Friday 20th November 2020

Among the chaos and wreckage of 2020, we have had a pretty good year.

We have paid our mortgage off. We didn't go to Svalbard, but we did get all of our moeny back. In the end.

Jools still has a job, for now, and gets paid for doing four days work while she only works two.

We bought a new car.

And through the late spring and summer I covered most of the 2020 orchid season.

I have done a few more Kent churches.

And here we are, nealry a month from the shortest day, from which point light will start to dominate once more.

And at work things have gone well. I have kept up with my tasks, got a good annual review, a bonus for the year and another for my ten year anniversary.

And on Thursday closed the outstanding actions from my major task of the year.

Well done, Ian.

So, it was Friday. Jools was going to go to Jen's to do some yoga on the telly. From the telly, then go to the butcher for steak for the weekend as it is her birthday. This is so we could keep Saturday free for "fun" or other non-task driven activities

I don't hear the alarm go off and so sleep until seven where the dawn was showing well. I come down, have a coffee and then go to do a session on the cross-trainer, or I'd find an excuse not to do one. That done, I have breakfast, start work and begin the long slow downhill slope to the weekend.

We have another meeting on the takeover to bring us all up to date with the latest news. There is no news. But its the thought that counts.

A meeting with my boss. Hell boss.

And finally another meeting on calibration.

That took me to eleven in the morning. Jools was back, we had a brew, and had an hour before our annual pension review which is now on Zoom, and quite frankly is how I want to do this every year from now on, as anything is better than dealing with Canerbury's traffic.

Our investments have gone up(!)

That calls for a celebration.

I do one more hour at work, then pack up, and spend an hour baking a cake.

Orange and poppy seed cake.

And it is also a triumph.

What can I say?

Once cooked and cooled, we try a slice or two, and it is wonderful.

I put on the radio, and Spirit of Radio come on. I mime singing the song like I am on stage at Maddison Square Garden.

That got my mood up through the roof!

Dinner was rack of lamb, sorry, herb encrusted rack of lamb. I brown the outside so the skin is crispy, cook it in the over for 30 minutes, cook fried potatoes, garlic mushrooms and peppers.

We have a bottle of fizz.

And we are done.

That was one heck of a week.

I watch the Championship game of the day, Coventree v Birmingham where home team were playing away and the away team were plaing at their home.

Another typical day in football.