Saturday

It's that part of Xmas where you lose track of the days of the week.

Met a friend for a catch up yesterday and went to a nice little house party for about an hour - not the type that freaks me out  - but one where everyone sat down and I had a cup of tea. I had 3 pints in total over the day - it really did me in. weather was horrible again - more due today. Not cold, exactly - but very wet and windy.

Watched the first 20 mins of that drama about Alfred Hitchcock and Tippi Hedren, hated it. fascinating period, interesting characters and subject, great design and clothes - dreary presentation of a frankly dodgy subject - of all the things they could have focussed on, it had to be the salacious stuff - not that I'm a prude, I just thought it was grim. I also hated Sienna Miller. The scene where she had to 'walk' for the camera was laughable - firstly, being shot from above she looked hip-heavy in a very badly fitted 'frock' that just looked wrong for her, she was supposed to be a former catwalk model with poise and elegance - but ended up looking like a docker trying to park a truck. I couldn't watch any moe in case it ruined 'The Birds' for me. Read an article that pointed out how it's been the worst Xmas TV in living memory - glad that I managed to resist the fleeting urge to buy one in the sales.

Big house clean today, have already bagged up stuff for the Oxfam shop. I intend to be ruthless - as I'm about to start decorating, I need plenty of space so anything not nailed down will be going into the loft.

I'm in London next week to see the new Alan Bennet play at The National and staying overnight at a very flash 'boutique' hotel on the South Bank that I managed to get cheap on the interner - I seem to have a room facing the Thames.

Everything here is very damp - the house, the garden, everything smells really musty and wet. Nothing will dry ( probably a mistake top hand wash all those wool sweaters  ) and the skies are leaden and very dar. Even the dogs seem depressed.

Cherie Blair... CBE.... really??

It really does not feel like a Saturday,m nor does it feel like Xmas, all the shops are open - as are the cafe's and restaurants, fast food outlets have queues outside them.

Quite excited to read about the comet due next year that will be very visible for a few weeks, something to look forward to, and more pictures from Mars due - also the prediction that we shall start getting more and more concrete evidence of identifiably habitable planets outside the solar system. Should be a good year for science.