Wednesday

 Good morning, everyone.  Yesterday continued to be drab and rather dreary but, thankfully, no rain.  Not that I noticed, anyway.  Today is supposed to be the same before a sudden drop in temperature overnight into Christmas Eve

I'm very glad I made the early morning visit to Sainsbury's.  For early morning, it was pretty busy, although there were no problems with parking, even when I left, and certainly not when I arrived.  I felt there was a nice vibe.  Everyone seemed very pleasant, patient, un-pushy, happy to wait if there wasn't enough room to remain distanced.
To be honest, while I saw plenty of Christmas buying, I saw no panic buying (trolleys full of loo rolls, beans, pasta, etc) whatsoever.

I had quite a lot to get as I had a list from Beth as well - no point two shopping if one can do it, is there?  As a result, I started feeling a bit stressed as it became clear I wasn't going to get it all done in time for my appointment with Specsavers.  I found an assistant and explained and, bless her, cheerfully, she took me to a place where I could leave my trolley while I went and picked up my glasses before finishing off my shop.  Great customer service.

At Specsavers, they had one of my new pairs but not the other.   I took the pair they had and they will text me when the other pair arrives, with another appointment.  Again, they were very calm and helpful and as quick as possible so I could get back to my trolley.

Of course, I ended up buying wa-a-ay too much but never mind, I just won't need to spend much between Christmas and New Year.  We don't make a big thing of New Year anyway; personally, I can never stay awake until midnight.

Once home, I sorted everything out, putting Beth's shopping into a couple of bags to wait for her to come and pick them up.  I generally pottered around, taking things easy, staying out of the kitchen so I have postponed making the spicy fruit not-stollen loaf until Christmas Eve, probably.  When Beth came over, we had a lovely chat over coffee before she left and then I had a Zoom chat with Dad.  We've got it sussed now and there are no problems.  He seems to have got his Christmas sorted pretty well, even to the extent of roasting his turkey crown (he thinks it is a turkey crown, it is coming today).  We're planning for a family chat on Christmas day afternoon.  Beth and Alex with be with me anyway, plus Dad, Dave and Anna and my two brothers/wives/partners from Scotland and the USA.  There's a pretty good chance the whole world will have the same idea and Zoom will be overloaded, but it is worth a try.  Fingers are very crossed.

Today is quite a busy day.
To start with, I have - guess what - an early dental appointment!!  Yes, I am really hoping I will get my implant gnashers finished at long long last.  As my dear old grandad used to sing when I was little. 'All I want for Christmas is me two front teef, me two front teef, oh me two front teef.'  Well - I sympathise, except in my case it is me four front teef!
I am so looking forward to biting into a nice, crunchy apple again.

At some point during the morning, the turkey is arriving.  They will leave it outside if I'm not in, so that's not a problem.  KellyBronze turkeys need very little preparation.  Some onion, herbs and citrus up its jacksie, as our Essex lad, Jamie Oliver, so elegantly says and that really is about it.  I don't even bother with butter, etc, I just cook it upside down for half the time, then turn it over for the second half and everything stays lovely and moist.  I will boil up the innards to add to the gravy stock I saved from last Christmas and it will taste just amazing!
One of these days I will get round to giving brining a go a la Nigella but it won't be this year!

At midday, I have my usual hour of personal training with Lindsey.  We're back online, of course.  Tier Four has shut all the gyms, etc, good and proper, but it's OK.  I have the basics - a step, a balance plate and a balance ball, some weights and some resistance bands.  Lindsey is very creative in using what I have to develop a good programme of exercise. 

Then I have the afternoon to potter.  I'll get the turkey ready then, if I haven't already.   I have some washing to do too.  Really, anything that I can sensibly do today, I intend doing, so I can have a nice, gentle Christmas Eve

At around five-fifteen, my lovely cleaners arrive for the Christmas clean.  Really, it is just the weekly clean but moved forward a couple of days and they will come quite late but I am so grateful that they can fit me in, I have no complaints about timing whatsoever.  So before then, I want to clear any clutter and generally make it possible for them to do as good a job as they possibly can.  They have a well deserved week off next week.

Today's Advent Calendar music clips are:

Past Three O'Clock (which, knowing me, is the time I will be awake on Christmas morning)!

and, in complete contrast, the beautiful 'Shepherds' Farewell' from Berlioz' 'L'enfance du Christ'

. . . both sung by my all time favourite choir (as if you hadn't already guessed), King's College Choir.