Saturday 25 December: It’s time for a more realistic conversation about Britain’s energy needs

Posted on by Geoff Graham

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714 thoughts on “Saturday 25 December: It’s time for a more realistic conversation about Britain’s energy needs”

    3. Merry Christmas, Geoff! Thanks for keeping us Nottlers going. I’ll sing a carol for you today x

  5. A very Merry Christmas to all Nottlers: the wise, the witty, the wacky, the whole lot of you.

    And special thanks to, Geoff ‘the Godfather’ Graham, for everything.😎

  7. ‘A woman is a woman, a man is a man’: Putin compares gender nonconformity to the coronavirus pandemic. 25 December 2021.

    In response to a question from a reporter for RT, a state media company, about his views on “problems in Western society,” “cancel culture” and Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling’s views on gender, which many people consider transphobic, Putin doubled down on long-held views on the correctness of traditional conceptions of gender, and his opposition to rights and inclusion for transgender people.

    “If someone thinks that women and men are the same thing, then be my guest. But there is common sense,” he said. “I stick to the traditional approach that a woman is a woman, a man is a man, a mom is a mom, and a dad is a dad.”

    He said that in the case of athletes, if a man “declares himself a woman and decides to compete in weightlifting or some other sport, women’s sports would cease to exist altogether.”

    Common sense as always from Vlad. It’s telling that no leader in a dying and decadent West can say such things!

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2021/12/23/putin-gender-russia-news-conference/

    1. The World seems to have gone from being populated by none too bright Homo Sapiens to Homo saps*…..

      (* For the avoidance of doubt that isn’t a homophobic reference)

      1. Morning Stephen, I do sometimes wonder at the apparent decline in the intelligence of the General Population. Is it natural or is there a more sinister reason for it?

        1. If as many IQ tests were foisted on the general public as per the Kung Flu tests, there would be an alarming number of idiots.

      1. Beg to differ, but he is a smooth thug surrounded by corruption. On the other hand, he is a patriotic Russian who has to make very tough decisions.
        As someone who respects Mr Gorbachev, I regret that the Free World didn’t make a serious effort to provide some strategic aid when the USSR broke up.
        As I understand it, the obstacle is that the US Constitution makes any long term neo-colonialist policy impossible, and trying to help people is always fraught with difficulties.

  8. Merry Christmas one and all!

    TCW have a very nice single Christmas post of many parts, well worth a read/listen.

    I am off to make the Christmas pud now. I prefer a freshly made one, as it’s milder and you taste the fruit more. It will be without added sugar, but packed with sultanas, dates, apricots and cranberries, mixed with spices, beer, breadcrumbs and orange juice.

  9. My advice to this BTLr is to avoid any programme with the word ‘climate’ in the title, because you just know what is coming!

    Edwin Pugh
    4 HRS AGO
    “2021 has brought into sharp focus the impact that severe weather is having on peoples around the world. Limiting the rise in global temperatures to 1.5C was at the top of the agenda at COP26 in Glasgow, with scientists urging world leaders to commit to cutting GHGs, to stave off a climate catastrophe.”
    Ben Rich uses these words to close his piece on the BBC’s climate check. In this he cherry picks seven events that are claimed to have been made worse by global warming. He offers no evidence as to whether these events are unprecedented or even part of a worsening trend.
    Had he done so he might have found that most years have had severe weather events that have nothing to do with either climate change or global warming. 1971 was a particularly bad year for world wide weather events.
    Pure BBC propaganda and this from a company that is charged with being impartial and presenting an honest and balanced view of events.

    * * *

    I had the misfortune to idly wonder what R4 might be broadcasting as I awoke…Open Country went off in seconds when I heard the stream of nonsense about “carbon sequestration”. Message to the Besotted Broadcasting Corporation – give it a rest!

    1. The BBC can’t. Much of it’s pension fund is poured into the green agenda. After all, it provides a guaranteed high rate of return with almost no risk – government is wedded to it, and if the broadcaster can continually promote the nonsense then can set the agenda as well.

    3. It’s all about control. Less industry to meet the pointless net zero. Like all idiotic government agenda, it will cause incredible harm, achieve nothing and cost a fortune.

    1. Don’t leave a book like that, you’ll break the spine and the pages will fall out.

      If you’re going to admit to reading a book about lessons from history, blinkin’ well learn them.

  14. Fourth jabs possible as Covid booster immunity may fall for millions by new year. 25 December 2021.

    More than six million people’s booster immunity may have already waned by the new year, data show, raising the prospect of fourth jabs.
    Government data show that protection against getting sick with omicron is as low as 35 per cent 10 weeks after a booster.

    So if I went out now and had a “booster” it would be useless by the end of January? What could possibly be the medical purpose of such a procedure? Unless of course they are visualising a fifth and a sixth et. al.? A population of Health Junkies?

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/12/24/fourth-jabs-possible-covid-booster-immunity-will-fall-millions/

    2. A reasonable question posed by someone else: ‘If I haven’t previously had the first two jabs and the booster that don’t seem to work, do I need to have jabs 1&2, then a booster before I can have the 4th?’

      1. I have always been cynical about the motives of politicians but I am super-cynical about the motivation of the politicians who are so keen to push vaccines which are not vaccines and which do not work upon us. They won’t tell us what’s in it – as there is silence for over 50 years on this matter – and they won’t tell us what’s in it for them.

      2. A reasonable answer: now that the wild virus and variants Alpha through Delta have been supplanted by Omicron, and as the latter evades the leaky “booster vaccine” that now appears to only last 10 weeks while doing nothing much at all, is, AVOID at all costs.

    3. I was called a conspiracy theorist the other day by someone who thinks I am risking my life to meet family and a friend at Christmas, and that I am obstinate because I don’t want the jab.
      Yet apparently it’s not a conspiracy theory to believe that I, a healthy person taking no medication, need regular jabs to protect other people from a deadly illness that killed fewer people than died in 2006, and that flu disappeared last winter.

      2. An illness that grants you an extra year of life; average UK lifespan 82, ‘with covid’ average 83.

        1. Anne, you highlight the dubious data, and rightly so. However, Professor Norman Fenton et al. after revisiting and analysing some areas of the PHE, NHS and ONS data and then presenting their findings on a graph came to the conclusion: if you take the “vaccine” you will not die. In fact you will become immortal. Prof Fenton was quite amused by that outcome.

