Christmas lists

I spent 4 days in Lincolnshire, from 24th-27th. Here are some lists, in day order.

Meat
1. Pheasant, in apple sauce
2. Turkey, beef and ham, with all the trimmings
3. Beef, and sausage rolls at the party afterwards
4. A variety, in Chinese sauces.

Drink
1. A drop of mulled wine, a couple of pints.
2. A lot of mulled wine, a glass of red wine, a small whisky.
3. A drop of red wine, a Stella, most of a bottle of whisky.
4. Several glasses of red wine, three pints of bitter.

Company - hosts in bold.
1. My maternal grandmother, and family, Paul, James Watson and Cara later. Excellent.
2. My paternal grandmother, two uncles, two aunts, seven cousins, 6 of my aunt's family, my immediate family again. Excellent.
3. My paternal grandmother, the same two aunts and uncles and the same 7 cousins. My immediate family. Later, Gav, Tom, Beckie, two of her relatives, Paul, Guy, Caroline, Chris, Suzanne, Jim Baker, Esther, James Duke Evans, Lorien, Chrissy, Catherine, David, and sincere apologies to anyone I forgot. Excellent.
4. Caroline, Guy, Paul, James, Lorien, Gary, Chris, Suzanne, Kim, Jane, Nicki, Lucy (could have been Laura, sorry...) Ruth, a boyfriend and a husband whose names I only caught later on, and later Annalise, Jim and Esther. Oh, and the Durhams and Gareth on the journey home. Excellent.

Headaches in the morning
1. A bit sore
2. Mild
3. Very mild
4. Very sore indeed. Probably more sore than I can ever remember. I sincerely hope I never have a morning like that again.
(5. Surprisingly mild)

Memorable topics of conversation
1. Jokes, old cars in Cheltenham, why my father had been out of the room for an hour on the phone (he had been called to a fire, but the bleeper might sound s abit like a phone...), fact as a convention and the impossibility of proof for anything, except by definition, and why the Goonies is an excellent film.
2. The success of the Welsh rugby team, buying meat in bulk, nice Irish whiskies, why the congregation were in such poor voice, why Jack wanted to sit next to his mother, carving techniques, whether or not to wash the bottoms of the glasses, why people go for walks after dinner.
3. Polish vodka, taking half an inch off the skirting board, the change in ownership of Pearl Assurance, give a man a fire and you warm him for a day, set him on fire and you warm him for the rest of his life, Yorkshire pudding, Jeremy Bloody Clarkson, whether or not I was bluffing, sneaky cigarettes while running a half marathon, whether I was ok.
4. Terrible DAB reception, Led Zeppelin's Immigrant song matching the journey from Mr Man and Mr Pangs to the Beehive, to the second, senility, murder, rape, evisceration, the disappointing nature of most New Year's Eve parties, why New York was such a great place, feeling like a teenager again in Grantham (in a bad way).

Weather
1. Cold, windy, no rain.
2. Cold, flat calm, no rain.
3. Cold, windy, a touch of snow.
4. Too much snow. Cold.

Sport
1. I got the kite out, and flew it a bit.
2. None
3. Kite again. A small jump I think, and some traction - some distance on and off the board.
4. Exercised thumb on remote control.

TV
1. Nothing of note
2. Excellent Dr Who episode, and the Eastenders Christmas Special. No sign of the Queen.
3. Some Futurama.
4. An episode of the Simpsons.

Overall verdict: 7.8/10 - a good start, but sleepy family on 25th let the whole side down, and excess whisky on 26th may have been a mistake.

Acutely aware that I'm not putting anything new up here often enough

But I'm going up to Lincolnshire this weekend, with my new 6.3m kite. The weather forecast for Lincs on Saturday says 2mph wind and poor visibility. Which is a shame, but does guarantee the survival of most of my bones, at least until after Christmas.