Don't you just love it?

Don't you just love Google? Don't all shout at once. Personally, I've been using so many of their products for so many years that deciding not to be a Googlite would be very inconvenient.  I was sorely tempted the other day, though.

I wanted to post here on the blog but, for reasons I could neither fathom myself nor discover from the web, Blogger simply wouldn't work. I gave Google the benefit of the considerable doubt, and waited a few days to let them discover the problem and fix it. The few days later, there was no improvement. I spent less than two minutes deciding that, though I would very much like to be shot of them, I valued my sanity too much; sanity which was very likely to be compromised if I actually tried dumping them..

Then it occurred to me that, at the very heart of all of the Google products I use - GMail, Blogger, Maps, YouTube, Drive, Calendar, Photos, Keep, Slides, Translate, Earth and Meet - is Chrome, their browser.

I installed Opera, Blogger worked! Just like that!

How is it, then, one may ask, that Google Blogger doesn't work with Google Chrome, but works with someone else's browser?

Rant over. Sorry about that. I only came here to wish you all the very best possible Christmas, and the same for the new year! I got distracted. Apologies for letting off steam on you.

It's entirely possible that some of you might be forced to spend Christmas alone, and that's really not a happy prospect. I'd hate it with a loathing, I'm sure. So I hope that this will help. It's a list of tips on how to make the most of being alone over Christmas, written by someone who has a lot of experience of that... (@MittenDAmour on Twitter)

If you are suddenly facing Christmas alone, I have tips. I LOVE Christmas alone, so get on board.

Food: What would you ideally like to eat if no-one could limit you or judge you? Nothing but pigs in blankets? Just cake? Pot Noodle? Get that! I’m having cheese and crackers.

Drink: Same goes – what would be a decadent treat? Endless cups of strong tea? Babycham? A robust red? Get it, you’re worth it. If you know booze makes you cry either limit it or buy extra tissues. No judgment.

Activities: Make a plan, don’t leave it to the day and find yourself lost. Doesn’t have to be a rigorous agenda but ‘wake up whenever, hot buttery toast and tea for breakfast, bubble bath, watch films, go for walk’ will give you a structure to enjoy.

Company: Many people can feel rotten lonely in a house full of relatives. Remember that. Even people in bustling houses can be miserable. Arrange to make call one or two people, just to say Merry Christmas and hear about how they dropped the turkey or what they’re watching on TV

Decorations: Do it! Get some decorations up – it makes a huge difference and shows that YOU are taking control of this fate, plus twinkly lights and bright things are cheering. I like to put on Christmas music and pour a hot mulled wine while I put mine up.

Gifts: If you have gifts to open maybe you’d like to arrange to do that at the same time as a friend over video chat. If you don’t have gifts please consider a spot of self-gifting and YES, wrap them up so you can open them on the day. Hard recommend on this one.

And lastly... hold on to the fact it is just 24 hours and doesn’t have to *be* anything. Even if you spend it sobbing, it will not last forever, it ends. Be gentle to yourself, make your own rules, turn it into your ideal lazy selfish Sunday. I learnt to lean into it and love it.

Oh and by the way, going outside for a stroll on Christmas Day is also a strong recommendation. Cheery cries of “Merry Christmas” exchanged with strangers and their dogs is an absolute tonic.

Own it, make it selfish and decadent. You deserve it, and I hope you enjoy it.

So, from Grace and me...

*******

Not looking back!

Well, I put away the Christmas music this morning. I played for the last time my compilation of seasonal music. You know them from your shopping escapades - Slade, Wizzard, Paul McCartney, Chris Rea, The Darkness et al. But then there are some family favourites we never hear in the muzakal hubbub of Yuletide shopping - Trans Siberian Orchestra, Jon Anderson, Enya, The Wombles, The King's Singers.

It's odd, isn't it, how shops and radio alike stop playing Christmas music as soon as Boxing Day arrives? Thus I had my last singalong/playalong for an hour or so before stacking the CDs on the shelf (within easy reach, lest I feel the need for a repeat performance) in favour of Joe Satriani and The Wanted, newly-acquired last week.

Christmas was a great time, as always. Michelle, Christine and Mike (as featured in my "feet" books!) joined us for a few days, along with Sarah-Beth, C and M's daughter who had enlisted her cousin Jess's assistance in preparing Christmas dinner and tea - and Boxing Day breakfast - for us all. They were both novices - nay, complete newcomers - to catering of that magnitude, but the result was excellent, and not even tardy! Nome and Ed were with Ed's family for dinner, but joined us around the Christmas tree for pressies and games later on.

Christmas morning church attended and dinner consumed, presents were opened, games were played, nibbles were nibbled and drinks were drunk - and not one of us was! And we all fell into bed happily knackered at some late hour. Oops, we forgot the washing-up! That became my task the next morning before anyone else was awake. (In fact, it did feel like one endless task for four whole days!)

"Before anyone else was awake" was actually closer to noon than to a "normal" waking-up time, but all of us - apart from SB, who had to go elsewhere, and Eddie who had to work - went for a good long walk in the lovely, nearby Heartwood Forest, and this did a lot to clear the cobwebs. I would have taken more and better photos if so much of my focus had not been of necessity on avoiding the mud and puddles!

And suddenly it's all over. Friends and family gone home; back to work, some of them. Lights still sparkle in front-garden trees, in windows - some of them all over the house!