    4. Not necessarily a population of health junkies, Minty, just a population, easily scammed, to provide Big Pharma’s profits.

  15. Good morning, dear Nottlers! Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and a peaceful, safe and hopeful time with family, friends and whoever! Blessings and thoughts to all!

    1. The pandemic has certainly been an eye opener for people that didn’t know what the Left were really like when they get a bit of power.

          1. It was a very good Christmas, thank you Grizzly, and I hope yours was too.
            Three of my children were at home, plus a close family friend. Friend cooked the turkey in her oven and brought it by train in an insulated bag…worked like a dream. Daughter brought the Devils on Horseback, so I only had to do the pudding and veg.
            Much, much less frazzled than usual, and was able to put up proper decorations for the first time since moving in eight years ago!
            Conversation flowed merrily all afternoon.
            Back to work today, I am going to inspect/sketch/photograph a waterfall that I want to paint. I found a Dutch instagrammer who paints snow scenes outside, wearing skiing clothes, and so I am inspired to copy her and get cracking on the waterfall without waiting for spring.

  18. Good morning all wonderful Nottlers and especially to Geoff. Thank you for this community, Geoff.
    Condiments of the season to all.

    1. These threads are usually peppered with salty comments……

      Morning Issy and to any who may have missed my earlier pre-6a.m. greetings!

  19. Happy Christmas to all.

    It’s time for a more realistic conversation about Britain’s energy needs

    SIR – The recent lack of sunshine and wind should remind everyone that Britain needs far more reliable energy sources than solar and wind power.

    The times when renewables meet our requirements are often reported, but there are many occasions when they do not.

    Coal and gas should not be demonised, and the Government should accept this fact – otherwise our winters will only get colder.

    Alan Simmons

    Caterham, Surrey

    SIR – Whenever governments try to fix a market the result is bad.

    Forcing a price cap on energy has distorted a working capitalist market and forced bankruptcy on the “disruptive” suppliers that politicians have been so keen to encourage.

    If we had ever had a joined-up policy, with lots of renewables and the necessary backup from our own fracked gas and nuclear power, we would not be paying Vladimir Putin’s price for energy.

    Ian Brent-Smith

    Stratton Audley, Oxfordshire

    SIR – During the power cuts earlier this month, I was amazed by how well Britain’s energy companies treated their customers.

    I am only 1,400 miles away in Portugal. Less cold, admittedly, but I’ve been waiting 17 months for a connection to mains electricity – and I’m told I’ll have to wait a few months more.

    As part of the application process I had to pay Electricidade de Portugal over £9,000 to upgrade the local line.

    I’ve had to buy a generator for daily light and power. The house was half built when I bought it, but to finish the works I’ve also had to hire a larger generator, with rental charges of £1,000 a month. My expenses have run to thousands of pounds.

    EDP’s own deadline for completing the connection in March, and I am still waiting for them to start the works.

    For all of this, I have received a grand total of €20 in compensation.

    Caroline Thomas

    Luz, Lagos, Portugal

  20. Complex cars

    SIR – The rise of ageing drivers (report, December 3) is a real issue, but the ability of technology – such as lane-assist systems and automatic braking – to prevent accidents is countered by the sheer complexity of a modern car’s cockpit.

    Many drivers over the age of 70 are able to master the rudiments of using an iPhone, given time and help from their grandchildren. However, fathoming the ever-more bewildering touchscreens and menu-driven controls of a car’s dashboard while driving is simply too much.

    Each car manufacturer tries to outdo the others with new models designed by young and middle-aged techies, but they appear not to have considered older drivers, who might have only recently stopped using their analogue cars.

    By all means improve the tech – but keep it simple.

    Ian Wearing

    Welwyn, Hertfordshire

    1. The more complicated the machine, the more there is to go expensively wrong. Particularly at weekends and over bank holidays.

      1. Tell me about it Anne – the more expensive a car is because of all the unnecessary gadgets the more likely it will end up on the back of the recovery truck. Range Rovers, Audis and Mercs being the main culprits with electrical problems

  21. It’s time for a more realistic conversation about Britain’s energy needs

    Climate change doesn’t do realistic

  22. Booze in Parliament

    SIR – It was shocking to learn that there is a drug culture among our MPs in Westminster – one so serious, indeed, that sniffer dogs may be deployed to identify the abusers (report, December 6).

    However, there is another, perhaps more serious, behavioural issue in Westminster. On the premises are a number of bars serving subsidised alcoholic drinks to MPs. Surely the process of formulating and voting on laws which have the potential to affect citizens should be conducted by individuals whose judgment has not been diminished by imbibing alcohol.

    In the NHS, for example, such practices would not be tolerated and would probably lead to dismissal. Why should lower standards apply for those elected to represent us in Parliament?

    Malcolm H Wheeler FRCS

    Bonvilston, Glamorgan

    1. The Georgians and Victorians were permanently drunk and stoned; their eating and drinking habits and their medication made that unavoidable.
      They managed to create a modern nation and run a vast Empire on stuff that we modern wimps can’t tolerate.

  23. Good morning, all. A very Merry Christmas to you; I hope that you all find a moment of peace and contentment in the present farrago.

    Grey and damp looking weather.

    1. Merry Christmas Bill, to you and the MR! Hope you have a wonderful day together with Gus and Pickles!
      Our daughters Lab Lyra ate Santas mince pie last night, and had to have an emetic! Not a happy doglet!

      1. Happy Christmas, Sue. Nothing like clearing up after an animal to put one in a festive mode…!

        Gus is asleep in the Pond Room – Pickles was half way up the Macrocarpa – but came down and went off hunting….

      1. Henry was all set to come with Jessica but restrictions scuppered us at the last noment. We are hoping that Caroline’s sister and her latest husband will be with us at the New Year if they are allowed to escape from Holland.

    2. Merry Christmas to you too and to all Nottlers. What a super, happy photo – looks like a normal Christmas 🙂 , one to give us all hope and good cheer!

        1. Thank you. We had a super long video call with our excited little grandchildren in Canada. Three cheers for modern technology!

  28. Is there a crossword in the online Telegraph today?

    If so – could anyone who subscribes possibly scan it and send it to me? The MR enjoys it each Saturday.

