A New Year

    Despite a late night (yes, I did manage to stay up until midnight!) I had an early start and spent an hour or so over coffee and the newspaper. Then it was out for a long walk - it was sunny but cold so I wrapped up well.

   Home to tidy the house since I got the tree and all the Christmas decorations put away yesterday. After lunch and a nap I worked on my current jigsaw puzzle for a while then went to see a movie. It was "The Favourite", about Queen Anne and her court - very entertaining; I highly recommend it. On the way home at 7:00 p.m. I decided I couldn't be bothered to cook a meal so stopped off at Swiss Chalet for dinner. Unfortunately they are no longer serving the Festive Special (my favourite) but I had my usual 1/4 chicken (dark meat) and a Caesar salad. Now I am nibbling on my homemade tablet while I watch the New Year's special from Vienna - all Strauss music. The tablet is so sweet my teeth are aching! 

A Good Read

   I am reading a riveting book today, "Educated" by Tara Westover. It's a memoir of an unbelievably hard childhood, in fact, parts I had to skip over, it was so gruesome! Nevertheless, I highly recommend it.

   The cats have gone back home. I picked up their "parents" (my son and DIL) from the airport this afternoon, we returned to my place, and got the cats and all their paraphernalia packed up and loaded in their car. Not sorry to see them go (pets are a lot of work) but I will miss them greeting me each time I arrived home.

    Scary thing on the highway coming home from the airport - I was nearly side-swiped by a humongous tractor-trailer which decided to change lanes and obviously didn't see me. Luckily there was a paved shoulder for me to escape on to until he was past but I was quite shaken. All this at 100 kpm!

   Colder today after yesterday's mild temperatures but still no snow. I plan to binge-watch my newest DVD of "Line of Duty". It's a great series!

A Busy Thursday

   Got some exercise today - tennis with the usual group and more of the same tomorrow. We shared holiday experiences between sets but managed three. I wasn't out at all yesterday so it was nice to do some socializing. A long nap this afternoon as the cats have been getting me up while it is still dark in the mornings. Still no snow to speak of and quite mild for this time of year.

   I dropped by Value Village with some kids books to donate and got a 20% off coupon. I found a nearly new maroon velvet shirt that was just my size, with the coupon just $8! Can't wait to wear it once my usual activities start up again in January. It will go nicely with my favourite black yoga pants.

   Still eating leftovers, the lamb will be a type of stew today with some curry powder thrown in. At least all the vegetables are gone so something fresh will show up in the meal. Last of the shrimp were consumed half an hour ago and I will have the final slice of plum pudding for dessert. Finally, a clementine and a couple of chocs (or maybe three) from the box Judy brought me while I watch TV. That should see me through until morning!

   

Leftovers

   Everything went well for yesterday's Christmas lunch (except the soup, but that's another story). Today, once I had tackled all the washing up, it was time to start on the leftovers. I actually really like leftovers, not just because there's no actual cooking required, but because they taste really good!

   For lunch today I had the aforementioned soup - it was really insipid and I don't think I will keep it - some smoked mackeral, onion cheddar and olives, all from the appetizer I served yesterday. For dinner there's lamb, gravy, two veg. (no roast potatoes, they all got eaten) and, of course, plum pudding and custard! There was also some wine left so I will have that too.

   I will get another couple of meals from the leg of lamb but will serve it different ways. Tonight it will just be heated in the gravy. So good!