Christmas Build-Up?

Sunday. 8.15 a.m. Yet another cold and frosty morning. I have dug out my gloves and woolly Oddballs hat before going out. My hands get freezing cold and can get really painful if I don't wear gloves in such conditions.

9.20 a.m. I have been out to defrost the car. Fortunately, I had the sense to buy some spray antifreeze the other day when I was in Sainsbury's and I also have a scraper, which makes the job easier. I don't think it was a particularly heavy frost, and the ice cleared easily. Also, putting on the car's heated windscreen helps considerably.

2.30 p.m. After our usual service at Shenley Christian Fellowship, we had a Christmas party. It was a bring-and-share meal, the idea being that a list of food was put up on a white board and if you could provide something on that list, you prepared it or bought it. I had tomato and cucumbers, cut up and put into one of my metal bowls, crisps, Twiglets and grapes to take. I went to Sainsbury's during the week to do a top-up shop and got most of those items, except Twiglets. Search as I might, there were none to be had. A bit like Lane, the butler in 'The Importance of Being Earnest, who responds to the question about cucumbers, which have been made for Algernon's aunt, Lady Bracknell, 'I went down to the market earlier and there were no cucumbers, not even for ready money.'

Not only is it bitingly cold today, but there's a thick fog covering all of Milton Keynes. It seems to have got worse as the day has progressed. It's just as well I don't have to drive far because I don't like driving in fog, especially when it's so thick you can only see a short distance ahead of you and definitely not on any Motorway. Also, with snow, it would be treacherous.

Monday. 6.30 a.m. I have a feeling we had a fall of snow overnight. I have yet to be outside, but I am waiting to go out and then will discover if that is correct.

8.50 a.m. There has definitely been quite a fall of snow overnight. When I took Alfie out at 7.35 we discovered a thick layer of snow on the grass alongside Strudwick Drive. My car has a blanket of snow on it as I gaze out of the window, and I will have to go down and brush it off. I have also been to take a few photographs with my iPhone and they have been uploaded onto Facebook.

1.10 a.m. I have been out to scrape off the snow from my car. I was surprised by how much there was and how thick it was. I wasn't preparing to go out in the car immediately, but I was thinking it might be a good idea to clear it before there's another snowstorm overnight and that it would need clearing off the car before I drive to Camphill tomorrow morning. I just hope it doesn't snow overnight nor that it freezes, which would make the job easier.

I had a telephone call this morning from one of the pharmacists at my doctor's surgery, Central Milton Keynes Medical Centre. I was actually expecting a doctor to ring. I thought we were going to discuss and review my medications but wasn't about that. I wanted to talk about the cough I keep having, due to the amount of phlegm I have at the back of my throat and the heartburn, which can feel almost exactly like how your body feels when you have a heart attack. She said I would need to speak to a GP and that I can make an appointment at around 7 p.m. for the next day. I also have to have a blood test and an appointment to have an amount of blood taken (not something I like, but still, it must be done.) so there can be a check on my kidney function. That is made for Wednesday morning at 11.20 a.m. Which means,  no food to be eaten beforehand.

I have booked my car into Bleakhall Motors for a service on Monday 19th December and this is at 8.00 a.m. I'm trying my best to keep the car in good mechanical order so having it serviced regularly seems a sensible idea to me.

6.20 p.m. I have just been watching a video on Vimeo, the video-sharing site, of the pantomime which the  Camphill theatre workshop did in July. I had heard all about it and would have gone to see it if I had been able to go to Camphill, but hadn't been able to because of the pandemic and having to wear a face mask. I am absolutely knocked out by the energy and enthusiasm that was put into the production. Everyone remembered their lines and gave such strong performances. A real winner. A great deal of hard work and effort went into the whole show.