      1. The online version seems to be produced. The Grimes is certainly there…including crossword!!

    2. Am unable to unravel how to open it or scan it and no grandchildren on hand to show me how to do it. Sorry

  29. 343244+ up ticks,

    Morning Each,
    Get real, well past time, the turbine scam was set in concrete proving highly lucrative on kickback wonga but abysmal on power & maintenance outlay.

    We get hit by a heavy winter now and the killing time will commence.

    Might pull up the hard core lab/lib/con supporter / voters
    a tad but it’s a proven fact ” party first” has a very strong pull.

    Bare in mind treacherous politico’s are at it 24/7 and in NO WAY recognise religious holidays.

    The electorate stood down the pro United Kingdom sentries ( UKIP) on winning the referendum, we are now
    witnessing the odious cost.

  30. Happy Xmas everyone

    Twas Xmas day in the harem
    The eunuchs sat round the walls
    When asked what they wanted for Xmas
    In one voice they all shouted B****

  32. Good Moaning and a Very Happy NOTTL Christmas.
    I’ve made the taramasalata, but where the heck did I put the pitta bread? A million unfestive curses on the safe place where I put the packet.

  33. Good morning, all, a brief look-in to wish you all a very Happy Christmas and a point to ponder:

    The Penis has requested a rise.

    Request by the penis:
    The Penis requests a promotion and a rise for the following reasons:
     has to work hard;
     has to work at great depths;
     has to work upside down;
     has no ventilation or air conditioned environment at work;
     has to work in a high humidity environment;
     has to work at high temperatures;
     does not get weekends and holidays off;
     does not get time off after extra hours of work;
     has a hazardous work environment that often causes professional sickness.

    Request denied——– for the following reasons:
     does not work 8 hours in a row;
     does not answer immediately to all requests;
     after a short activity period, falls asleep at work;
     shows no fidelity to the workplace;
     retires too early;
     does not work at all unless pushed from behind;
     does not leave the workplace clean after finishing work;
     sometimes finishes work too early.

  34. A VERY late Good Morning & Happy Christmas to all.
    Sat up in bed with laptop because Dr. Daughter has the sitting room and T’Lad has the living room and they are not awake yet.

    A dull, damp & grey start to the day of festivities with the thermometer at 0°C.

  35. Merry Christmas one and all.
    If you enjoy your day even half as much as I hope to, you’ll have had a good one.

        1. At least you got there….

          We can’t go to France in a fortnight for our first break in two years.

          1. Yeah that kind of sucks, the Mehmsahib´s boss has a place in France, they had planned a family get together over there – the first in two years, that plan has tanked and he is now stuck in London and his daughter in Berlin.

          3. Personally, Bill, I think we should reciprocate and tell any frogs wishing to come here, to hop it. Even if they only went to frogland for Christmas and want to return.

            It’d be nice to have Macron’s English-hating policies back fire on him.

          4. My very simple and (to us) no cost idea, would be to require all EU visitors to have full passports. At present, the UK recognises EU ID cards. If all furriners had to lash out £ 100 to get a passport…they’d send a message to the Gauleiters…

          5. That, Bill, is another instance that shews just how thick our political class are and that they still wish to pander to those self-same gauleiters and commissars in Brussels.

  38. Happy Christmas everyone!

    In years past, I’d be in a hotel in York but this year it’s the Premier Inn in Smithfield, as there isn’t any public transport to get me to and from church and anyway, I wanted a change of scene. Quite a few people at breakfast, including a family who look as if they might be Afghan. I wonder?

  39. Season’s Greetings one and all, after a month of planning and provisioning all parts of the family started arriving yesterday to celebrate Christmas at our place and to quote Burns- “The best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry” – yesterday just before the Christmas Eve pre- meet my eldest took an lft which came up positive, my youngest daughter’s partner’s Mother is clinically very vulnerable so it looks like Turkey by Zoom. On the upside SWMBO presented me with a Stressless Chair so I’m well relaxed about that.

    1. Nice pressie! Enjoy!
      Zoom call to rellies about to start. SWMBO furious with everybody, for some reason that only she knows.

      1. An the same to you G. – in spite of the re-arrangement of our celebrations the Zoom lunch was reasonably successful and I’m destined in a few minutes to settle into my Stressless chair with a bottle of Innis and Gunns Vanishing Point 05, a limited edition Imperial Stout that has been matured for 365 day in 15 year old Speyside single malt whisky casks and at 11% abs to be treated with respect, it is every bit as sumptuous as it sounds, if you like stout of course.

  40. I had a pleasant surprise this morning on my 83rd Christmas day when I received an e-mail from my youngest grand child wishing me a merry Christmas. She and her sister live and work in Oregon. She told me that they have found popular UK foods but their biggest prize was to find an excellent Fish and Chip shop called The Frying Scotsman. The e-mail has lifted my spirits.

      2. Why-aye and Merry Christmas, Mrs Macfarlane, pet. Hope it’s a good one and gan canny. lass. 😘🎅☃️

  44. A very merry Christmas Day to you all.
    Seems as though all the cards I mailed have reached their destinations both here and in US. Friend in GA said that they had the doors and windows open yesterday as it’s so mild.
    Grey and damp here but the little lights look nice. Let the games begin!

  45. Right, Dr. Daughter is up and about to I’m shutting the Laptop down and going downstairs!

  46. Elder son Dan just rang. Do we want any food? He and Di had catered for 13. Only five will be there. All the others “tested” themselves and were positive. Stupid buggers. When I take over the world, testing will be a capital offence.

    Sadly, Dan and Di are 180 miles away – otherwise we’d be there like a shot….

  47. Archbishop of Canterbury will use his Christmas sermon to urge worshippers to support refugees and ‘show great kindness’ to those who ‘risk everything to arrive on the beaches’. 25 December 2021.

    His expected to say that the Christmas story of Joseph and Mary searching for shelter demonstrates the need to treat those ‘who risk everything to arrive on the beaches’ with compassion.

    He will also say that ‘there is no doubting’ the human capacity to show ‘great kindness’ and that volunteers working to welcome refugees arriving on beaches close to Canterbury Cathedral are ‘amazing people’

    Mr Welby is expected to praise rescuers such as the crews of the RNLI and the Border Patrol cutters’ crews in his sermon.

    Mr Welby recently framed vaccination in the pandemic as a moral issue, and said that getting the jab reduces the chances of illness being spread.

    Regular little Globalist Lackey isn’t he?

