Dear Diary...

This is my diary. How things are. Or something. Please note that the diary is archived month by month, so feel free to click the links for the archives (which now will go back five years maximum):

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2020


Sunday 18th January - Camberwell Green

The Love In My Heart had another well earned lie in and I got up and caught up on some telly, as well as check out the right route for later for our Sunday lunch. The Love's niece had very kindly got us a nice present of a gift voucher for use at the Camberwell Arms, where the Sunday roasts are supposed to be really good. In fact we were lucky to manage to get a table booking for this Sunday, as usually the availability is not always that easy to get - which may say a lot about either how good it may be, or that there's hype around the place (or possibly even both). In any case, it'd be good to try it out.

As Camberwell isn't the easiest to get to by train, it was actually easier for us when I checked to get the 468 bus from near mine all the way to Cambewell Green and then basically turn right at the lights and take a short walk down to the Camberwell Arms, so we left early enough to allow time for the bus journey. In fact as some of that route is my bus commute to work if I do take the bus, it was nice to show The Love what it's like and point out a few things along the way. She did note that West Norwood looked nice with some local independent shops and places, so maybe somewhere we'd go to next time she was down here too.

The bus made its way to Herne Hill and climbed up that hill, then down by Denmark Hill and we got off in Camberwell. She did think it sounded like Camberwick Green and so had the theme tune to that in my head for the rest of the day, so that is tune of the day. We walked along and arrived in good time at the Camberwell Arms, where the staff showed us to our table and offered to store The Love's case in the staff office so it wasn't in the way as we dined. In fact it was very busy all told with plenty of tables all taken and everyone indulging in the Sunday roasts, as you do.

We ordered some drinks and noted that the Augustiner Helles in bottles was available so The Love had that and I had the Brockley IPA which was a very nice session beer. All the roasts are basically for two to share between you, and you do get roast potatoes with them or some vegetables as in the description of each roast, but for the other vegetables you may wish to have, they are extra - so something worth noting. We went for the roast pork which came with a burnt apple dressing, some nice gravy and some red cabbage. We then paid a little extra to have honey glazed carrots, which were rather good also, as was the pork.

It definitely felt very posh to have that between us, and the pork's crackling was crispy and crunchy but not impossible to cut or eat, so that was good. It filled us up well and I had just about enough room to treat myself to dessert, namely the treacle tart with clotted cream. It was nice and warm and the clotted cream went with it perfectly. We saw other tables having different roasts and mains including the beef and bone marrow pie (in a dish wish lid so not a proper pie, I'd have disqualified that immediately!) and also the venison which looked very nice, especially with some creamed leeks on the side.

Overall it was a lovely somewhat indulgent experience, the staff were very good too. Not something we'd always do as it is not the cheapest (the roast for two without any sides we had was £56, so £28 each, and the side was £6.) We were happy that the voucher we had did go towards the costs well, and we did have a good time, and you can tell that the roasts are what makes it popular on a Sunday as plenty seemed to be enjoying themselves too.

We got back to Camberwell Green and headed on the 68 bus via Elephant and Castle, Waterloo and Aldwych before getting back to Euston in more than good time, so we headed to the pub for a drink and one place even had the Fierce Beer Iron Brew - well of course I was going to have that wasn't I? It was really nice and that just set the seal on what was a very lovely weekend. Even more so, the train was on time and all nice and quiet for The Love on the way home, so that was good, and I got back to watch the snooker and see Kyren Wilson win the Masters!

Saturday 17th January - Angel Eyes

We had a good lie in this morning, as The Love In My Heart had had a long week at work and admittedly was not sleeping as well, so it was good for her to rest and relax anyway. Of course she was thinking about Brian the cat, but her niece was staying at hers this weekend, so he would have company all the time, and a reassuring message to say he was all good and was happily chilled out on the pouffle with her and her boyfriend in the front room was nice to know. I am sure he will be miaowing away for tuna and Dreamies accordingly!

