fun thing about that podcast was that the weather was terrible everywhere. There were even a few “rising to violent storm force elevens”. I think that was the term, violent. Might be wrong but you get the gist. I like the idea of stormy weather. Nature at its grandest, most powerful. A time humanity must cower in its safe places to avoid the worst.

This morning I don’t think I can find the exact same podcast. Maybe it’s a time of day thing. I’ll be looking out for it tonight. You must be able to favourite something like that.

Update. Found it using my laptop – better UI than the phone app. It’s called the Sleeping Forecast – Seascapes. It’s the one with the sound of waves. There are other episodes with curated calming music but those are not the podcasts I seek 🙂 

This time one week ago I was still in bed in the Park Hospital. Earlier I’d had visits from Dr Brown the anaesthetist and Mr Manktelow the surgeon who drew a black arrow on my left thigh just to remind himself the difference between left and right. I had a surgical gown to change into but didn’t see the point of getting up, showered and dressed and then changing again into the gown. The knifing was scheduled for 12:04!

A week into the new hip there is progress but I’m still very much in healing mode.

Two visitors to the lake last night. Reynard the fox came at 02:05 and a solitary muntjac deer popped in earlier at 01:06. There must be two groups of deer because I either see a single as was the case this morning or a mother and youngun. Tis always the same fox I believe.

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Must admit I’m a bit on the bored side this morning. I’ve moved operations into the shed as that gives me more scope for things to do. Blasting out some Beatles while I figure out what to do. If you are bored for long enough you get off your arse and do stuff but my arse ain’t particularly mobile at the mo. I do have to make a start on sorting my screw collection but that is what the dark winter months are for. I am irrationally excited about sorting out my screws. When he visited the workshop yesterday Ajax mentioned that he tears the screw size label off the box and sticks it in with the screws in the carrying case. I bought pre filled cases of screws. The lid of the carrying case of a couple of them does identify the contents but not which compartments contain specific screw types. Maybe it does. It won’t be checked until the project starts for real.

I have now purchased a vernier caliper and should in due course be able to report progress with the calibration of my screw collection. Arrives today. May not see immediate action because as you know I am convalescing from a major operation but it gives me comfort to know that the moment I feel up to a stint in the workshop it will be there ready for me to use. It was the Amazon recommended tool for the job. A simple mechanical instrument as opposed to all the electronic versions I was being pushed, with LED screens. Huh. Wosthatallabout? They aren’t electronic screws.

Toast and bacon this morning. Bit more of an appetite although I have to say that my sleep patterns are not good having to lie on my back all night. Up and down all night to the loo. Dunno if it’s the lying on the back or the medication. Blood thinners. Nothing in the notes to suggest that side effect but it was the same when I had my first hip sorted.

I have to say I am confident that once I’ve got through the initial month or six weeks I will have a new lease of mobility. The last time I did it the first two weeks were a bit tedious but after the body started to get its act together and progress was rapid. Also the last recovery period, whilst being successful where the operated leg was concerned, was hampered by the clear deterioration in the other hip so I never totally got back up and walking properly.

Enough of this hip talk, daddy oh. I await the bacon that is currently sizzling under the grill. The toast is already made and buttered and there is a bottle of HP Sauce on the table in front of me patiently waiting to be squeezed.

So the day ahead looks like this. Well I have no idea actually. It will mostly be spent in the armchair in the snug. This was moved from the shed as being the most suitable height for sitting on in order to not bend the hip more than 90 degrees. In reality I add some cushions and also have a purpose built memory foam cushion for the top layer designed for a comfy bum.

THG is off out to the gym shortly but when she comes back I’ll have a shower. I can do this without help but I can’t get the surgical stockings and socks on (or off for that matter). At least the stockings are easier to get on and off this time. Since I lost a lot of weight my calves and ankles are smaller. Restart the Mounjaro jabs on Monday once I’ve got over the initial recovery from the hip hop. Progress must continue. Actually I bought a couple of shirts before going in for the operation. One size down from my usual and the fit was great. Don’t think I’m going to have the opportunity to wear them for a while. It’s all about slobbing about right now. Also whilst I normally wear jeans of some sort for the next few weeks it is tracksuit bottoms. A lot easier to get on and off using the grabber.