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10343675/Archbishop-Canterbury-use-Christmas-sermon-urge-worshippers-support-refugees.html

    1. Rather ignores that we are putting these wasters up in hotels and not putting them in stables.

      Besides, Mary and Joesph didn’t go around raping, stabbing, drug running and blowing themselves up in the name of a loo and a snack bar.

      1. Thank you George. Hope your day has gone swimmingly (Dips in freezing lakes seem to be all the rage in your neck of the woods!)

    1. Good day, Hatman. I hope that you are having a peaceful day – without too much snow (and rockets).

      1. Merry Christmas Bill to you & family, right now after a week of cold temps & heavy rain its dry, 16’C with sunny spells & warmer weather forecast for the coming week. It snowed on the Golan Heights last week but not enough to open the Mt. Hermon Ski Resort at the moment & Hamas in Gaza have not fired any rockets recently at Israel .

        1. Are Hamas and the IDF up for a soccer match across no-mans land, and did they sing ‘Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht’ last night?

    2. Hi Hat!
      Good to see from you! Hope you’re keeping well and that life in Tel Aviv is treating you well!

      1. Merry Christmas Obers to you & family, I am keeping well thanks, had my booster shot 2 months ago & Tel Aviv like elsewhere is doing its best to maintain business as usual despite the rapid spread of the Omicron variant

        1. Merry Christmas to you Hat. Liberally doused with brandy or some other suitable spirit a Christmas pudding will keep for a couple of years . Time to drop a few hints to your UK relatives…

          1. I doubt if I will be seeing them anytime soon as given the state of rapid pandemic spread worldwide overseas travel will be infrequent in the coming years

        2. Xmas puddings keep for years. Ask the relatives to buy one for you next week and just store it for six months.

          1. 6 months? Nah! keep it for the year after next!
            It’s not that many years back when I discovered we still had a Presto brand pudding that we’d brought up from Southampton and put “somewhere safe”. Still tasted rather nice!

  57. This farrago has now lasted as long as the first two years of the last War. In September 1941 the siege of Leningrad began.

    Looking at the sitch in comparison – I expect that the plague will last until at least the bomb on Hiroshima….

    Just trying to be cheerful, you understand…

  60. Merry Christmas to one and all. I’m off round to my sisters to join my B-i-L and my folks in an afternoon of food and drink.
    I hope you all have a great day.

        1. Warmed up to a tropical -4C just now. Sitting on the terrace in swimming trunks, enjoying the sun & a Juletide cocktail…
          :-))
          Happy Christmas, Grizz.

  61. Merry Christmas to all Nottlers, even the grumpy ones!

    and a ginormous ‘Thank-you’ to everyone for keeping a (mainly) civil conversation going throughout this year.

  62. Good morning and a very Merry Christmas to all NoTTLers.

    Hope you all, wherever you are, have a lovely day and are a bit warmer than the -13ºC that we endured last night.

    Skål! 🎅☃️🍗🐟🍷👍🏻

    2. Belated Happy Christmas, Griz; bugger yer -13º; I am a veteran of five Winnipeg Winters: typical temp (1989-1994) Minus 40º unspecified 😉

    1. Festive greetings to you, Pud.
      I do hope that you are now enjoying better health. Take care over there.

    1. The London cases still managed to include two sopranos, a music director and an organist but their stand-ins did a very fine job this morning! The organist played the Radetzky March as a Postlude and it was very uplifting.

      1. Does the term “London Cases” specify only those actually suffering from the disease or does it include those healthy people who are simply resting positive?

          1. Merry Christmas, Our Susan. You are spot on. See my post about my eldest grandson.

            Another grandson’s woman “tested positive” this morning ad so is shutting herself away for a week…..

            All “victims” feel fine and well and normal but – “The test says you die if you disobey…”

          2. Mother tested positive in her dementia ward, where she was infected. No symptoms, other than a bit more tiredness – but when you are 92, tiredness seems the norm.

          3. Again. I thought it had got lost in the summer of 2021 when sanity almost ruled for a short while.

        2. I suspect that most people are not registering positive tests.
          I had to get the PCR because of my job. Since then the NHS are pestering me by text and email to tell them who I’ve met so that they can harass them as well.
          I am generally a compliant person because I see the need for social cohesion, but as I see the government agenda as deliberate social fragmentation to divide and rule I am having nothing to do with this bollocks.
          But I am keeping away from my 82 y.o. MiL. Just common sense.

  67. Project Fear is doing its stuff. Eldest grandson (aged 28) just rang. He is “isolating” because the wazzock tested himself and it was positive. He is with his mother but can’t visit his father until tomorrow….the seven days are not up…

    Yet another of the Frightened Well. He told me that he feels fine, has no symptoms of anything.

    I said that I looked forward to seeing him in 2025….

    2. As I’ve posted elsewhere, I was supposed to be spending the day with former neighbours. But their son has the sniffles, and has tested +ve for the plague. So the visit has been delayed by an unspecified number of days. As I dropped off a Xmas card this morning, dangerously ill Son was out with a chainsaw, trimming the hedges.

      Have a great Christmas, Bill & the MR…

      2. I have had ‘the sniffles’ last week, it started on Monday with a sore-ish throat. I wouldn’t dream of getting tested, I don’t do tests, we do not take part in the Great Government Game. I said it is just a cold, usual sort of stuff you get this time of year. Today it has disappeared. I think we are being trained to view our usual winter colds and flu as Covid to herd us into the injection chambers evermore.

        Happy Christmas, everyone!

    3. 343244+ up ticks,
      Afternoon LD,
      Check my post history YOUR spare room WILL be allocated, they done it in wartime” requisitioned houses”

  70. Omicron’s cold-like symptoms mean UK guidance ‘needs urgent update’. 25 December 2021.

    The most widespread symptoms of the Omicron variant now match those of common colds, with calls for the government to update its public health messaging to include a wider number of likely Covid symptoms.

    The most common symptoms reported among users of the Zoe Covid app have been a running nose, headaches, fatigue, sneezing and sore throats, according to the study’s most recent analysis of confirmed cases in London.

    So how do you tell? Belle and Co have these symptoms and when tested last night reported a Covid negative!

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/dec/24/omicron-covid-symptoms-uk-guidance-zoe-study

    1. You are not supposed to tell, just worry and panic about catching the lucky. That is what happens when you link your covid fear to a common winter cold, you are supposed to go hide in a corner somewhere.

