The Snows Are Melted, the Snows Are Gone

Ou sont les neiges d’antan? Well they have gone for at least a while and for the first time in ten days we have action on the solar panels and people are moving about outside.
A1 is rereading Black Widow by Chris Brookmyre. A2 is rereading The Mind’s Eye by Hakan Nesser.

Considered Trifle

A post-birthday pudding after our family lunch of curry, rice and naans which has left us bursting out of our trousers. We scored 10 on the GSQ, later upgraded to 11 when we checked that the four Chinese gentlemen flowers were also the four flowers in mah jong like we said.
A2 is reading Midnight and Blue by Ian Rankin. Third book in a row in which the hero hangs out in a library.

Still Snowy

It is still freezing cold, ice everywhere, lethally slippery pavements. A1 had to go to work in the horrible conditions and said it was like walking over crisps. A2 only went as far as the dustbin, wearing crampons and holding onto the wall, and noticed that the snowperson population had increased.
A1 is reading I will Find the Key* by Alex Ahndoril. A2 is reading The City and Its Uncertain Walls by Haruki Murakami (thx A1).

Snowy Sunday


We’ve had 13cm of snow today and next-door’s kids have made a very traditional snowperson on the traffic island.
The family slogged here through the wintry weather for a dinner of meat loaf with potatoes, sprouts and pico pizzas for the mini people, followed by a reprise of last year’s Christmas pudding ice cream bombe.
We missed the Quadrantids and yesterday evening’s occultation of Saturn by the Moon due to the miserable weather. And oh dear, we scored 7 on the first GSQ of the year. The snow is turning to rain and we’ve registered over 50mm so far this month. Things can only get wetter.

Happy New Year Everybody

Normally we like to see the new year in standing on the traffic island swigging port and watching other peoples’ fireworks but the rain was hammering down so we stood in the doorway while some fool somewhere let off rockets in the distance.
2024 was cooler and wetter than average and our least sunny year since the solar panels arrived.
A1 is reading City of Destruction by Vaseem Khan.

Critter of the Day: Turdus merula

Not a very pretty name for this handsome blackbird.
We had pasta, parkin and delicious Ethiopian coffee for our family lunch and scored 11.5 for the last quiz of the year, bringing our average to 10.2268518518519, a step down from last year’s 10.2756346153846.
A1 is reading Nobody’s Hero by MW Craven, another violent and thrilling outing for Ben Koenig; thanks, A2! — who is reading Orbital by Samantha Harvey (thx A1); 24 hours on the International Space Station watching the drama of the cosmorama, incorporating 16 days of the sun burnishing the oceans and 16 nights of lights fringing the coastlines while the astro/cosmonauts on board divulge a bit of backstory and have high-flown thoughts about the geography and meteorology of their home planet and a typhoon winds up over the Philippines. A short but engaging read.

Bob Unboxing on Boxing Day

The Bobster enjoys a present.

We had the family round for Boxing Day, with a repeat of our Christmas Day meal (but pico-pizzas for the veggies). There were even more prezzies, including the traditional coffee, some rather lovely pictures and about 500 tomato seeds of many varieties — thanks, G,D,F & B!

And unlike last year, we managed a flaming pudding by using calvados rather than brandy.

We scored a traditional 10 on the GSQ.

A1 is reading The Enigma Girl by Henry Porter (thanks, A2!).

So This Is Christmas


The tree is lit and the presents are unwrapped. Lots of books and art stuff for A2, even more books and a computer (Pi500) for A1, coffee, a new wok and films to watch for us all. And here is our traditional Christmas dinner: potatoes, sprouts, cauliflower, carrots, Yorkshire puddings, pigs in blankets, stuffing balls, gravy and enough roast pork to last us into the New Year.
A2 is about to read Absolution by Jeff Vandermeer (thx A1). We are watching Slow Horses Season 4.

Return of the Sun

After the solstice, a brighter dawn, with Mercury somewhere behind the clouds.
A1 is rereading Mercy by Jussi Adler-Olsen, his first Department Q novel from 2007. This was prompted by reading his recent novel Locked In, which finally resolves the mysteries posed in Mercy and ends with the start of that book.
A2 is rereading The Strangler’s Honeymoon by Hakan Nesser.

Windy Solstice

Today was unconscionably blustery; bins blowing everywhere. A2 had to keep stopping and planting herself foursquare (legs, stick and shopping trolley) to avoid being blown off course. But she emerged from a ginnel like a wind tunnel to the sight of this evanescent rainbow. Then the sun went away and the wind blew on.
A2, inspired by a list of Christmas crime novels in the newspaper, is rereading Hangover Square by Patrick Hamilton, which starts with Christmas and ends with a crime but is really a story of a man remorselessly exploited by a woman.

Lickety Spit

The cats being friendly, for a change. It’s the Geminids tonight, but in keeping with the rest of the year we’ve had unrelieved gloom. Tomorrow night looks like it might be better, but there’ll be a nearly full moon.
A2 is reading Locked In* by Jussi Adler Olsen. Department Q’s lead detective is jailed and beset by assassins on all sides for fearsomely complicated reasons.