Once we got ourselves showered and ready, and had had a full breakfast to keep us going during the day, we thought about heading out and exploring some little shops and just having a nice afternoon out. I had suggested around Angel as when we walked back from pub near there a while ago we noted the little shops close to Camden Passage and thought it would be worth exploring - and The Love does adore little independent shops, so why not? So we took the train to London Bridge and then changed for the tube to Angel on the Northern Line, making for the long escalator up and out.

We had a good walk along Camden Passage, spotting all the antique dealers and indeed one of them had a triangular Toblerone mug, where the seller said "a bargain for a pound" which we replied "and cheaper than the chocolate these days!" which he agreed with. We did go into a few nice independent shops and it felt very nice to see how much care went into some of the things for sale - included a knitted figure which was an animal with dungarees on and definitely was good to see. In fact, at the very end was Estella Bartlett which was a lovely shop, and The Love was tempted to buy plenty in there but did get one nice item for herself.

We did head back along to the Camden Head pub and it was not that cold so I got us some drinks and sat outside, which did have cover if it was going to rain. I did see the scoreline in the Manchester derby and that did not make me happy (understatement) although at the same time I almost sort of expected it due to the fact that it was new manager bounce and so on. I didn't dwell on that and we had a good look around some of the shops in Angel Central as well as a couple more independent shops too. It was a nice little mooch around and then it was off back to the tube.

I had suggested we head to Battersea Power Station and The Love agreed - primarily as we could mooch around more nice shops, they often had artisan sellers on with the occasional market, but also if we fancied a drink, Battersea Brewery was also round there too. Of course being close to the Northern Line meant we'd get back on at Angel, head down to Kennington and then change there for the other branch to Battersea Power Station. In fact, the second exit out of there to Electric Boulevard was now open, so we followed that which meant we'd be able to explore the shops along there (and more new ones had opened including a cute kids wear shop too.)

It was good to walk around the main power station from the lower level upwards, and we did notice that there were more food stalls in a place called Arcade on the upper level, which did have some queues to get in, showing it was popular. We did also note that there were some more affordable shops, and that Waterstones had gone in where there was an independent book seller before, a bit of a shame that to be honest. We did also spot that Marks and Spencer now had a clothing outlet inside as well as a food one outside. We headed outside and it was good to see the River Thames and of course now there's a pier for those taking the river boats to get here, so definitely more ways of getting there and being a destination.

We then went along the railway arches on Arches Lane and noted that there was now a branch of Tonkotsu open, which I had been in Haggerston and enjoyed, so definitely one that we could check out on future here if we wanted to. We did manage to get a table for two inside the Battersea Brewery and I managed to have a blueberry lemonade sour beer, which was exactly what it said on the tin. It was rather gorgeous. We did notice that the tap room was having a live watch of the final episode of The Traitors on Friday next week and I can imagine that it would do well and be a good opportunity to have a few beers and watch, good to note we thought.

After that we headed back along to the main road and then over to Battersea Park train station, timing our walk back well so that we would be able to get the Southern train to West Croydon. We could have changed at Clapham Junction and on to East Croydon too but when we saw the platforms at Clapham being rammed, it was easier to stay on especially as we had seats on the train anyway. We got back, watched Gladiators (the theme tune is tune of the day) and then settled in for the evening with some telly and some late night semi final drama in the Masters snooker too.

Friday 16th January - Training Day

As I've been winding down some of the older systems that were in use at work, I've also been mindful of the fact that there are some processes that I've had to develop and refine over the years, and because of changes to the business and/or people leaving, there may be only one of me that has all the necessary knowledge needed. I had had a good chat with my manager earlier in the week and we identified that this would be a good thing to do in order to pass that on - not just for the sake of continued support and being able to cover each other, but in case anything happened to me, they would be covered.

