Merry Christmas

What a lovely spring day; warm breeze, sunny and everyone seems in a good mood. I had a busy half week at work and on Wednesday afternoon I trundled off to Lincolnshire to do a lecture/presentation to a media course which I am invited to twice a year to 25 experienced journalists and marketing people. I've taken a few days leave to finish off my annual leave entitlement and I'm going to use it to relax as best I can.

After the lecture, convivial company and a sound nights sleep accompanied by the effects of some very nice Argentinian wine, I meandered back through the pleasant Lincolnshire countryside to see an old colleague of mine Gemma and her new baby boy who is gorgeous if not a little under the weather at the moment.

I guess I'm not only lucky to have some good friends and acquaintances, but to live in a lovely part of the country. It's not spectacular, it doesn't make you draw breath in admiration but it's really very green and interesting. Undulating countryside either side of the Humber basin makes the vista interesting and being in a geographical backwater does give it a somewhat rural feeling even in some of the urban areas.

Believe it or not, I am going out on a works Christmas night out tonight at an Italian Restaurant in Hull. No - it's not a celebration of this year's Christmas to get in before the rush, but a belated celebration for last year after two or three dates were cancelled due to important family commitments of the team. Woe betide anyone who turns up in a Santa hat!

I'm not a big drinker and tonight I'll be driving, so no booze for me, but the company will be excellent and an opportunity to relax with colleagues over what I hope will be a nice meal. It won't cost us anything because we run a small sweepstake for fun guessing football scores every week with a pound contribution each week during the footy season, so the night is paid for.

The Wii Fit says I've lost another three pounds, in the last three weeks which is good. I'm still losing weight but only two to three pounds a month so it's just close to levelling out, but more to lose yet. I hate it when it when the Wii balance board squeals when you stand on it!

Over the last few days, I've started to feed the fish in the pond again as the temperature is rising. I cleaned the pond out, getting rid of the detritus and I spotted some baby fish, about an inch long and all black. This is marvellous news and gives me an indication that the fish are healthy and the environment seems okay. I'm going to see if I can get a picture of them.

Bit of gardening today - gentle stuff, bit more heavy pruning tomorrow if the rain keeps off.

I hope you have a great weekend.

Chat soon

Ta-ra.