Boxing Day and Beyond. . .

 Thursday. 8 a.m. I went to the Christmas Day service at SCF yesterday morning. It was an hour and there wasn't any tea or coffee as we usually have after our services, so I came straight home afterwards. 

I had my Christmas Dinner at around 5.15. I had purchased all the bits that made it up from Sainsbury's which included a chicken breast (which turned out to have stuffing inside when I began to carve it.) Brussels sprouts, roast potatoes, pigs in blankets, stuffing and bacon. I had bought a ready-made Christmas Pudding, but I decided to have it another day (probably this evening.

Later, I watched the new Wallace and Gromit film, 'Vengeance Most Fowl.' I'm a fan of the work of Aardman Animation, so this was something of a treat. I know it takes years to make an animation film, and probably more work goes into this type of stop-frame animation. It was so inventive and imaginative and hilarious. According to the over-night ratings, it got over 9 million viewers.

Friday. 1.40 p.m. It's been foggy and overcast for the past couple of days. Just typical December weather, I suppose.

Another trip to Sainsbury's this morning. The travelator was not working on the trip up to the store. They seem to have endless problems with this technology, but I can walk up the travelator, which is odd when it doesn't move, but the down one was working.

There seems to be a lot of Christmas stuff left over. Perhaps they should sell off mince pies and Christmas puds at half price, or even less.

All the tenants at Dexter House, including myself, have had letters from the maintenance contractors, Mears, today. Reading down the list of things they are going to do, caught my attention. It reads 'Slip and trip hazard free pathways from external doors to the scooter stores, from the fire exits of the scheme to external gates, and from the scooter stores to the external gates.' Which means, if I am right, but don't hold your breath, they are actually going to do the work, which has been held up for at least 3–4 years! SOMEONE in the hierarchy within Milton Keynes Council, has decided to act on this work, or at least, signed the piece of paper which means that, at last, the work can be done and the electric scooters, which are stored at the moment, in common spaces, for example, the corridors, and were deemed a fire hazard by a fire officer years ago. I have been watching the brilliant sitcom 'Yes, Minister' on BBC iPlayer. This business of the scooter stores seems very much like a storyline straight out of this series. 

Well the work begins on 6th January, so I will report on here how things progress, but don't hold your breath.

Saturday. 9.45 a.m. It's yet another gloomy and overcast day here in Milton Keynes. I see from BBC Breakfast, that vast swaithes of Britain is covered in thick fog, but this area seems to have escaped. There are problems with visability as airports and flights have either been delayed or cancelled. Drivers have been told to be careful on the roads, and, in particular, because visability if poor.

I went to the prayer meeting at SCF this afternoon. A lot of the people who are in the Thursday morning group were there.

Sunday. 7.35 a.m. I've been out with Alfie. There's a bit of fog hanging around although it's thin and is likely to disperse as the day progresses.

Monday. 9.35 a.m. A bit of a misty, rather than a foggy day. Overcast and murky is the best way to describe it.

I found that I was running low with some of my medication, so I decided it would be advisable to put in a repeat prescription. I went on the on-line pharmacy I use, Pharmacy2U or whatever it's called. When you can order, then those medications which you have signed up to a 'clear', but those they say you can't have yet are screened out, being 'greyed out.' As most of my repeat medications were 'clear', I clicked to order. I thought to myself, 'ok, that's done!' and they will arrived in a few days time through the post. But a few days ago, over the Christmas period, I got a text message from my surgery to tell me I had ordered too early. Which bothered me, because, by this time I had finished the Bisoprolol tablets I take, which I think are to control my heart rate and, hopefully, prevent me having a further heart attack. This morning, rather than ringing the surgery, because I knew it would likely take me about 45 minutes for them to respond, hence causing stress, it was far simpler to drive to Central Milton Keynes Medical Centre and get the medication ordered, which I did. I was concerned that they might not be open, due to the Christmas and New Year holidays. But I needn't have worried, as they were open, and I spoke to a receptionist, who did the order on her computer and I will hopefully receive the medication in a couple of days, maybe a bit longer than usual due to New Year getting in the way.