I had done some prep work yesterday and today with a PowerPoint slideshow and this would act as a sensible base for me to be able to work with and explain things. The first session was effectively to give an overview of how everything would work moving forward, including some demonstrations of some of the methods used andf also that would lead nicely into later sessions into getting things together. In fact it may well be that we may need to convene at one of our other places where a chunk of the kit is in order to use some of that and do some road testing too, but for the first few weeks or so I can easily demonstrate too.

On the whole, I do think the session went well. There were a few good questions and I think once I had shown the slides with the basic step by step way, it would be useful. In fact that provided some good food for thought in reference to documentation so I checked some of the documentation this afternoon, and as needed, I would update it accordingly to be sure all was well. In fact when I had mentioned during the afternoon session that I had documented everything, one of the team said that they would not have expected anything less, which was a good compliment.

The Love In My Heart was coming down to mine for the weekend and had today off, so had timed her train so that she would get to Euston and then on the tube to Victoria, and as the office is quite close to Victoria anyway, we would be able to meet at Victoria, which was how it all worked out. It was nice to go for a drink close to the station and have a good chatter and catch up first anyway, and it was just nice to wind down and relax too. She had had a good journey down and so once we had our drink, we headed off on the train to East Croydon and back to mine.

We settled in for the evening and watched the latest episode of The Traitors, which is getting interesting to say the least. No spoilers here of course, but we do like some of the twists and turns along the way, and naturally for me I do adore Claudia Winkleman in the more country outfits she has on - seems to suit her much better than the white heels on Strictly Come Dancing for example. The theme tune to The Traitors is tune of the day as it adds the right amount of drama for the show to begin!

Sunday 11th January - Ally Pally Action

I was going to peruse a couple of car boot sales today as I had some time at home, but then thought about the potential of going to the Masters snooker at Alexandra Palace, which starts today. The tickets had been a little too expensive per session which is why I did not apply for the early session prices at this time last year - the tickets generally go on sale a year up front. I did note however that See Tickets were starting to handle resales - fan to fan ones apparently, where World Snooker had realised that the way that the Crucible handle these was a better way to go. The method used here wasn't as good as such but did offer some price options at least in terms of what you would pay.

And.. lo and behold! I checked for the 1pm afternoon session, and a ticket was available in Row R in the yellow stand, and checking the seat map, I'd be looking down to the table side on between the baulk colours and blue spot, not bad at all. And the price? £30. That was actually less than the £39 face value of the ticket, and even taking into account the 12.5% resale fee See charged, that was still £33.75 in all and less. So it was purchased, and a few minutes later an email came with a PDF to save to the phone to have it scanned (or print it out and take it). So I was off to the snooker.

I had worked out a train route, as normally I could go from East Croydon straight to Finsbury Park on Thameslink and change there for Great Northern to Alexandra Palace. Due to various works, that could not happen. However, my Plan B route still meant I would pay £4.40 each way on Oyster, which was to go to Farringdon, head across to the tube platforms and to Moorgate, and pick up Great Northern from there. At both Farringdon and Moorgate you can switch platforms without going through any barriers (the National Rail corridor between tube and train at Moorgate is a little hidden but I spotted it) and so it is classed as going the same way. Nice.

I walked up the hill from the station and with the wind howling a little, yes the view was nice but it was a bit nippy. All tickets and bags etc were being checked, and the doors opened a little late so the queue had built up. I did get in fine,and noted a couple of changes compared to previous years: apart from the Phoenix pub and one coffee place, all the other food and drink stalls were down the other end of the venue, and there were considerable queues. In addition, the entrance to the arena was now at this back end instead of the front, which took some getting used to. Nonetheless, some good tunes playing and the atmos was good, and eventually we were all called in to get to our seats.

My seat did have a good view as described on the seating plan, and Rob Walker got the crowd warmed up nicely before it went to the lovely Hazel Irvine fronting the coverage for BBC Two, with Steve Davis and Ken Doherty. Out came the two players for today: defending champion Shaun Murphy and the impressive young Chinese player Wu Yize, who had won his first ranking event a few months back. Shaun came out to the Trammmps' classic Disco Inferno (make that tune of the day) whilst Wu's big hair had Rob mentioning the biggest barnet (actual Barnet is not far from the venue!) and that went donw well with the masses. Game on, and some exciting snooker ahead.

