Random Shuffle…

Whoa - what a few weeks, as expected very busy and exciting time in the Theatre with the Panto "gang" - great show, received well and enormous fun!

Phew – Mum & Dad arrived home in time for Christmas having been stuck for 4 days in Pisa Airport – nail biting time and an extra £600 – doubt they will every holiday again – bless.

‘Twas the season to be Jolly – yes but Polly, who normally does Jolly to the extreme, has been a little strained due to annual arrival of seasonal bout of bronchitis – 4 weeks and a course of antibiotics later and still feeling like I’ve been bludgeoned with a crowbar (nothing whatsoever to do with a minor indiscretion – turns out these legs aren’t hollow after all) although now insisting on a daily basis that I am feeling much improved - mind over matter dear!

Any hoo – will not dwell on this as almost everyone I know has been struck with an ailment of some sort and besides everything else has been marvelous.

Christmas Day was a triumph – Breakfast Chez MAD (Mummy & Daddy’s) was lovely as usual and Peter cooked the whole Christmas caboodle in return for supper at our house – all with one foot on the oven door to keep it closed too! I did contribute with a Trifle (no cooking required ;-)) a la Nigella but admittedly spent majority of the day fiddling with my pressies, and what fantastic pressies this year too – nothing at all that springs to mind as being…questionable – oh hold on – grey toning slippers…I truly hope these were an “Ironic gift” as we like to call them - don’t worry Mum I will be sure to buy you a Vat of Anti-Wrinkle cream next year. Touché et Riposte.

No sooner than look at it – back to work – 1 day really does go too quickly but looking on the bright side while everyone else if off over Christmas and back to work in January, I have the 1st week of January off – totally un-disturbed…..is that unsociable…..do I care?

Not normally a TV lover I must admit there has been some fantastic viewing this year – SKY+ is my new best friend; Upstairs Downstairs, Macbeth, Poirot, Marple, Downtown Abbey, Victoria Wood, London Palladium, Jools Holland, Eric & Ernie, The Golden Age etc. Can’t fault any of the above – will have a one line whine about the new Magicians series on BBC – why spoil it with “celebrities” – surely it could stand alone with fabulous professional entertainers?

As is amusingly becoming a pattern (middle age is definitely looming) my holiday will result in the decoration of another room – in homage to the wonderful interiors on set of Upstairs Downstairs we have opted for paint job in Crown Ball Gown Blue and Chateau – totally unpretentious of course ;-} First chore was to de-grott the infamous “wine cellar” (cupboard-under-the-stairs) what a job – damp, smelly, flaky and that was me after completing the task! Binned a huge amount of stuff and stored the rest; stumbled upon a few nostalgic pieces – photos – wedding cake (yes wedding cake) and my old client book from Harrods – what a read, everyone I sold Pianos to the models, prices, dates, delivery addresses (the sort of details you would never dream of recording now what with ID fraud blah blah) names that I remember quite clearly (MJ, Enya) and others I had forgotten… the late Michael Williams purchased for Judi Denchs birthday, Mrs. M Lipman, Mr. D.Baker, Mr. G.Petropolous, Mr.C.Evans, Ms.C.Quentin. I could bore for England with my Red Book – I like to think that one day I’ll use it to turn encounters into a diary/story…we’ll see.

Quite a random day today – consisted of traveling to Navenby (South of Lincoln) for Bella to have her Doggy Photo Shoot (thank you Auntie Annie) visiting friend of Daddy’s “Johnny Noble” in his beautiful solitary pile out on an Airfield, stopping off at The Petwood in WoodHall Spa for a lovely lunch and returning home to varnish the brick fireplace!
Peter is catering for the masses again tonight Burns Night style and has recounted to me the amount they eat; Mulligatawny Soup, Haggis/Mash/Swede, Beef Dinner & trimmings, Cranachan, Cheese & Biscuits and Gallons of Whiskey! Phew – I’m bloated thinking about it all - oh no hang on that would be the 5th fistful of Jelly Beans...

So to the title of this entry – whilst “sealing my bricks” with paint brush in hand I think about my day – about life so far – about life to come, I need not explain in detail the questions but amongst a variety those that I’m sure thousands of MWKs (Married Without Kids) ask themselves on a daily basis, and decided that as eclectic as the variety of sounds coming from my IPOD playing on random shuffle so life appears to be and with any luck will continue, you should pop round to listen one day….you might like the choices and I’m sure I could find a spare paintbrush.