running on fumes

Thank you so much for all your wonderful comments on my coat post, a tonic for my soul.

Sunset was at 15:35 today. I watched the sun dip down behind the hills in the distance when I was returning from a moderately brisk walk around the block. It is maybe premature but I am looking forward to the long long days awaiting us in the summer of 2021. Oh the joys of long daylight hours!

As is tradition at this time of year, I am running on fumes. Actually, life is just bloody exhausting in general and I am barely making it through a day. I will be ending the year with 11 unused annual leave days, a good reflection of my work-life balance. 

We are in between birthdays. Sam turned 20 recently (!) and Alistair will be 12 soon. I was happy that Sam chose to celebrate his birthday with us. With no indoor meetings and outdoor meetings limited to six persons from no more than two households, the party was small. We celebrated in our back garden, protected from the drizzling rain by a large tarpaulin and warmed by a fire in the fire bowl. We cooked burgers on the fire and shared stories of a time when Sam was a little boy. I think Sam enjoyed our company but I am sure it is not how imagined to celebrate his 20th Birthday. He continued his celebrations with his flat mate later. 

I am really happy that we still have another birthday to celebrate because it is a perfect excuse for keeping Christmas out for a wee while longer. I'll never understand why Christmas has to last a month or more (but I don't mind Richard singing carols in the kitchen from early December). Richard and Annie want to get me a Grinch costume but I think that is a bit unfair. It has been suggested by an un-named family member that it would be cute to have matching Christmas pyjamas for the kids. Eh? That is just so weird. Next we'll need a matching outfit for the dog. Speaking of the dog, he is quietly farting away right next to me. I am trying not to breathe. It must be the pup-cakes that he has eaten this weekend. These were a gift from his dog friend Rudie who turned six this week. The pup-cakes are essentially dog friendly cupcakes. Jack's were decorated with crunchy bacon rasher pieces. Oh to be a dog! I might eat the last one. I hope it won't make me fart, that would be a bit of a give-away.

When he is not farting, Jack makes me smile. We went for a family dog walk today. I really wanted to go on a solitary walk but it seemed a bit mean to suggest that so we all went out together. It was cold and frosty but not cold enough to freeze the mud in the woods. So much mud! Jack had a fantastic time, he bounced like a bunny rabbit and chased numerous imaginary furry creatures through the undergrowth. If only I could be like him for an hour or two, happy through and through. We spotted the green parakeets in the high trees. Much easier when there is no foliage. It is just so weird to see a quintessentially tropical bird in a Scottish woodlands but they are thriving. 

I have a new gadget. It generates voices in my head. A good kind, not those associated with psychosis. If you visit regularly, you'll know that I have frequent ear infections, which are agonisingly painful and turn me from a grumpy person into a really grumpy person. I had five this year. I am convinced that head sets and earphones carry some of the blame although I do try and keep them scrupulously clean. I have a headset for teaching and Zoom meetings, wireless Bose sport buds for exercise, noise cancelling big headphones for when I can't handle the distraction of family noise when working at home and night time ear buds that play the radio for me before falling asleep. Now I have a set of bone conducting headphones. These wondrous things conduct the sound straight into my inner ear through my skull bone. It is pure magic and totally weird. I wonder if they work on the same principles as cochlear implants? My ears are completely free so no pressure pain and no irritation in the ear canal. My listening experience is completely transformed although the sound quality is not as marvellous as that produced by my Bose model. It is a trade-off I can live with.

I decided to do no chores this weekend other than the laundry. Instead, I sat on the sofa and knitted socks and caught up with a week's worth of podcasts. I needed that. Now I am going to watch a bit of TV, if I can convince the boys to hand over the remote control. Thanks for visiting!