And so it proved. Wu Yize did some good breaks in the first frame and although it took a couple of attempts, got over the line easily to win the opener. In the second frame, he soon was in the flow and managed a total clearance break (ie: all 15 reds, colours, and all the colours to clear) and that 137 was the first century of the tournament of course. The crowd were impressed, and when clearing up in the next frame he did a few naughty snooker Judd Trump type shots to go 3-0 up. Shaun Murphy did manage to pull one back before the mid-session interval and he definitely needed to!

I had just enough time at the interval to head to the loo (there were queues) and the bar queue was massive, so if I had stayed to get a drink I would have missed the first frame after the restart. I guess I could have gone into the Phoenix pub and got a takeout beer there which I might have to remember to do at some point. Anyway, glad I did not miss the fifth frame as after a miss from Murphy, Wu Yize did a nice clearance break from the final red onwards and snatched that frame on the back to go 4-1 up. It was for me a crucial one to win and with the next two frames being shared, it was 5-2 to Wu and could he handle that pressure to get over the line?

You bet he could! He was classy in the final frame and put together a quality break at the end after Murphy had missed, and I did think that let Wu in. He soon realised he would not need a tricky black off the cushion if he potted good value colours prior to the final balls, and that meant that the pink was enough for him to seal a well deserved 6-2 win and one which meant he would play the winner of Xiao Guodong and Mark Selby later, which I ended up watching on BBC Four tonight when I got home from Ally Pally. It was a grand day out and always good to see some live snooker!

Saturday 10th January - Ten Up

It was an early rise for me and it was good to be able to get myself ready for the day and out, heading off to Euston to get the train up to Manchester. It was the third round of the FA Cup today, which is always a magical weekend and one that will bring some shocks, but hopefully not for me as a Manchester City fan. We were playing Exeter City from League One, and they had sold out all 8,000 or so of their ticket allocation, and with the reduced ticket prices, it was a sell out around the ground. I think for a family with kids who want to go, this sort of game makes it affordable for everyone and that at least has to be a good thing.

The train before mine from Euston was delayed and that was the one that stopped at Macclesfield, so I did note plenty of Crystal Palace fans were waiting for that as their game was up there with a 12.15 kick off. My train was generally on time, and once at Manchester Piccadilly, it was straight on the tram to The Love In My Heart's place. She was out with a friend today but I kept Brian the cat company for a bit, and made sure he had some Dreamies too which he miaowed at me with happiness knowing I was treating him. It was good to have a coffee and be nice and cosy, and so could put on BBC One for Match of the Day.

And well, what a match too. Macclesfield beat Crystal Palace 2-1, and in terms of league position difference, some 117 places in all, so statistically, the biggest FA Cup shock. In fact, Macclesfield actually played really well. Their captain Paul Dawson led by example and his first challenge resulted in him having to go off for a head bandage - almost Pablo Zabaleta-like. It was no surprise he scored the opener with a great header from a free kick, and when the second goal went in from Isaac Buckley-Ricketts, Palace had already brought on some of their bigger players in an attempt to salvage. And despite a consolation free kick from Yeremy Pino, Macclesfield held firm, with Dawson fittingly having the last kick of the match. They deserved their win hugely, and with recent events meaning the loss of one of their players, a fitting tribute to him.

With that enjoyed, I headed over to the Etihad and was in good time for kick off. Manchester City were not going to make the same mistake Nottingham Forest had made last night against Wrexham (or Palace earlier) and named a strong starting line up including Erling Haaland, Rodri, Rayan Cherki, new signing Antoine Semenyo, Tijjani Reijnders, Nathan Ake, Abdukodir Khusanov and Rico Lewis. Respect given to Exeter City and showed what we'd do - get the game done, get the bigger names off once done, and not have to bring them on in a panic. That's the better way to do it in my view.

