The end of the Christmas Holiday

So sad.  It's been a nice break with time to rest as well as busyness at times.  Hiring out some of the tasks has worked well and I think I will do that again, assuming I can afford it.  Am I ready for school - well, yes, I am.  The planning is as done as it's going to be done.  The question really is, is school ready for me?  And the answer is no, sadly.  I did intend to go into school at some point for a good clear up but didn't manage.  Now I'm feeling a bit better I can say that I've been feeling quite rough for most of the holiday, on and off.  The cough is taking a very long time to clear and hasn't really gone still.  As a result, I didn't feel up to facing the cold, the quiet and the mess.  Mea culpa!

So, today has been a continuing clear up day at home.  I managed to sort out two shelves of books, mostly old OU discontinued course books that no-one will ever want, so in the recycling sack they went.  I also sorted out another kitchen drawer.  You can tell how many years I have been ordering a turkey from Kelly's of Danbury because each year they include a meat thermometer with the bird, which I never use but always keep.  Today three of them got chucked and one kept (not totally sure why because I never use them but . . .).  I have to admit that was probably the easiest of the remaining drawers and there's worse to come.
This is the before picture:

This morning I mentioned trying a bit of Anthea mixture on the grouting between the floor tiles in the kitchen.  I tried it on a small area and, my goodness, it hasn't half made a difference.  Definitely one to do over the rest, especially where there's rather visible staining.

So now the rest is over, one more sleep and we're back to school.  I'm very much looking forward to it, all four days of it before the next weekend. 
Note to self: make sure the alarm is on!