Wednesday 30th December 2020

Finished my RICS CPD this morning...interesting listen concerning Fire Safety post-Grenfell, and the inimitable Robert Grundy could be heard as a panelist on a discussion concerning the housing market post-pandemic. Aki cycled to Waitrose to get some more odds and ends prior to preparing her New Year's Day extravaganza, but the queue was too long...it's cold out there! So she picked up some veg at Michael's instead. Came over exceptionally tired this afternoon, and nodded off on the sofa...retired to bed around 5pm and slept for an hour! We drove to Waitrose after dinner to do a little shop and get some champagne in for tomorrow night. Covid deaths up to almost 1,000 today...getting scary again out there! 

Tuesday 29th December 2020

Strange dream last night...we were driving country roads, when we saw a brown estate car hurtle into the road in front of us and disappear, but later came back the other way, the occupants giving us the eye as they passed. I sensed trouble and put my foot down, but they soon appeared in my rear view mirror, and I crashed into a tree on a bend in the road. Set off for the Whittington Hospital at 1030 for an 1100am appointment at the Dermatology Clinic. Young junior doctor, Jamie, looked me over, and then Kathy the Consultant came in and had a look at the growth on my right ear. She recommended they 'burn' it off with liquid nitrogen (minus 196 degrees), which Jamie duly did. I bade him a "very happy New Ear" and walked home via M&S at Archway. Aki insisted I put my clothing in the wash, and I took a quick bath before lunch. FaceTimed ma and pa for a quick chat...Kath has gone back home, and back to work. Aki cycled into Soho to get supplies from the Japanese store in Brewer Street, in readiness for Friday's Japanese breakfast. 

Monday 28th December 2020

 

Not much to report today. Slow start. Spent a few hours updating my RICS CPD record, and trying to source some formal CPD hours. Hard going, but finished the informal CPD record....still need 5 hours of formal stuff! Got round to burning a few copies of the annual mix-tape CD, cobbling together the obligatory covid-19 artwork for the CD cover. Aki ventured out to get some odds and ends from TescoExpress. Quite cold out there today, though they've had snow in the Midlands, May be headed our way later in the week! Reheated the pheasant I'd cooked on Xmas Day for dinner...Aki suggested steaming it, which worked a treat.

Sunday 27th December 2020

Quiet day after Storm Bella's visit during the night. Aki dragged me out for a walk, and we made our way over pavements covered in fallen tree branches, to Clissold Park, and back via the old and new Arsenal football stadia. Spent the afternoon reading Will & Testament, and listening to some contemporary music featured in the Guardian's Top 10. Frankie Boyle writing in Saturday's magazine made me laugh...on Joe Biden: 'He's not exactly overflowing with presence. You see his picture and the first thing you think is, "Was that already in there when I bought the frame?" He could become the first president assassinated by an icy patch outside the Post Office'; and on Boris: 'There's no denying he does possess some Churchillian qualities: racism and obesity'. Genius! 

Saturday 26th December 2020

Aki had a bad night...reckoned the Chinese tea she drank yesterday evening meant she was too wired to get off to sleep. Late brunch. Took a mid-afternoon perambulation over toward Stroud Green, before Storm Bella mixed things up. Got some odds and ends in TescoExpress...came out and belatedly realised I hadn’t been wearing my facemask! FaceTimed ma and pa...Kath still there. 

Mum had burnt the spuds yesterday...and reckoned it the worst Xmas dinner she’d ever put together. Dropped in to Ray and Stef’s Boxing Day Zoomroom for a wee chat. They have been having a quiet time of it...we promised we’d be down to visit next year.Kath texted us a photo...of tonight’s burnt offering from mother! Watched “Rocks” tonight...moving tale of deprivation in east London.

Friday 25th December 2020

Got up and turned the oven on...par-baked croissants went in for 20 minutes, and were devoured with Katrina’s lemon curd, washed down with a Buck’s Fizz. FaceTimed ma and pa, who were entertaining Kath...opened their presents for them on screen! Then got stuck into preparing Xmas dinner. Avocado and crab to start, which Aki made into moulds...looked great...tasted good too. Main course comprised stuffed pheasant joint in bacon, roast potatoes with semolina coating, honey glazed carrots and parsnips, red cabbage with lardons (nearly took the end of a finger off slicing that cabbage), roast shallots and garlic, roast red pepper, creamy bread sauce, and a chestnut and pancetta gravy with cranberries...nom nom nom!!! 

Too full to contemplate pud so took a brisk walk up to Archway as twilight fell. Home by dusk for Christmas pud and ice cream. Ma and pa FaceTimed us back as they were in party mood and had started dancing. Too knackered to do anything but gawk at them in astonishment. Collapsed exhausted on the sofa and watched Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom...Viola Davis superb as Ma, and Chadwick Boseman, too, as Levee, his final role before his passing earlier this year. They deserve to take some awards...

Thursday 24th December 2020

Woke at 9.30...to a beeping alarm coming from the smoke detector in the kitchen area...transpired that it meant the back up battery needed replacing...what a palaver. Aki nipped out to the DIY shop. I did an hour-and-a-half’s work...Aki cooked a cheesecake. Drove over to Katrina’s to deliver a card and present...and pick up ours in return. She always does us a jar of her fabulous lemon curd! 

Then drove up to Bounds Green to deliver presents in my Santa guise to Pete and his girls...Tansy looked vaguely horrified by the sight of a man with a white beard appearing in her hallway! Bumped into Ben and Gayu on our return, who gave us some Xmas cake...I returned the favour with some of Aki’s cheesecake...going to be putting on weight this weekend!!!