  71. Merry Christmas, Yuletide or if not celebrating, have a good and happy day.
    It’s been a long and tedious year which has been vastly improved by visiting here for a little sanity.
    Just about time for food and then a glass or two of Ardbeg ‘An Oa’ whisky. 🎄🙂
    Hopefully everyone will have a better and happier New year.

        1. Yo, Grizz. Today’s plans have changed, since my former neighbours – who I was supposed to be spending the day with, post service – have a live Omigod suspect, in their son. The disease is so deadly, that he was out pruning hedges as I walked up School Hill to drop off their Xmas card.

          So, another Johnny No-mates Christmas. But this year, I anticipated the disruption, and headed to Tesco in the early hours of yesterday morning, and equipped myself with all the necessary comestibles.

          However, I can report that this morning’s Communion service was well attended (Midnight Mass barely got into double figures), and our much depleted choir was augmented this morning by a family who have a 2nd home in the village. One is a High Court judge (this is Surrey, after all – another Bass is a Deputy Lieutenant and former High Sherriff). Eight singers in total, but their volume controls start at eleven and go up to infinity. For a small village church, the music was awesome, and I’m a very happy bunny.

          Tomorrow, being Sunday, we’ll do it all again… 😀

          Meanwhile, I wish you the merriest of Christmases. I won’t mention the New Year, since that’s not looking too promising… 🙄

          1. A happy Christmas to you Geoff. We are just the two of us, which after the year we’ve had, suits us just fine. Nice bottle of Cotes to go with the turkey and, if I stuff my face as much as yesterday, I shall be waddling into the new year 😉

          3. I think the only thing we can realistically do, Geoff, is remain optimistic for the future, even if that optimism sometimes feels a tad misguided. That said, I hope we all enjoy a better New Year than we did the last couple of times. Skål! 🍷

          4. Thanks, Grizz. I’m a bit reluctant to wish a Happy New Year to anyone, since the word ‘Happy’ is increasingly prefixed by “You’ll own nothing, and you’ll be…”

            But we live in interesting times.

            God Jul…

          6. Thanks for the hugs, Maggie, but it’s quite OK. I’m happy in my own company, and – after the madness of all the Christmas services, quite enjoy the peace and quiet. And this morning’s service was bloody good, even if I say so myself…

            Happy Christmas to you and yours x

          7. I know the feeling.
            I tend to keep out of the way during the mayhem in the kitchen and only venture in occasionally to clear away the washing up, then shout at whoever is sat doing nothing to get their arses into gear and get rid of the drying up.

          8. There is no service tomorrow (feast of St Stephen), but there was a communion service this morning. I had a lie in instead because I went to Midnight Mass (fairly well attended, but not packed as I had expected). Twenty-one in the choir, though.

          9. Yo, Conners. Back in the day, Midnight Mass seemed to be the most popular service. Now, not so much. We barely got into double figures at the Midnight service. Thankfully, we had a good turnout on Christmas morning,

            One service in the Parish today. Not widely attended, but enough choir to have a good sing. Since it was the feast of Stephen, we did the Willcocks arrangement of “Good King Wenceslas” during Communion…

      2. An especially good Christmas for you, Geoff, in recognition of the sterling work you do in maintaining and daily uploading to this site.

        I’m sure you know that it is much appreciated by many.

        1. Thanks, Tom. Truth be told, each day’s new page takes around two minutes to post. But it gets me out of bed each morning, since – were the page to fail to appear by 7 am – I think there would be a search party out looking for me. A wonderful Christmas to you and yours…

  72. Oh look what has just been dug up by the discredited alternate media.

    Our Public Health masters have been tracking people through their cell phone location. For your own good of course, it helps them understand how much people have moved about during lockdowns. Naturally no privacy issues , Yada Yada.
    Brought to you by the same government that allowed the army to use social media to try out some psychological warfare techniques when covering covid.

    I don’t know if this is readable or if the paywall catches it.
    https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/canadas-public-health-agency-admits-it-tracked-33-million-mobile-devices-during-lockdown

    So much for our charter of rights.

    2. Happy Christmas Richard, to you and the “boss”. Hope it’s a good one.

      I read that mobile companies here have been asked to give the govt numbers so we can all get a text on Boxing day to go for the booster. Boris can shove his booster where the sun don’t shine- and I know that’s not very Christmassy but I don’t care!

      2. Dear Boris – please don’t pester me as being told to Feck Off in reply may cause some offence [not that I care}

  73. 343244+ up ticks,

    A news years thank you message to johnson & co, drop a note through number tens letterbox “the TAR is warming through nicely & the feathers are in nearby transit”

    Boris Says Getting Jabbed for Others ‘Is the Teaching of Jesus Christ’ in Christmas Message

  74. Beeboid Radio 3 has had a glitch. The recording of yesterday’s Kings Nine Lessons started 25 minutes late. Obviously Reg forgot to bring the tape with him!!

  75. I see that appalling little trud Welby has singled out the RNLI for praise in his sermon for their “life saving” work!

  76. Happy Christmas dear Nottlers .

    It has been similar to a warzone here .

    I hate it when other people say … But the instructions say this that and the other .. when I , who have been doing things nearly blindfold for many years, and with success am backed into a corner of the kitchen by Moh and son who say but the instructions say… I don’t need some advertising home economics geek advice telling me how to cook a turkey.

      1. Ah, Grizzly

        If you were a fly on the wall in these Dorsetty parts.

        A very Merry Christmas to you as well.

        Pouring with rain here.

        Sentimental rubbish on the box , I have no desire to go back in time .

    3. I am in charge of the turkey, spuds and veg. MH is in charge of the gravy. Turkey is stuffed and ready for oven…dinner anticipated for about 7.

        1. He ain’t that new! He’s the same vintage as me- 67- and like a well loved teddy, a bit rumpled around the edges;-)) But I like him.

          1. Whilst I was wingeing away on here , because of our bunged up noses etc , no one smelt the pan of Giblets that were simmering , had boiled dry and burnt the pan .. windows open and extractor fan whirring away. Ruined !!

        3. I dropped my turkey crown in the sink! Had to give it a rinse. It could have been worse; I could have dropped it on the floor and Oscar snaffled it 🙂

    4. Just walk around with your largest sharpest knife and tell ’em to get stuffed, Maggie. Have a glass of sherry, I know you don’t drink much. Happy Christmas to you.

