Betwixtmas

Not much happened in Northenden this week. Unless, that is, you count the weather. More wind and more rain, leading to a swollen River Mersey. This week, we welcomed Storm Gerrit. But as it’s now the end of the year, there’ll be some photos of the extended family.

Yes, Anchorage is still knee-deep in snow and yes, it looks pretty, but if the temperature is about 0°F, or -17°C, I’m sorry but I just don’t want to be there. Brrr!

Meanwhile, in Australia, Helen is spending Christmas with Brent and his family up north, Brisbane, a city that I have visited twice so far, but never really seen, because it’s been a mad dash to get to the airport!

I borrowed the picture from Helen’s Instagram (you don’t mind, do you, Helen?).

I spent Christmas Day afternoon over in Cheadle Hulme, with Martha and William, oh, and their Mummy and Daddy, and their other grandparents, Nana and Papa, Una and Alan. The children’s piles of presents were very neat, and when both of them were building Lego on the floor, I made sure to sit very still to keep my feet nice and safe.

Our Christmas meal was at a local Indian restaurant. For a long time, we had the place to ourselves, but other parties did roll up eventually. The food was lovely, and there was so much of it! All we needed was Liesel to help eat it.

On Boxing Day, I visited Una and Alan at their house for a more traditional Christmas dinner. Turkey for the carnivores and nut roast for us veggies. Una worked very hard, I reckon she must have started prepping all that food in about October. Thanks very much for having us! Not only us, but their other grandchildren, Annabel and Emily, and their Mum and Dad, Andrea and Paul. Eleven of us altogether, and again, Liesel was missed.

The children had all taken over some of their presents. But I must admit, I did find it funny that William also spent so much time trying on some of his Papa’s old clothes!

Martha enjoyed making some potions, and we enjoyed watching videos of her observing the chemical reactions.

How the heck this visitor stayed clinging onto the window in the gale is beyond me. He managed to photobomb an otherwise pretty sunset. This might have been the night when I hardly slept at all: both the wind and the rain were so loud. It turns out that just a few miles away in Stalybridge, a tornado had damaged over 100 properties. Blimey.

One of my walks this week was terminated early because of a sudden downpour. And at least one person called me a wimp for not venturing out in such torrential rain. If I want to get that wet, I’ll have a warm shower at home, thanks, whether I need it or not!

Preparing this week’s radio show was a bittersweet experience. I wanted to remember and celebrate the many great musicians and singer-songwriters who died in 2023, some ridiculously young. Wythenshawe Radio WFM 97.2 played a two-hour version of the show, but you can hear very nearly three hours of Mick’s Memorial Music Mix Mixcloud.

I haven’t had a major fight with technology for a while, but I did this week. Liesel is a big fan of our air fryer, which also has a pressure cooker. I’ve used the air fryer to ‘cook’ things, but I don’t know, it doesn’t seem as real as cooking in the oven or something. But this week, I thought I’d make leek and potato soup in the pressure cooker. All went well, except, when it was finished, the machine displayed the message ‘Do not open the lid’. I didn’t want to open the lid prematurely and scald myself with highly pressurised steam, so I waited. And waited. And waited. Until I realised, it would have been faster to boil up the concoction in a proper saucepan on the hob, like I usually do. Eventually, I donned my protective gear and opened the lid. Barely a fizz of released steam. The soup was OK but I think it would have been better if I were granted access to it a little earlier. It was good enough to have again the following day, so I don’t know why I’m complaining, really. Actually, yes I do: it’s potentially dangerous to display misleading messages which you can get used to ignoring. There you go, one final moan for 2023.

2023, that went fast. A year in which I walked about 1677 miles, not the best ever. And I read about 31 books. Which is alright, but that number is dwarfed by my list of books to read one, recommendations from friends and family.

Happy New Year to family, freinds and strangers, I hope 2024 brings you lots of love, laughter, joy, peace and sunshine.