All In A Day's Work

Thursday. 12.40 p.m. I've been to the shopping centre to get my hair cut at Central Barbers. I booked online, so it was just a simple matter of going into the centre and waiting outside. I was actually booked for 11.30 but got there around 20 minutes too early.

From the barbers, I went to Costa on Middleton Hall and had an iced coffee drink with cream and marshmallows, a cheese and ham toastie, and a slice of rocky road cake. 

Then, a browsed in Lakeland and was really impressed by their new picnic sets. The glasses are made of plastic and look very convincing as cut glass.  Lots of equipment in this store which is useful to me if I am baking. A wander along the shopping centre and browsed in T.K. Maax, for nothing in particular, but with this store, you have to buy what they have immediately because there will only be one of any particular item, and you will lose it if you don't buy it straight away.

Friday. 10.50 a.m. I have made another batch of scones for Monday Club. I think I got the consistency of this batch more or less right by making the dough somewhat stickier. The only problem with the stickiness is that the dough becomes difficult to remove from the cutter when they are put onto the baking tray. I have baked them for 25 minutes, which means they come out a golden brown. They should now be far easier to cut in half and not crumble, which was the problem I had with the last batch I made.

Saturday. 8.25 a.m. It's quite chilly this morning, which means I put on a fleece when I had my breakfast. 

10.05 a.m. It seems a bit warmer now. The sun is making a vain attempt to shine. I've been to Sainsbury's as I wanted a decent size cake tin to put the scones in. The one I got is more than enough the right size and as it is airtight it should at least keep them fresh.

5.40 a.m. I've been to A Transformed Life afternoon at SCF. Praise and message. Very enlightening. There is a second session, starting at around 7 p.m., but unfortunately, my health issues make me tired and I wouldn't be able to keep awake, so I came home and made a salad which I will eat later.

It was bright and sunny when I got to the Oaktree Centre. It's summer, which, officially, it is.

Sunday. 5.05 a.m. I know, I'm up far too early. I was out, walking around Oldbrook Green at 4.35. I think it was a bit of a shock, even to Alfie. It's quite chilly, but still pleasant. A clear sky, no clouds to be seen, but I know it will be a bright and sunny day. Well, I do hope so.

6.25 p.m. Another café church at Shenley Christian Fellowship this morning. A lot of new faces and the place absolutely heaving. A bouncy castle was set up on the grass behind the building and lots of children using it. Plenty of coffee, cakes and biscuits.

I have mentioned the Hohem gimbal, which I bought on Amazon. I have got the thing working successfully and have discovered a video editing app from watching a video on YouTube and have it downloaded to my iPhone and now have it fully paid for which means I can edit and modify video footage from my phone without advertising and have all the additional assets for it. I went out around Oldbrook Green this afternoon and shot some test footage, which I have since managed to edit to a certain level. I have also purchased two Bluetooth Lavalier microphones from Amazon which connect to my iPhone, which means I can record better quality sound with each of them connected to my clothes and can be used if I want to record interviews on video. The experiment with editing has worked up to a certain extent and shows that it works, but I will need to do more work learning the software before I am totally satisfied with the results. Keep watching this space for further news.

A Cold and Frosty Morning

Thursday. 8.10 a.m. It's another cold morning. The car windows are again frozen up, and I have been down to spray it so that it is easier to defrost when I drive off to the Oaktree Centre in about an hour.

Friday. 6.20 p.m. I am continuing with some more writing. I have done a first, although incomplete, draft, and then I did a second (also incomplete) and managed to put it all into word processing and by then I managed to edit it slightly, actually merging both drafts as I went along. I have changed one of the characters' names, which I have been meaning to do for a while, and I think it works better than the original name.

Saturday. 8.00 a.m. It was something of a surprise to discover it was foggy when Alfie and I ventured out at around 7.25 this morning. It was a little thick and gave a very subtle and attractive view across Oldbrook Green, with the lights in and around the green and along Strudwick Drive giving a blurry glow.