    5. Mine just let me get on with it but I’m done for now and having a lie down . OH has just come to join me.

      1. SWMBO and Firstborn have the culinary talent – I do veg peeling and washing up (my superpower, that, washing up!)

  77. 343244+ up ticks.

    UK Will Begin Resettling up to 20,000 People Directly From Afghanistan in January

    May one ask,
    WHY ?

      1. 343244+ up ticks,

        Afternoon OLT,
        It is the lab/lib/con mass controlled immigration
        coalition so their supporter / voters must surely be
        consenting & stepping forward first.

    2. Judging by their domestic growth rate that 20,000 will become 100,000 by 2090 – to add to what will be 150,000 from this year’s dinghy expresses.

          1. Garven?

            Did Charlotte Church marry Gavin Henson?

            Welsh Rugby star Gavin Henson, hubby of Charlotte Church, has spoken publicly about their split for the first time. Despite
            proposing just six weeks before their relationship broke down, Gavin explained they ended it “for the sake of the children”. … The couple
            have two children, Ruby, 2 and Dexter, 18 months.

  82. Very late today. Woke up late then family to call and facetime. vw now preparing Christmas dinner which will be ready when it’s ready.

    MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU ALL. YOU’RE A MARVELLOUS LOT OF GOOD PEOPLE.

    Had to shout the news is on. :-))

      1. Going home on Tuesday Geoff.
        Merry Christmas.
        If we’d known you could have eaten with us.

        1. No worries, John. I anticipated the change of plan, and hit Tesco at The Meadows very early yesterday. It’s a shame I didn’t anticipate this at least three months ago, though. At the moment, my sprouts are (dare I say) raw. There’s a distinct danger that, by the time they’re cooked, they may still have a tinge of green…

          2. Yo Boss and a Happy, New Merry:, Fanx also for the year’s Nottlers pages

            There’s a distinct danger that, by the time they’re cooked

            25 Dec 2031

    4. I’m guessing that you’ve had the Christmas you wished for, I’m delighted for you all, let’s hope the New Year is even better.

    1. Having been a teacher and primary school librarian, frequent hand washing was nothing new. You just never know what the little blighters have been up to! So I still wash my hands often, especially when I come in from shops etc.
      If the govt thinks they have brainwashed me….hahahahaha!

  85. My burned pan of giblets were a write off and so was the stainless steel saucepan .

    Surprise surprise … son has just spent over half an hour cleaning my blackened saucepan .. He has done a brilliant job, the pan is a good as new , sparkling !!!

    He used baking soda and vinegar and a green fleece pan scourer. Tremendous effort and magic , and a huge thank you to him .

    3. Fingers crossed…MH has just gone to begin making the gilbert gravy. Turkey doing well, all veg sorted. Getting hungry which is amazing, as again, I have been grazing all day 🙁
      Might have to change my name here to Jemima Waddleduck.

        1. MH loves to mispronounce words, as do I. Hence, giblets become gilberts. In the English dept in Manchester, we had a whole lexicon of words that we mispronounced or put the emphasis on the wrong syllable. Great fun unless you forget and use a mispronounced word to someone not in the know;-)

    4. Once I disxovered how well that combination cleans (my epiphany involved a stained tea mug), I chucked all the chemical cleaning liquids.

        1. Merry Christmas to you! Getting used to thr caravan, thanks; good thing I like it, as all my plans of visiting family have bern covided . . .

          1. Morning . That’s a real bugger.
            I think I recall you mentioning the Campsite is a tad deserted. Does that mean after a suitable vocal warm up you can belt out a few arias (without fear or favour)?

          2. The local pheasants have been duly serenaded; yes. Sadly they have proved unreceptive to Stravinsky. Philistines.

    5. Ah, a kindred spirit at last, and another who ruined Christmas dinner.

      My hungary duck was a disaster. Everything was timed to be ready for the Queen only to find that “juices running clear” doesn’t really mean bloodstains on the draining board. I had to put the duck somewhere to decant to oil for the gravy, but no sign of juices. Back in the oven for another 20 minutes. Then another, then another. It was 5pm before that quacking migrant was edible, but by then the roast potatoes, now cooking for five hours, were not. Nor were the mushy vegetables – I even bought sprouts specially, since the ones in my garden are bundles of leaves and the parsnips bolted months ago. And the pudding was cold and gooey and the custard congealed – it even stuck to the spoon.

      Then after holding off hunger all afternoon with Cheesy thins, I was no longer hungry and I am now staring at half a plateful to decide whether to microwave it today or stick it in the fridge for Boxing Day. I don’t quite feel up to dismembering the duck for soup and sandwiches.

      What I need now is someone to feed, but even the neighbour’s dog is not coming out right now, because she thinks I am going to feed her.

      1. Oh dear , so sorry to hear that , blooming nuisance for you, and all preparations turned to mush .

        A hand full of noodles, some veg like peas/ your sprout tops shredded, ginger and shredded onion and afew drops of soya , shredded peppers and cranberry jelly turned into a sauce for your duck , voila, a different tasty meal x

  86. 343244+ up ticks,

    Sound advice,
    breitbart,

    Watch every political overseer with a hawks vision, they only have eyes for eid & protecting their heads in them shortly coming, take over.

    United Kingdom religious followings are of no consequences.

    Be Careful and Cautious: Britons Warned to Be Wary at Christmas by Health Director

  87. We thought The Queen spoke very well. Glad she paid tribute to Philip. Interesting to see who was NOT in the film…{:¬))

        1. Merry Christmas Mr. Prez. Hope you are having a good day.
          Weather quite miserable but it’s OK as we don’t have to venture out. And it’s quiet here. Are you having a busy day?

          1. It was busy, calmed down now. Busier tomorrow though, 3 parents + 8 & 6 year old grand daughters. Loves of my life but hard work!

            You?