After a close call with Exeter City going close and a good save from James Trafford in goal too, Manchester City pressed forward, and after a couple of headers won by Ake and Haaland, the ball got to Max Alleyne in the area who managed to shoot off the post and just over the line - the goal line tech (which was allowed, whereas VAR is not until round five) beeped on the ref's watch and it was 1-0. Manchester City looked like they meant business and after Semenyo had his shot blocked, Rodri showed how it was done with both pace and accuracy shooting into the bottom corner, reminiscent of his equaliser against Aston Villa in the 3-2 title win game a few years back. I think he was pleased with that one!

Manchester City did score two more before half time, both of which were unfortunately for Exeter City, own goals. The first came from a Rayan Cherki corner where an attempted clearance came back off the defender's head, off the back of the leg of another defender and crept in to the corner. The second own goal was due to an attempt to intercept the cross from Reijnders, and unfortunately that just intercepted straight into the bottom corner. That maybe was harsh on Exeter City, but with the score 4-0 at half time, the changes would be made for Manchester City, primarily to keep players fit for the League Cup semi-final, so off went Haaland, Rodri and Ake and on came Divine Mukasa, Stephen Mfuni and Nico O'Reilly, meaning the latter would get a half after coming on against Brighton and Hove Albion.

Manchester City did not waste time at all and a gorgeous cross from the left from Semenyo was met by Rico Lewis, and a cross that Haaland would have relished to get on the end of, to make it 5-0. A great through ball found Semenyo, and he cut inside and slotted the ball past the keeper perfectly for the sixth. Not long after two more changes were made with Semenyo and Alleyne off for Jeremy Doku and Bernardo Silva, giving the former a good run out and an opportunity for more goals. Indeed, Doku was tormenting the Exeter City defence and he had three players round him, so released the ball to Reijnders who curled home a beauty for 7-0. The Manchester City fans started chanting "we want ten!" as they believed we could potentially do it.

Those chants grew louder as a good cross from Rico Lewis on the right was met perfectly by Nico O'Reilly with a superb precision header into the bottom corner. 8-0. Ten minutes plus stoppages left. And that then became 9-0 after Mukasa played a ball in from the left and Cherki dummied it, taking defenders out of the way so Ryan McAidoo could blast the ball home and score his first City goal, notably running to his parents who were sat by the corner flag to embrace and celebrate with them, which was lovely. He had played well all game down the right and was always willing to run at defenders, and take them on. Whilst it didn't always work he kept going and kept positive, and we appreciated that a lot, so super pleased he got one.

The fun and games was not quite over yet, as Exeter City had brought a number of subs on. After a good interception in midfield, the ball reached George Birch. He kept going, saw an opportunity and hit a screamer from 25 yards out right into the top corner. To be fair, it was a superb goal, and whilst the away supporters had something great to remember, many Manchester City fans applauded the finish - a quality strike like that deserves merit and it was notable that Cherki went up to him, applauded him and gave him a thumbs up in apprecation.

Manchester City then went up the other end and after a scramble to try and get the ball away, the ball ricocheted off Jeremy Doku to Rico Lewis and he smashed it into the roof of the net for.. 10-1. Yes, if the old vidiprinter was active now, you'd see that done like 10 (TEN) on there. It was the first time Manchester City had scored ten in a game at the Etihad (I was there for the 9-0 League Cup semi final win over Burton Albion, our previous best at the ground) and I was at Maine Road back in 1987 when City beat Huddersfield Town 10-1 in a Second Division (second tier as it was then) match with three players getting hat tricks. Impressive stuff, and certainly one to enjoy. The classic anthem of The Boys In Blue played at the end and had to be tune of the day.

I headed back into the city centre and ended up meeting up with The Love In My Heart and her friend for a drink in Terrace, which was lovely. I'd met her friend many times before and she is really nice, so it was good to be able to have a good natter and general catch up, and we got a cosy warm spot upstairs which was nice, as you could hear each other chatter and be able to enjoy the company. We walked back later so they could get the tram and me then off to Piccadilly for the train home, but it had been a very good and memorable day of football and nice to end it with some quality time too. Winning.