1.20 p.m. We had another mens' breakfast at The Fountain in Loughton. As usual, most of us met up in the carpark. As it was cold, icy as well as foggy, we soon went inside and the table we usually have was ready. The staff seem a good deal more 'on the ball' and we were able to order our breakfasts relatively quickly. I think we had around 15 people, which is more than we usually have. It's the fourth year of my being part of the SCF Mens' Breakfast and the first I went to was the Saturday after Carol's funeral, 11th January 2018, which isn't something I will forget in a hurry.

After men's Breakfast, I went home, basically because I needed the loo! Then I went to Aldi and did some shopping. I am attempting to wean myself off Sainsbury's, not that there's anything wrong with Sainsbury's, except it's cheaper in Aldi. I do like a specific type of bread I can only get in Sainsbury's, a malt loaf with multi-grains, and their fruit and vegetables are better. I bought easy peelers in Aldi a few weeks ago, and they went off really quickly, rendering them inedible and most had to be thrown away (for those who don't know what easy peelers are, they are small oranges, like satsumas or tangerines, which have thin skin, making them easy to peel. I have at leat two a day and I've been eating them since the beginning of the pandemic. I think that eating them daily has helped keep my cholesterol level low, as mentioned in an earlier blog post.

The Cold(er) Blasts of Wintery Weather

Thursday12.00 p.m. It's a good deal colder this morning. I thought there was ice on my car before I drove off to the Oaktree Centre at around 8.50 a.m. to help set up the playgroup, but it wasn't ice, just moisture, so that was a relief.

Friday. 9.15 a.m. The washing is in the dryer. It will take around 45 minutes before it is dry enough to remove and for me to hang my shirts in the wardrobe and the rest in the drawer unit. Then, with my shopping list in my hand, I will be off to Sainsbury's.

Yet another relatively mild morning. Totally unseasonal.

Saturday. 6.55 a.m. It's dark. Well, that's a surprise? No, well, it is usually at this time of the morning in early December. 

Sunday. 8.10 a.m. My posts on here are getting thinner and thinner. 

The weather is getting considerably colder as the days go by. What do you expect in December?

The World Cup is dominating everything at the moment. I am no fan of football, so it's something to avoid. It's not necessarily the football that I find annoying, but all the waffle they dole out, the constant chatter which is more like padding between the games and the fact that all three main television channels have games on at the same time. You get highly-paid, so-called pundits, such as Gary Lineker, rambling on incessantly, and then they have what I think you call 'vox-pops', where they go out into the streets and ask members of the public for their views. Totally irrelevant and meaningless. Not journalism at all. Crazy. 

12.30 p.m. We had café church at SCF this morning. In fact, I have just got back. The idea is to attract non-church-goers into the Oaktree Centre and there's free cake, coffee, tea and other goodies and games for the children to play and a time to chat with anyone and everyone and make friendships. I have spoken to several people I haven't met or even spoken to before and a good sense of community.

3.35 p.m. I have resubscribed to Britbox, the streaming service which is owned by all the major British television providers, BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and 5. There is a lot of classic drama on there, Doctor Who, Keeping Up Appearances, Fawlty Towers and more and quite a lot of original content. I was interested in watching the new series of 'Staged' the comedy starring David Tennant and Michael Sheen, which is set during the pandemic and imagines them staging a play via Zoom. The new series is exclusive to Britbox. At £5.99 a month it seems excellent value and the content is constantly changing, with stuff being taken off and new stuff being added.

6.25 p.m. I'm watching the BBC's 1970s serialization of 'I Claudius' on Britbox. This was one of the BBC's hits in its day. Derek Jacobi was Claudius, with a stammer. It is somewhat stagey by modern standards. No exteriors and definitely studio-bound, but that was the way television drama was made in the mid-1970s. It has stood the test of time remarkably well. They must have spent a lot on sets and costumes. Also made on tape rather than film. It's more like a filmed stage play. Derek Jacobi's makeup is a bit ropey. I don't know what age he was when he played the part of Claudius, but he's made to appear as an old man, who is telling the story. Other actors who appear are Sian Phillips as Claudius's mother, Brian Blessed, (here far more restrained than his usual 'shouty' acting in later programmes and films.) and John Hurt as Caligula. 