          2. OK; just us and too much food so we’re all set for ages. MH is not too well and well….no more.
            We have our grandmonsters- they are MH’s grandchildren. We see them from time to time and they are very hard work. My son and his wife in NC don’t want kids which is fine- their lives and their choice.
            Relax before tomorrow’s invasion;-))

  88. Sad news. Good innings. Great captain and great Yorkshireman. Black armbands at the MCG tomorrow.

    Former England Ashes-winning captain Ray Illingworth dies, aged 89

    Plus, read Scyld Berry’s moving tribute to the finest of England captains and a true Yorkshireman unafraid to clash with the establishment

    By Ben Bloom and Scyld Berry,

    25 December 2021 • 3:08pm

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/cricket/2021/11/29/TELEMMGLPICT000278569798_trans_NvBQzQNjv4BqmKqJetyVX5oZAa8YracBqRa306WnPHVE_UdBq2uCdwc.jpeg?imwidth=680

    https://youtu.be/-YSg94dZky4

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/cricket/2021/12/25/ray-illingworth-dead-former-england-ashes-winning-captain-dies/

      1. When Illingworth toured as captain he had the one bowler on edither side who could threaten the batsman’s heads …. a vicar’s son called John Snow, who had a bouncer as wicked as J. Archer (who lookks as if he’ll never play Test Cricket again).

          1. Was article in Telegraph this week … Mind you I expect he’ll do everything possible to make the lucre in the IPL.

        2. Similar to Douglas Jardine, who had the only bowler who really had both the speed and the accuracy to put “fast leg theory” into practice, Harold Larwood.

          The concept of “fast” leg theory might have been developed by an Australian after it had been attempted by medium pace bowlers; but it came back to bite them courtesy of Larwood and Voce.

        1. Johnny Wardle and Bob Appleyard were a demon spin duo for both Yorkshire and England. Wish I’d seen them play.

    3. Very sad, but he had a rotten final year with his illness and losing his wife; it was probably a merciful release.

      In the ‘eighties and nineties I used to see him in the village (Farsley) as he went to the shops. An imposing figure, very upright and sprightly.

    4. “In the absence of match-winners – though Geoffrey Boycott set up victories – Illingworth had to make his team greater than the sum of their parts…”

      BTL:
      Tony Hancock
      Ray Illingworth – a tough uncompromising competitor who go the best out of his team as captain. Oh to have that now. Should have been knighted.
      I suspect Joe Root wishes he had players who were not “match-winners” like Derek Underwood, Alan Knott, John Snow, Basil D’Oliveira and Geoff Boycott.

    1. Adam Brooks of The Three Colts, Essex, who made a bit of a name for himself during the pub lockdowns last year.

  90. That’s me for this weird Christmas Day. I thought last year was bad enough…

    I hope you all have a peaceful evening. I shall be here again tomorrow, I expect.

    A demain

    5. Merry Christmas Bill.

      It has been a weird Christmas day.

      Who would have thought 25 years ago we could have have spoken face to face on our mobile phones to anywhere in the world ?

      1. Merry Christmas True Belle. Thanks to the wonders of free video calling, we spent about three hours with our little grandchildren.

          1. It was the highlight of the day. Precious times indeed. (Breaks my heart though that we are miss their rapidly developing stages.)

      3. … and that we’d have to, because governments had made travel so unbelievably difficult, because someone might catch a cold?

  91. Wwll I’m having a lie down now after the cookathon and then massive meal. I have to say the slow cooked lamb was a triumph and better than any turkey. We got through three bottles of wine- started off with a nice Cremant de Bourgogne de Lugny and then a white and a red Black Stump. Couldn’t manage any pudding.

  92. Wwll I’m having a lie down now after the cookathon and then massive meal. I have to say the slow cooked lamb was a triumph and better than any turkey. We got through three bottles of wine- started off with a nice Cremant de Bourgogne de Lugny and then a white and a red Black Stump. Couldn’t manage any pudding.

      1. I don’t know – this was a recipe in the DT a couple of weeks ago- lots of garlic and paprika and it turned out well.

    1. I’ll second that, Grizz! Many thanks for your upvotes, Cheshire Lad! Hope you’ve had a great Christmas! 💕

    1. Thank you Grizzly! I have been in headless chicken mode for the last 48 hours! But here I am now, head now back on chicken. I hope you are enjoying your Swedish Christmas! X X

      1. I am, Mum, thanks. The biggest thing today, though, is keeping warm. It was -13ºC last night and it hasn’t risen above -6 today! 😘

        BTW I am in “headless chicken” mode as standard!

  97. I wrote this morning that if you enjoy your day even half as much as I hope to, you’ll have had a good one.

    If the day I’ve had is representative, you’ll have had a very good one indeed. Peace and well-being to all.

    1. The French “warship” ventured out, knowing that nobody would oppose them.

      I think it is the first time a French Warship has left french waters since 1937 ( the year, no the Zulu Time)

        1. “Beethoven was beside himself with rage and strode over to the score of the Eroica and violently scratched out Napoleon’s name from the title page of the symphony. It seems reasonable that Beethoven may well have been disturbed and dismayed by Napoleon’s declaration. Beethoven would in all probability viewed Napoleon’s new stance as contrary to everything he had previously held dear. As good fortune would have it the copy of the symphony in Beethoven’s hand still existed and it is obvious where the composer so fervently removed Napoleon’s name.”

          1. From what I have read Beethoven was an admirer of Boney and was infuriated when said little man was crowned emperor. Didn’t Beethoven change the dedication ” to the memory of a great man”?

          2. I don’t know the detail, Lotty; but LVB was disgusted with the new ‘Emperor’ – and would, I am sure, have been disgusted with the concept of the ‘European Union’.

          3. I vaguely recall some of this from Music O Level- vague being the operative word. Yes, disgusted with new Emperor and hence the change of dedication.

    1. Merry Christmas to you Stormy. Most (but not all) Nottlers have had a lovely day according to their posts below and as a bonus not one has disgraced themselves! Yet! (H/T Mola)

    2. Quietly digesting second Christmas dinner and psyching ourselves up for another one tomorrow.
      On Monday, a Marmite sandwich made with plain sliced white bread, washed down with Anglian Water’s fine eau de tap; food of the gods.

    3. We certainly did, thank you – two fingers were successfully raised to the Grinches in government.
      Were you working?

  106. Now, I’m not complaining you understand but why does my family ask me what I want for Chrjstmas and then buy me something completely different. Lovely presents, but not one that I asked for.

    1. MiL is like that.
      I ask for a bottle of wine, she buys me a cricketing sweater that is too small, and I don’t play cricket.
      Sigh…

      1. We didn’t do presents this year.

        One year I was asked what I wanted , a pretty nightie please , I daren’t tell you what was compromised on !

          1. Moh doesn’t shop. ever , has never shopped , ever, apart from buying milk , fuel , or visiting the post office .

            I buy my own perfume , he has no sense of smell , I love perfume , it is a real mood lifter , I like art , but I am not a clutter collector . I have always owned spannels, and of course I bought my parrot decades ago .