I did think I’d step up the family tree work once out of hospital but right now my brain still isn’t in top gear and I can’t focus on that stuff. It’s the writing it all up is the issue.

Fox trotted by at oh one fifty three, went around the back of the greenhouse and then off again. I have this on CCTV as well as lake cam. The lake cam also detected some movement at around half six but there is nothing immediately obvious in the footage.

The prime meridian in Lincolnshire runs through Holbeach, Boston, Louth and Cleethorpes, running in geographic order. The nearest point on the Prime Meridian to Lincoln is near Tetford, in the Lincolnshire Wolds, roughly 20 miles away. The line runs through the churchyard apaz, a spot marked by a stone put there by the parish council to commemorate a royal jubilee. Dunno which one. Gemini did not elaborate and I did not ask. I had hoped that the meridian would run through Lincoln but deep down I think I knew that it didn’t as I’d already have known this, it being a big thing and all. I’m told that due to the movement of tectonic plates and improvements in satellite technology, the true prime meridian has shifted slightly east of the historic marker but tbh it’s good enough for me.

Okaaay I hear you say. Where’s he going with this? Well I mention it because this morning, as of one am, was two am, we are back on Greenwich Mean Time. At last. Yay. If you’ve woken up feeling a bit out of sorts, perhaps very slightly jet lagged, that is why. Goodbye British Summer Time, hello to the approach of winter. 

Some might think this is a little odd, or at the very least unusual. It isn’t because I am glad to see the back of summer and look forward to cold miserable January and February days. No siree bob. In fact the cold and miserable days do sometimes come with benefits such as cosy log fires, warming soups and wonderful Sunday roasts. Stuff like that.

No it is because I like the idea of being sat more or less where time begins. This is of course an artificial construct and it only begins relative to the rest of the planet and really only so that we all know when to turn up at the Odeon to watch the movie on screen 2. BST feels a bit flighty to me. Doesn’t last. GMT is always there whether you realise it or not.

On the subject of the Odeon. We get a “perk” every year through our bank account. Over the past few years we’ve had a magazine, Steam Railway Gazette or similar, membership of the Gastronomy Society, again or similar, whereby we got 25% off food at participating restaurants, Disney Plus membership and six tickets to the Odeon. The only outlet in Lincoln where we seemed to be able to use the Gastronomy discount was, if I remember correctly, Jenny’s Cafe just off the main shopping drag in town. Not much use to us. The most recent was the Disney membership but there was bugger all there we wanted to watch so in the new year now starting we have reverted to the Odeon tix.

This is all well and good but I’ve just had an email from the bank welcoming us to another year of happy Disney watching. This is as well as the one from a week or three back saying we would get our odeon vouchers five working days after 25th October. Sigh. Do I now ring them to sort it out or wait five days to see if the Odeon tickets arrive? Undecided. Certainly don’t want to hang around in a telephone queue.

Just looked to see what’s on Screen 2 at the Lincoln Odeon: Sketch (12A) – “a sketchbook falls into a strange pond, her drawings come to life”. Sigh.

Aside from this I sense a no pressure day ahead of me. I do need to put some stuff back in our bedroom following the decorating but that can be done at a fairly relaxed pace. It will even give me the opportunity to sort out/ditch more clothes that I never wear. I will also set the fire. As you know one of the nice things about racing headlong towards the dark days ahead is the fact that we can have a nice fire going. Thassit.

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Fox time btw was 01:17 this morning. Muntjac was 03:09. I’ve not seen the mother and baby for a while now. Either the kid has fledged, so to speak, and gone off on its own, or it has been taken by a fox or similar. Might have been mum who has disappeared. This one was very tentative. Looking around and making sure the coast was clear.