But they'll all be gone soon, won't they? January 6th, twelfth night? Sad, innit?

I'm back to clearing the loft and coordinating "the fixing of the sagging floor" (which sounds to me like the title of a mystery story!) I've still got several hours of writing to do to complete my latest book, "Out of the Dawn". I had originally hoped to publish it this week, but "the best laid schemes o' mice an' men gang aft agley" (which is Robert Burns's Scottish translation of "shit happens")

And it's 2019. The Thames fireworks were amazing - all the better for being seen on the telly, warm, comfortable and accompanied by wine. The riverside crowd looked as though they were having a great time, but I would only have swapped with one of them if I had been paid a large sum of money! (No, it's NOT my age! I've always felt like that!) 2018 wasn't what we'd had in mind for it, but we're not looking back now. Only forward.

So what does 2019 have in store for us? Well, we got 2017 and 2018 wrong, so we're not going to be doing anything other than knowing what we'd like to do (a damned sight more boating than the past two years put together!) and pointing ourselves in that direction. We'd rather not have anything ganging oft agley, as best laid schemes are wont to do. (What schemes do mice lay, I wonder.)

A happy new year to you all!

Me and flu and 2017

Grace and I didn't stay up to welcome in the New Year last night. We were due to have friends round for the evening, but they, like us, are suffering from colds or flu. So it was a quiet evening watching "A Little Chaos" - highly recommended! - followed by another night of coughing and spluttering. I guess that's why I'm up, typing up this blog, while the rest of the world around me is still fast asleep.

To you all...

I've never really been interested in New Year's Resolutions. My thinking is that there's nothing that special about the start of a new year that means I can't resolve to do things on any other day. A new year starts every day, anyway. In fact...

And I share Swedish Canary's sentiments about the matter, too.

Nonetheless, peering out from two weeks of seasonal eating and drinking, too much sitting still, too little exercise, and flu, I'm thinking I need to get back into my previous exercise routine. I actually brought the exercise bike back from the boat. I've used it once in two weeks. And I've also stopped doing daily brain exercises with my NeuroNation app, which I've found definitely sharpens up my thinking in a number of ways. I can guarantee that my scores will be lower than before I stopped. It's a bit depressing really! So, overall improved fitness - at least a return to previous levels - is a worthy goal. And realistic, Mr Canary!

One thing that's new for me in 2017 is that Jess has given me the responsibility of maintaining the blog of The Company of Players. There's not much there at the moment. They're a new group, and they've not gigged much yet (though what they have done has been amazing), but they're set to grow a lot in 2017, with their first album being recorded this week, and a UK tour in the offing.

(video by John Bailey)

Writing their blog's going to be a lot of fun! (though being one of the Company would be even more so!)

Happy Old Year

To be honest, 2015 wasn't the year for cruising that I'd hoped for. Grace had been more cautious in her considerations. She always is. What travelling we did was great. The Soar and Trent trip especially. And that's not to play down the good time with had with Steve and Jess, and Michelle. But the rivers were fabulous, and Dave and Sandy's company for much of it made it even more pleasurable.

So 2015 was a happy year. Having Kantara repainted put big smiles on our faces. Then there were the several weeks on the cut, the week in The Lake District in the snow (wouldn't it be cool if the canal system went there?), days out at National Trust properties and the like, Said the Maiden gigs. Happy times!

And I can't help but mention again the publication of "Life with our feet under water" on Kindle this week. It's already started to sell quite well, with readers in touch with me on Twitter with their compliments.

(Don't forget that Kindle books can be read on any computer or other device, not just Kindle readers.)

Christmas - already a week away? - was lovely. A family affair, with all six of us, plus Eddie's dad and brother, his mum and a friend, and Michelle (of cruising fame), with fantastic food and drink, fun games, laughter and presents.

This morning, after a night of partying by part of the family (Jess was unwell, and Grace and I were happy to have a quiet night in) we welcomed in the new year with a family brunch, cooked by Naomi. This afternoon we'll be playing Munchkin, a new game to us, totally crazy and a lot of fun. It pays to be a good loser though (I should know!) because it can be very demeaning!

We went to see Kantara yesterday. The weather was beautiful first thing in the morning, and was when we arrived at the marina, but it deteriorated quickly, and a very cold, very strong wind got up, driving some heavy, sleety rain ahead of it. Not nice. Our main reason for going was for Steve to do a wiring job for us, moving our 3G router from the bow to the stern, with cable to the antenna on a mast now much better situated than ever before, and cables for our laptops at the dinette table. Steve's job involves a lot of installation of sound and video equipment in churches, cathedrals, prisons, schools, so he has all of the tools, as well as the experience and expertise. Job done invisibly in a couple of hours.

So, 2016. What lies ahead? Well, we're both agreed that this year will be a year of cruising. We need to be in Derby for a week in April, being cooks for a bunch of 12 folk musicians working collaboratively to write songs on the theme of Shakespeare. 2016 is the 400th anniversary of his death, and there will be a lot of special events across the nation throughout the year. The end result of this week together will be a tour and a recording or two. Jess is organizing this, and it promises to be a brilliant event. Despite the responsibility of doing all of the cooking (and probably the washing-up, too!), being there with these folkies is bound to be a lot of fun.

As for cruising, there are too many options to list, of course, and we'll not plan much in advance. But I'm perusing the maps!

A Happy New Year to all of you. And may all your days be bright!