S-Westerly

No.4 grandchild arrived this morning finally at 0122. So for our family at least this dismal year ends on a high note! Here's hoping that everyone else's 2021 is better too.

Christmas didn't happen for us. Son froze in carpark at hospital until 0400 then came home. Daughter in law got sent home at 1400. No.4 grandchild decided he'd stay in the warm. My vote for him to be named Brian was shot down. So blackpudding tonight. At least there's cider. Christmas will be held tomorrow, assuming Brian allows.

Mule wine is surely a euphemism for crap beer ie horse's piss.

At least they haven't driven you to drink!

Was thinking more about imminent arrival of no.4 grandchild but rain is probable.

Plan to finish it, years of practice and a cast iron liver.

Ditto on the port. About halfway through a bottle at the mo pondering on what tomorrow will bring.

Not sure what we are getting. The plan was to be at my son's and over indulge on rib of beef and red wine. No.4 grandchild was due on January 2nd. Son is now in Bristol maternity hospital car park (not allowed inside cos of covid) while latest grandchild decides whether or not he is ready to hatch. "He's not the messiah, he's a very naughty boy!" Might be black pudding and bacon which wasn't quite what I had in mind!

FFS NZ is an island in the middle of nowhere with no through traffic. UK might be an island but until covid Heathrow was the busiest airport in the world. Our population is something like 12 times that of NZ and we have the biggest city in Europe with one of the densest populations. NZ doesn't. Furthermore if you look at the deaths per 100,000 of the population in Europe Spain, Italy and Belgium all have figures higher than us and France is catching up fast. We have also started rolling out a vaccine which nobody else in Europe has and we have now tested a greater portion of the population than similarly sized countries. No fan of Johnson’s handling of covid but on first glance the deal with the EU is fair. Neither side seems to have got everything it wanted but we shall see. As to how things go from here? In 5 years time I doubt you'll see much difference at all. It would be nice if folks would occasionally look at the positives in the UK and there are some. Not many at the moment I'll grant but hey.....

Suspect poor old Father Christmas has been banned from Chinese airspace and his reindeer are likely to be shot down and sold in a wild meat market in Wuhan.

Bloody canoes capsize just by looking at them. Any kind of hankypanky would be bloody amazing.

The politburo or whatever Pres. Xi's rubber stampers are called, deserve nothing but opprobrium and a hearty round of abuse. The rest of the Chinese population has my deepest sympathy and that's about all I am willing to gift them at the moment.

Merry Christmas one and all and by whatever Gods, fantasy beings, (or in MarkW's case the rules of science) you pray to let's hope that 2021 is better than this!

Bloody hell, in a canoe?

You've met my grandsons?

Lucky old you. Hopefully new strain covid won't blow your plans up too.

That what I said. He's most definitely not terse, loquacious maybe but not terse.

Awww, I'm touched.

Cromulent maybe but apothegmatic I fear not. Entertaining definitely.

Probably, after all it's what scientists are noted for - being longwinded. Not as bad as politicians though. Personally prefer the more terse option.

California has insanely strict emission laws which they charge extortionate fines for breaking them. Even petrol stations have special pumps so that no fumes escape into the atmosphere. And as for ship's emissions I won't even start ....... Even $1.9 million is going to smart.

I like Fairy Tale of NY and certainly it turns up on my Spotify list but then it would. Along with a selection by the Poxy Boggards. Not family listening.

Reckon people smugglers will be coining it in. Refugees coming in and desperate Brits going the other way. Winner!

I'm with Mississippi on this. Wrecked my knee skiing 20 years ago and consequently had to give up running and raquet sports as after 10 minutes of impact my knee would swell up to enormous size and take several hours of ice pack to get to a point I could walk. Cycling is not a problem and funnily enough neither is skiing as long as I keep away from moguls.

When son left home I turned up with a bag of laundry asking if it could all be ready for tomorrow morning. For some reason he was not amused.