Sunday 4th January – Late Finish

It was an early rise for myself and The Love In My Heart as Little Miss E and Little Miss O had got themselves up and they were all full of the joys of Spring, despite it being very cold outside of course. In fact, they had both had a good sleep, and that was good to see. Once up, we got some books and toys all sorted and they were all enjoying having a good play in the morning. In fact, they had had some cereal when I got up and got showered, and later on also had some pancakes and fruit with some bacon as well. They seemed to all be happy and enjoying themselves which was nice to see.

In fact later on we were able to put on some episodes of Shaun the Sheep, which Little Miss E has got into recently, and later on then amused them both with Monsters University on Blu-Ray, as they both like the Mike Wazowski character. And being a big Pixar fan anyway, I do not mind that one bit of course – always good to encourage them. It was all good and they both had enjoyed their stay at their Nana’s, and when their mum came to collect them, they both gave me a hug when they left to say thank you, which was good. I think that it’s always a positive to be nice and the happiness I get back is just so lovely.

It was a nice quiet afternoon before I would be heading to the Etihad Stadium for the late kick off between Manchester City and Chelsea, so The Love and I settled in to watch The Traitors from last night, as she was settling the little ones to sleep and I was chatting online. No spoilers here of course, but it was interesting to see how the dynamic would soon be changing with one of the outcomes from the evening, as well as having another little twist along the way. Definitely for me there is plenty more to come and I’m looking forward to the rest of the series. One of the songs used during this episode is tune of the day – a version of Natural Blues by Moby.

Over at the Etihad it was pretty cold and there had been no snow as yet, but there was some predicted for the game, and it did indeed come down during the first half. City pressed forward eventually after a slow start, and there were a few good chances, with Phil Foden shooting just wide and after a good ball from Rodri, Erling Haaland smacked the post. Eventually, just before half time,the ball went forward towards Haaland, the two defenders around him attempted to intercept, but the ball went left to Tijjani Reijnders, who took on the right back and smashed the ball into the top corner for 1-0, so that was a positive move all round.

Unfortunately, City could not get a second goal and as the second half went on, Chelsea did come back into the game and did have two close chances which brought some good saves from Gianluigi Donnarumma. As time wore on and City made some changes, it was clear that the chances we had to make it 2-0 needed to be taken, and some defending stopped the shots or blocked the crosses. Sadly when it got to stoppage time, the ball went down the right side an an accurate cross found Enzo Fernandez, who at the second time of asking put the ball home for 1-1. A check for VAR happened but sub Liam Delap was onside during the build up so the goal stood. A somewhat frustrating result all round but I suspected this would be the case due to us not killing the game off.

Saturday 3rd January – Little Misses and Catisseries

It was a leisurely lie in this morning after having had a quiet night in last night. The Love In My Heart had arranged to have both Little Miss E and Little Miss O stay overnight tonight, and I still had plans to have an online meet up with friends and indeed to do a quiz as part of that. We got ourselves some breakfast and then made sure both the spare bed and the cot was all ready, and set off in The Love’s car. The traffic was really busy around the AO Arena as it was the Hot Wheels Monster Trucks thing on, so lots of cars heading to the car park – and we did see plenty of parents walking with their children towards the arena.

We got to the parents of Little Miss E and Little Miss O to collect them and they were both happy to see us. We had everything we needed and so once we had the pram to hand just in case, we loaded up the car and decided it would be a good idea to head for a coffee and possibly some light lunch on the way back. We did want to avoid the AO Arena again and so instead diverted towards Regent Road and the shopping park there, which meant that we had a cunning plan.

