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Dull and overcast. Damp but no active precipitation. Currently 6 degrees with a high of 7 expected. Low chance of rain all day. Barometer at 1033 mBar.
Working today. I think I may be the only one.
's-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands was completed in 21 moves (5x5 map). I've been there, a lovely little walled city where the bonkers artist Hieronymus Bosch lived for most of his life. They have a fab (or did when I was last there) exhibition of his works there. All reproductions but that doesn't make them any less enjoyable to look at.
The rather foggy conditions in which I drove home yesterday persisted, getting even foggier by evening. And they've remained overnight, so today is foggy. Out of idle curiosity The distance to the block opposite (measured on Google Maps) is about 55m or 60 yards, and the fog isn't concealing it but is making it look slightly diffuse; so that's how foggy it is. It's 5°C at the moment and will creep up to 6° later, while the barometers are, I think, down a little at 1021/1030mB
Tonight's only TV was Inside the Factory in which Belgian chocolatiers explained how those Guylian chocolate seashell things are made
And then I read more of Sherston's Progress (the third part of the trilogy) in which he and his comrades were sent from Ireland, across France and the Mediterranean to Egypt and on up into Palestine, at which point they reversed course without ever going into action against the Turks and went all the way back to France, where the German Spring Offensive of 1918 required their attention
I'm feeling very glad to have all the "doing stuff" and "going places" parts of Christmas over
It was quite misty in parts on the drive through the South Downs National Park towards Surrey. The meal with the family was good and my uncle paid, which was even better.
I had an uneventful drive home. On getting indoors, I wrapped presents and packed a bag for my trip to Glasgow tomorrow evening.
Ambrose mentions that The RMS Queen Mary sank the HMS Curacoa with the loss of 337 lives in one of those remarkably dumb accidents during said troop transports.
I wonder if that made it into my Dad's story?
Tea has been homemade pork chow mein, which turned out nice again
Among my presents were a couple of my father's unpublished novels, now available via Amazon print-on-demand
I was aware of The Hunting of the Queen, said queen being the ocean liner Queen Mary, the story being set in the North Atlantic during the war when she was being used to ferry troops.
Ambrose mentions that The RMS Queen Mary sank the HMS Curacoa with the loss of 337 lives in one of those remarkably dumb accidents during said troop transports.
There's a new series of Inside the Factory, without Gregg Wallace!
IIRC he "stepped back" from the programme a year or so ago after he'd insulted the female members of the pie factory workforce, so well before the latest round of allegations
It's rather foggy out and was so for much of the journey back, but not so bad as to cause any delay
I had to wait to leave until my brother had come back from his morning walk, as he'd forgotten to bring a coat and had borrowed mine (with permission). He lives in the Peak District and doesn't seem to feel he's started the day properly unless he's set off for a five mile hike at eight in the morning
I stopped off at Big Sainsbury's Down There for a few bits; it was pretty quiet. But when I saw the sign for Pies and Quiches, I suddenly remembered that he'd given me a large pork pie from his local delicatessen and coffee shop, said pies being very good, and it was still in my sister's fridge! So I set off back there. Just as I did, my sister phoned to tell me about the pie and I explained that I was coming back for it. Once I got there, I found out that my brother was going to suggest that I head out to Leicester Forest East services at the time he expected to get to that stretch of the M1 on his journey north, and he would stop off to hand the pie over!
Anyway, it only added about ten minutes to my journey to head back for it, so we were saved the trouble of acting like people making a cocaine delivery but with savoury baked goods
In Sainsbury's car park, a couple of rows away there was a Corolla identical to mine - same colour, variant, year of registration! Always nice to see somebody else keeping the faith rather than getting distracted by those fancy new cars
Among my presents were a couple of my father's unpublished novels, now available via Amazon print-on-demand
I was aware of The Hunting of the Queen, said queen being the ocean liner Queen Mary, the story being set in the North Atlantic during the war when she was being used to ferry troops. This was the third book he wrote but Hodder & Stoughton passed on it, so I've never read it as he wouldn't let us read anything until it was in print. I didn't know about City of the Eagle though; I believe he wrote this some time in the 1980s. Sounds like a cracking plot that would make an excellent movie. Apparently he revised both of them and sought a publisher in the late 1980s once he'd retired, but couldn't get any takers. So that's two books that are going straight to the top of the notional "to-read" pile, ahead of the other volumes received
Just realised I forgot to do Wordle et al. yesterday
Chilly in here at 13.2 deg, 12.5 deg in the kitchen, 11.5 in the leanto.
1030.3 mBar, 30.424 in Hg, 772.788 Torr, 14.94 psi, (up from 1029 last night), 65% RH (Lidl electric).
Meanwhile on the 14th of December 2019 NF was stuck on a train coming back from that Manchester due to a broken rail, plus it was snowing, whereas I found the library computer room even more malodorous than usual & left quickly.
Walk (greatly augmented) walked in the sunshine.
Timed that right because the haar came in & it's wall to wall grey, misty, foggy, cold, & unpleasant.
Lunch: brunch.
Entertainment: The Infinite Monkey Cage (end of current season). book of the week. Thing about Abs Fab which is sommat I've never watched & don't really know why I'm listening to it.
In other news the wrinklies who went to that Narbonne in that France to spend Xmas with my niece have all come down with the plague, presumably the chinese bat variety though this is unconfirmed at present. Looks very much as if my concept of avoiding everyone is preferable. Though I'd suspect they'd get better treatment in that France should it prove necessary.
Tea: beans on toast with added boiled eggs etc. Nice enough.
Entertainment: PM.
Book.
Looks like the £5.95 on The Radio Times was a complete waste of money since I've barely looked at it and it's a third of the way through already.
Dull, overcast, damp. Currently 7 degrees with a high of 8 expected. Rain in the air but not necessarily forecast. Barometer up to 1035 mBar.
Off to Send to meet Mum's siblings and wider family for lunch, via the cemetery to pay our respects to my grandparents. After lunch I'll be heading home and my brother will bring Mum back home.
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