A Red Sky In The Morning . . . Boris' Trousers on Fire

 Sunday. 10.15 a.m. Another cold and blustery day. The cough is still causing problems. I continue to take the cough mixture, and it seems to help. I didn't go to church because of the cold and the effect it would have on the cough. I took a dose of cough mixture and then attempted to watch the SCF service via Facebook, but the whole thing froze up and wouldn't work properly. Furthermore, I imagine it's got something to do with the church broadband connection. Several other people who were watching posted that they were finding the images were freezing or at least juddering. It really needs dealing with, unfortunately.

Monday. 8.10 a.m. It's cold again this morning, but I could see a bright red sky from my window as I was having my breakfast. What do they say? 'Red sky in the morning, shepherd's warning. Red sky at night, shepherd's delight.' Not sure how accurate, but let's wait and see whether it gets colder or even windy. Storm Arwen has done its worst and calmed down and disappeared, but next, we have to expect Storm Barra. Don't ask me where they got the name from.

Wednesday. 7.45 a.m. Alfie is definitely not one to like cold, wind, rain or generally wet in any form. This undoubtedly this morning when we went out and the little tyke was in and out as quickly as possible and back tucked up on the sofa, but, as I write, on my bed, probably under the duvet.

11.10 p.m. I was just getting off to sleep when the merry sound of the fire alarm went off. No doubt someone in another flat within Dexter House has either forgotten to check their oven was on with their oven chips or something, a fag-end was left smoldering in an ash-tray, or else they burnt their toast. Either way, it's deafening which means I moved from the bedroom into the lounge, and Alfie's looking at me as he doesn't like the noise. Who can blame him? Whatever it is that set the confounded thing off means I get to write a bit more of this and Alfie's attempting to climb on my knee which is impossible with the laptop in the way. There is a fire engine outside in Dexter Avenue as I can hear the engine running and I could see the flashing blue light when I look out of the window, not that easy as my Christmas tree is in the way. I just hope they manage to discover the reason for the alarm being set off as my ears are ringing from the sound of the alarm and giving me a headache.

Incidentally, on a different matter, has nobody realized that omicron is an anagram of moronic? Or that the two words delta and omicron spell 'media control'? Too right. The conspiracy theories regarding the pandemic and the virus just go on. Boris Johnson now attempting to wriggle out of the latest scandal regarding the Christmas party which was alleged to have taken place in Number 10 Downing Street last year after pandemic restrictions were introduced and not adhering to the aforementioned regulations and making a mockery of the whole situation when the rest of us were in lockdown and not supposed to attend any sort of party. Totally contemptible. Makes me wonder how much longer Johnson can last as Prime Minister as he is rapidly turning into a liability, to not only the Conservative party but also the country as a whole.

11.30 p.m. The alarm is still going and no sign of the wretched noise coming to an end. What exactly IS going on? I can't see smoke emanating from any window or anywhere else, so we'll just have to endure it I suppose.

11.55 p.m. By around 11.40 I'd had enough. The fire engine has gone. So, what set the alarm off? I got dressed as Alfie was beginning to get stressed. He can't cope with the noise. We went out through the front door near the SHO's office and there were two men fiddling with the fire alarm keypad, looking as if they were aimlessly pressing random keys on the pad. I don't know who they were, but by the time we'd walked around to the other entrance on Strudwick Drive the alarm had stopped, so we went back in and returned to my flat. Thank goodness it was over and silence reigned once more! I presume there is a fault with the alarm system.

