On the SECOND day AFTER Christmas...

Today was the day I promised myself all through those l-o-n-g pre Christmas customer service days. My oasis - after the rush of Christmas - a day in bed! It was to be my day of unapologetic sloth.The weather even obliged me - grey and chilly not an inducement for me to leave my cosy nest. As I arranged the pillows around me and wiggled further under the doona I thought this is just Bliss with a capital B!!!!

I took the opportunity to do my next favorite thing - read.. What did I read I hear you ask - "Her Fearful Symmetry" written by Audrey Niffenegger. I found it at the library a couple of weeks ago when I was there. I wasn't sure that I would like it as it had had mixed reviews from a couple of people who had read it - but surprisingly I did... Left me with a bit of an odd unsettled feeling though - not unlike wisps of a dream which curl around long after you wake up... I haven't read any other of Audrey Niffenegger's work - her most famous being "The Time Traveller's Wife" so I couldn't make a comparison. However I genuinely liked her characters - they were well drawn - peculiarities and all which I guess in turn makes them more believable. Perhaps the ones who touched me the most was Martin and his wife Marijke and of course Robert Fanshaw and Valentina Poole.

The plot is essentially about love, loss, the striving for identity and family secrets with a ghost as the pivotal character... The backdrop is London and the immediate surroundings of the story is the famous Highgate Cemetery. Worth a read if you are looking for something a little different...

One of my 2011 resolutions is to try and do a little more of what I have done today - I haven't felt this relaxed in a long time. Now I'm off to have a look through the pile of books beside the bed and choose another one... There are two which are equal contenders with a third following close. My goal was to read three books before I went to work - one down, two to go...

S xx

...it's starting...

... to feel like Christmas... Every year it seems to take me longer and longer to get into the spirit of things... I don't know why it is perhaps because I work in retail and we always seem to be way ahead... At the moment I am being shown books for Easter and Mother's Day by the reps... No wonder I always feel a little confused at to what part of the year I'm in... At the moment I can hardly wait until it is over and I can get down to the job of just being slothful for a few days and catching my breath... I can feel the end coming to my bookselling days and I wonder what Life has in store for me next... I wish I could just stay at home for a little while and 'play house'... But unless I win lotto that is not likely to happen any time soon...

But I digress...

Today I got the Chrsitmas pudding made - a new recipe and a new slow cooker so I am crossing my fingers that all is well and by the morning I shall have a great tasting pudding... I had priced some - puddings that is - and I was very tempted to just buy one but in some mad way I feel like I am 'letting the side down' by not making one. P is going to make his special vanilla icecream and I was thinking about an old recipe of a chocolate mousse I used to make... We are thinking just simple home cooked roast chickens with perhaps some ham and roast veggies or a salad if it is warm...

We are aiming at a simple Christmas this year - just enough food with a little left over for Boxing Day and a present under the tree (or in the absense of it - in the space where it should be) for every one to feel that they have been thought of...

What do I want this year... I can't actually think of anything... I have enough books and needlework to keep me well and truely occupied for a very long time and there isn't anything I actually need...

I know I am making it hard for P and E as to suggestions on what they might get me but I am wracking my brain to think of anything at the moment... I am hoping inspiration will hit me soon...

I am not one for buying DVDs once I have seen something that is enough... However yesterday I sat for probably close to four hours totally enthralled watching the first couple of discs in the series the House of Eliott... I absolutely loved it - apparently made about 16 years ago - it had a huge following - I can understand why it is well put together and for anyone interested in that era it makes for compelling watching... Worth a look if you haven't seen it...

Well, time for me to head off to bed before it starts all over again tomorrow...

** P and I had a laugh earlier on - we have just managed to start the last block of chocolate we received last Christmas - the space in the fridge is clear - just in time for a refill!!!!

Sharon x

...where to start...

... perhaps I will just pick up the thread anywhere so bear with me...It may take a few posts to get up to speed...

As you can see by my previous post we have had a death in the family... He was my ex-husband's brother and as with all marriage breakups, parts of family are inevitably lost to either one side or the other. It was still a shock to hear how he became so very ill and see that once fit, healthy man go down hill as quickly as he did...He had just turned 62 - still in the prime of his life and looking forward to retiring... If anything, his death has made me once again look at my own life and appreciate it - swearing not to flitter it away on the trivial and unimportant...

While we were still in recovery mode from J's death, my eldest daughter's beloved cat Toshi also went to meet his maker... He had been ailing for a little while but deteriorated quite quickly and passed away on Thursday...



This is a (not very good photo) of Tosh doing his second favorite thing - sleeping... The first favorite being eating...

Rest in peace in your favorite part of the garden Tosh...

More later