          2. It was an African grey parrot if I remember correctly, Belle. Just wondering if it reminded you of Nigeria, where you could see them occasionally on the telegraph wires.

          3. Yes , Mm. we had one when we lived there , inherited it , it had done the Bristow rounds so to speak , could n’t bring her back to the UK, so when we were settled back here , I bought one . Lived 36 years , died last year.

        2. Amazon was very useful. Traditional Christmas pressies to Mother in horsepickle of lacy hankies and chocolate gingers, plus a happy yellow scarf with bees on it (We call her Bee). No wrapping paper or card, but the best one can do.

          2. Our farming Co-Op have branched out a bit from tractors, snowploughs and pig-feed recently. Thye do a good line in underwear, socks, and soft pyjamas with a sheep on the top and tractors on the bottoms! All in tasteful green and grey. Got a pair for SWMBO’s Christmas pressie. (she got me bamboo underpants with tractor-tyre prints across the butt)

      2. Have you tried asking for a cricketing sweater, or just to be on the safe side, a pair of socks?

    3. In earlier times I gave things I would like to receive. Silk ties and scarves from Liberty were a favourite gift always appreciated.

      I mostly received junk in return.

      Nowadays it is cash for my eldest brother as the rest of both our families have passed on. This year we donated new toys and other presents to a local charity and delivered to Braintree Police Station. They received over ten thousand gifts to be distributed to local children.

      1. Unless someone wants anything specific, then we buy consumables – something pleasant, but doesn’t occupy houseroom for long. So, wine, beer, spirits, cakes, that kind of thing.

  108. All this socialising is soooooo taxing; you have be seriously fit to keep eating lots of meat and all sorts of rich stuff that would fell you for 51 weeks and 5 days of the year.
    p.s. MB found the missing pitta bread. It was where I thought I had put it, but had jumped into a different carrier bag and hidden itself at the back of the shelf.

  111. Everybody seems to have gone to bed…….. so a last tidy up in the kitchen and set the dishwasher and I’m off as well.

      1. … and sod-all on the telly, too.
        Watching an old Lewis, but can’t really be arsed to focus.

        1. I watched the Xmas Call the Midwife and it was OK. Stupid social distancing but it was better than most other stuff on offer.

      2. You have no idea of the superhuman self-imposed restraint I’ve had to apply to stop me offering ‘suggestions….’

    3. Got a good book on the go and will watch an episode of ‘Vikings’ before I retire. I was tired earlier but the wine is now helping me. The early large meal does not agree with my metabolism.

      1. I finished two books over the Christmas period (yesterday and today). Had a book about the Dambusters for Christmas.

  112. Went to a church service. Everyone masked up, except the younger children. I must be a child at heart.

  116. Ashes, Melbourne – lucky dip. Out go Burns, Pope, Woakes and Broad; in come Crawley, Bairstow, Wood and Leach.

    Still no chance…

          2. She is on diet biscuits but she isn’t happy. She stares at her bowl and then stares at me….reproachfully.

            I mix in some bits of fillet steaks and calfs livers but now it seems she wants caviar.

            I can only be happy that she is 12 inches tall otherwise i would be in real trouble.

  118. Am listening to Bach’s Christmas Oratorio…simply wonderful. And now, as I am typing this it has begun what we call Sheep May Safely Graze. Sigh- such lovely music.

    2. I had Christmas Oratorio on while I was cooking followed by a cd of his organ music which I bought in Leipzig. Then some cantatas. Then we switched to Mozart with the meal.

    3. Victoria’s Responseries for Tenebrae here. Old vinyl recording from Westminster Cathedral. I was first introduced to it by my master Sir William Whitfield in the seventies when I spent several weeks at his house St Helen Auckland Hall in County Durham as a draughtsman on a ‘secret’ project, far away from the office in South Kensington. He played this recording to me on his state of the art system in the Salon of the Hall one evening.

      I love music. I remarked to my wife Carol earlier that Carols at Kings would not be the same without Kings College Chapel and its architects, Charles and William Vertue, same as Bath Abbey and St George’s Chapel Windsor by the architects. Likewise the fabulous organs. It is precisely the same in France.

      Architecture and music compensate each other. Without the Baroque churches of Germany and Austria Mozart would have been a different composer. Without Hereford, Worcester and Gloucester cathedrals, Elgar would have been a different composer.

      Most of our great liturgical music is associated with the buildings in which they were composed. We all need to remember the importance of our church buildings, Cathedrals and Abbeys, in preserving this important link in our history.

  121. Merry Christmas everybody! It may be a case of ave atque vale tonight; my Internet has been dropping out and my computer is exceedingly slow for some reason. I trust everyone has had a wonderful day.

          5. But if he keeps boasting about dancing round the kitchen to Abba, god forbid, isn’t he hoist by his own petard? I think Phizzee wants a granny mobile or summat like that.

          7. Yup I know. But he has serious health issues too by his own account. I expect most of us have.

            I love Phil for his wit and optimism.

            Like you I feel depressed by the actions of our utterly cruel and shallow government. We all need a bit of hope and the expectation of a better life. We just have to resist the idiotic rules and mandates.

          1. He’s come a long way. He had two tugs as Christmas presents (plus chews, treats, etc), so he was worn out after playing.

          1. It’s a Heathen Chinee rug (bought many years ago before buying from China was taboo). The red bit behind him is his tug which he received as a present from me.

          2. That is nice.

            My little dog takes every opportunity when visiting the next door neighbours to steal all her cat toys.

    4. Merry Christmas Conners; I am presently enjoying bickies with Pavarotti, Cambozola, and Taylor’s LB 2015 port …

    5. Merry Christmas Conners; I am presently enjoying bickies with Pavarotti, Cambozola, and Taylor’s LB 2015 port …

  125. FFS, I thought I’d listen to the first few overs of the latest Ashes match. 2nd over Hameed gone.

      1. A Scandinavian beer I think. A bit further north than Yorkshire.
        Hope you had a pleasant Christmas Day.

        1. Hi, Alf. I was only winding Philip up! 😉
          Christmas Day was quiet, thanks, but pleasant. Hope yours was too.

    1. Thank you, Geoff. I hope you had a pleasant day yesterday after the cancellation of your original plans.

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