Lockdown: The Sequel

Well, what else could I call yet another blog post, when there's not a great deal going on? I've been out for the second walk with Alfie. I was expecting to see that little robin in the tree again as I walked along Strudwick Drive, but he wasn't there this morning. We crossed over Oldbrook Boulevard onto the green and I decided to walk across the grass instead of making the circular route we usually take. I came across several strange circular grass shapes in the grass, which has been partially cut recently. I'm intrigued to know what they are for or what they represent. Alien spaceship landing sites? For some sort of sporting action, such as American sports, such as baseball? Probably not, bt does it matter. Then I spotted something in the grass. A £2 coin! So it was worth walking over the grass after all! That can go into my change pot I have on my bookshelf.

I have been watching a really interesting series on BBC 2 called 'Portillo's State Secrets," which goes into detail on a handful of British historical events and uncovers secrets which have been kept hidden until now. Michael Portillo, a minister in Margaret Thatcher's government, seems to have made quite a successful career as a television presenter, most famously the one about Britain's railway system, called "Great British Railway Journeys," and using the Victorian traveller's guide "Bradshaw's" to see how things have changed in the intervening years. He has a certain engaging style. He's a natural television presenter, but I do wonder at times about his sense (or I should probably say, lack of in some respects)fashion, because his gaudy array of jackets, which can be only viewed when wearing sunglasses, seem a little outlandish, to say the least. This series has been buried on BBC2, and I had no idea it was on until I saw it in the E.P.G. (Electronic Programme Guide)  of Freeview, a few weeks ago when looking for something to watch. I think this is a repeat, but, as I say it has been hidden away without any sort of trailers or announcements that it was on. Typical, come to think of it. Such drivel as Strictly Come Dancing and EastEnders, or Holby, or Casualty get trailed to death, but anything worthy such as this programme get ignored. What is the sense of that? Come on BBC, do come to your senses. You make excellent programmes, or, at least, commission them. Live up to your Public Service Remit, and give such programmes more publicity.

(Thursday) We had our first Zoom coffee morning this morning. It was 'lead' if that's the word, by Ross and around 17 other SCF regulars joined. It has taken me some time to get the Zoom software to work successfully and I wasn't sure whether it was going to work. I have it on this computer, my MacBook Air as well as my iPhone. I couldn't get my image to appear on the MacBook, although other people could hear me, but I tried my iPhone and it work successfully on that, but it's difficult to use the iPhone, but you have to hold it up in front of your face so that the camera will photograph me. The MacBook has a built-in web camera, and because, when you fold up the screen it means the camera is at the right position to allow your face to be viewed, although you have to set the thing up so that the image it captures is sufficiently at the right angle to get your image central, without it looking strange because it's an odd angle. Also, make sure your background isn't distracting, best done against a plain wall if at all possible.

I managed to watch the National Theatre production of 'One Man, Two Guv'nors,' which was streamed on YouTube yesterday evening. I had wanted to see this when it was originally staged, and it certainly didn't disappoint. Exactly the right sort of thing needed at the moment. As I've said earlier in this post, there is just far too much mention of the coronavirus pandemic on television, BBC in particular. This came at exactly the right time. Good old-fashioned knock-about comedy, based loosely on Carlo Goldoni's play 'The Servant of Two Masters,' craftily re-written to appeal to a modern audience. It was the play that kick started James Corden's acting career.

The Excitement of . . . Toilet Rolls!

(Sunday) We had church on-line through Facebook again this morning, basically because SCF is following government guidelines regarding not having church services to attempt to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. It's proving to be a very intimate form of doing church. On Thursday there's to be a coffee morning using Zoom, which should be interesting. 

Once I'd watched the service, which was lead by Ross and his wife Joy, I drove to Sainsbury's as there was a certain amount of shopping I needed. I have cut down on trips to the shops during the current lockdown, but there are some items you can't do without, such as milk. Sainsbury and other supermarkets are open from 11a.m. until 5p.m. on a Sunday. I got to their carpark by around 11.30 to find the underground carpark more or less deserted. Well, let's just say there was more than enough parking spaces. Then I had to join a queue to get onto the travelator which leads up into the store, standing the regulation 2 metres apart from customers in front and behind. A rather strange situation, but I suppose it has to be like that. People at least behaving better than they have compared to recently. Moving about the store with my trolley, it was odd, with people avoiding each other and keeping their distance from one another. I decided to see whether there were toilet rolls in the relevant aisle, and, lo and behold! There were sufficient, so I took a nine-roll pack. I can't believe I could get excited about seeing them on the supermarket shelves. But still no sign of liquid hand soap, which I have attempted to buy for the past couple of shopping trips.