The Love wanted to show the little ones where she takes Brian the cat to the vet, but also as they do have some animals in there they could see them too. There were two rabbits with plenty of space being adorable along with some hamsters rolling around in the wheels at lightning pace. We did also get Brian some cat treats and spotted this reduced item at the counter, which was a Catisserie Palace cat house. It had two scratching boards, one on the floor and one on top, with the four walls and decorative sign all in pink and that of course appealed to Little Miss E especially as she loves pink.

Once we got that we headed over to Costa Coffee in the same shopping park. We got a cold drink for the girls, and I had an oat latte, and we then got some cheese and ham toasties to share, which everyone enjoyed and it was all good. It was nice to be able to rest and relax in there together before we then headed back to The Love’s place. We did assemble the catisserie palace and that looked good. Brian the cat tried it out and he went inside to enjoy the comfort of the scratching board and had a good little scratch too, but was also good it had a front and back door to head in and oiut of so he could walk through and play as needed.

In the late afternoon The Love made us all pizza for tea, and that was very nice with a good ham and mushroom one for me to share with them all, and after that and making sure that the girls were all settled in with The Love, I did my online chat with my friends and that was all very nice. I also did the quiz too and was able to have good fun with everyone on that one, and had some classic tunes from the 80s where you had to determine the country the artist was from and also if there was an 8-bit version of the tune too. This included the likes of Take on Me by A-ha, so that is tune of the day. All was a lovely evening and Little Miss E and Little Miss O headed off to sleep.

Thursday 1st January – New Year Roast

The Love In My Heart and I saw the New Year in with a glass of prosecco, and we heard all the fireworks from central Manchester as well as the ones on the television from central London, where as usual the extended display did seem to go on for a long time, with it seemed a break into Auld Lang Syne after that. It was our cue to switch back to the rest of Jools Holland’s Hootenanny on BBC Two, where there were a varied range of bands and artists, as per ever. I was good to hear The Kooks doing Naive for example, and still a bit of an under-rated classic for me at least.

What did for us both feel emotional, considering how much that she had been through, was Jessie J talking frankly with Jools about what had happened with her, and how much it had given her a perspective into life, and her performance of My Way with Jools’ orchestra had a lot of emotion attached, and you could feel that. It was really moving and so tune of the day for me that. We also had Heather Small, formerly of M People, singing the likes of Search for the Hero, and Lulu re-doing her cover of David Bowie’s The Man Who Sold The World. It of course ended with Jools and everyone, including Olivia Dean, Ronnie Wood, Imelda May et al all joining in for Enjoy Yourself as the traditional closer for the programme.

It was good to have had a lengthy lie in overnight and even Brian the cat sensed that more sleep was needed, as he had his breakfast and then rejoined his Mummy all snuggly on the bed, bless him. It was nice just to take things easy in the morning and see James Martin make some nice things on his New Year show including a sticky toffee roulade which was an alternative to the pudding. For me that was interesting to see and although a shorter programme, definitely some nice ideas I could try and maybe we need to go to Tavistock in Devon to find the pubs where the owner and chef was based who was on there.

We got ourselves ready and headed off in The Love’s car, stopping off for some petrol and then heading over to my Mum’s, as she was making us a nice roast lunch. My brother would be there with his girlfriend too, so it’d be a good afternoon and good to see them – he had not been too fully well over the festive period so would be good to see. We got there, but only after someone decided to pull a right turn almost in front of The Love on one of the roads and she had to brake well in order to avoid them – muppet drivers I see left right and centre still happens I see.

In any case it was lovely to see my brother and girlfriend as well as Mum, and we had a very nice and relaxing roast for lunch. Mum had done some roast beef along with both roast and mash potatoes, carrots, Yorkshire pudding and gravy, with some of the others having cabbage as well. It was all lovely and more than enough without being too much to be honest. It was nice too that my brother was trying to get better but what he has means how well he could be comes and goes in phases but does have an appointment to hopefully get things sorted. We did have a lovely afternoon and that whizzed by to be honest, and was a nice relaxed way to start the year before The Love heads back to work (again) tomorrow.