I've been watching the 1960's film version of 'Far From The Madding Crowd,' which starred Julie Christie, Terrance Stamp and Peter Finch. I remember going to see this film when it came out in around 1967-8. It was a period of some good films and going to the cinema virtually every week for around three months. The Dorset scenery is one of the big attractions and it looks stunning. There has been a television adaptation of the novel and a newer film, but neither could be as good as this version. The DVD is a double disc version, with the second disc having 'making of' material and other extras.

(Monday) The BBC are rather over-doing the reporting on the coronavirus pandemic. I realise they need to keep the public informed about the situation, but there is almost blanket coverage and it is rather wearing. There must surely be other news they can cover. It's becoming like news of Brexit, which had about the same amount of coverage. My way to deal with it is to simply switch off the news.

Later. I had a text yesterday informing me my second repeat prescription was ready for collection. I have now been back in to Sainsbury's. I parked in the underground carpark and had to queue for around 15 minutes. The queue, with the required 2-metre gap between people, moved exceedingly slowly. I got into the store, which was surprisingly quiet. It might just have been because of the time of day, or else because people are gradually coming to terms with social isolation and the restrictions that the government has introduced to attempt to slow the spread of coronavirus. I took a hand basket rather than a trolley because I didn't need much and went round the store to get what I wanted and then went to the Lloyd's pharmacy. They have set up an arrangement to prevent people getting to near and again you have to keep your distance. I was told by the pharmacist that my order wasn't ready so I went back round the store and returned to the pharmacy around 10 minutes later. I was told that one of the meds on my list of repeat prescribed medication, Tecaragor, had to be reviewed and it was supposed to have been reviewed in February. I was aware of this fact. The pharmacist said that she would ring my doctor's surgery to find out what was to happen regarding this particular medication and she would ring me at home once I got back from Sainsbury's. Around 45 minutes later, once I was home, she rang to say that I should cease taking the Tecaragor and replace it with aspirin. As I have been taking dispersable aspirin since I had my first heart attack in 2006 this was unlikely to make any difference. I have to say that my doctor at Ashfield should have done something about this, and I'm only glad I have transferred to Central Milton Keynes Medical Centre. I have had no contact with the cardiology department at Milton Keynes Hospital for some considerable time, although I await a hospital appointment as a result of the recent blood test, but no doubt this will be on hold since the coronavirus pandemic and the lockdown.

(Tuesday) I should have been going to Camphill, under normal circumstances. What are normal? At the moment, life is anything but. I have to say I miss my Tuesdays with the drama workshop guys. I texted Teo to say I wouldn't be going until further notice, and he responded by saying that Camphill was in lockdown, so I wouldn't have been able to go anyway. I will just have to wait until things improve. No doubt all the residents are restricted to their houses.

(Weds) I'm loosing all sense of time since the lockdown. I think it's probably because all days are merging into one and every one has become the same as the previous one. Just being stuck in my flat alone with Alfie (although he is really good company, but becomes quite demanding at times, because he knows exactly where his treats are. He gets quite excited and noisy when it's time to go out for his walk.) and daytime television can become somewhat tedious. Alright, I don't spend much time watching. There is more than enough to watch if you have on-demand such as iPlayer or Amazon prime, or even YouTube. A great deal of interesting stuff on here. I watched the first lecture in a series from Yale University about The Tudors. I think I leaned new stuff which I never knew from school or university. There's around 20-30 of these videos, so that should keep me busy. I thought, for some reason, that today was Thursday! Sad, but true. I read a great deal, as I've mentioned in earlier posts, not just history, but also really good material in the two magazines I have on subscription, BBC History Magazine and History Today.