To Cambridge for lunch last Sunday, and to Swallowfield for lunch yesterday. Cambridge was a party for O's birthday, so a chance to see her, see R for the first time this year now he's back from the US, and meet several delightful people while scoffing tagine. Got a ride home with JD, who just lives round the corner in Ealing.

Took a couple of days off around this weekend, just to use up last year's annual leave. I had an Angel binge, watching all eight episodes that J had just lent me in one go. Then on Saturday I cycled over to Ry's in Perivale - more Joss Whedon DVDs, cherries, cashews and chocolate, and a health-giving walk up Horsenden Hill. Here's the moody sunshine, and Ry and Jo striking catalogue poses. On Sunday, a quick visit to my parents while M kept writing, and today Sarah and I are going to Canterbury for a Ladies' Day Out.

Although Steven Seagal's alligator ass is undeniably compelling, there's no doubt that this has to be my top news story du jour.

No one could quite believe a bloke like him, with all that money, would be moronic enough to nick a toilet seat.

Well quite.

Not a lot to blog about lately, just chavin awa at work really, and spending evenings watching DVDs and plying my needle. Had a lovely Gaelic immersion day on Friday, listening to BBC Nan Gaidheal and doing a great online course in the morning, then getting into the detail of the phonology in the afternoon. It was refreshing to focus on something like that uninterrupted, and now slenderisation, lenition and pre-aspiration hold no fear for me.
M took some time out from book work on Sunday, when it was uncharacteristically clear and sunny, and we went to Richmond on the bus for noodles and a walk in the park. Home to find the boiler had packed up, but £70 later we discovered that it was an embarrassingly straightforward matter of a drop in pressure, remedied by the mannie turning a hidden tap as M wrote him a cheque. However, he also sorted out the radiator leak that had caused the pressure to drop in the first place, so fair dos.

Dad's put some Christmas photos up on his online album (link right) and there's an amazing one of some teensy spiders in the tree...

Lovely day at my parents' last weekend inspecting the Christmas decorations, playing the German version of Yahtzee ("Big Street, Big Street"), eating smoked trout and doing the crossword en famille. Since then have been variously afflicted with a low-level cold, a sore back and - for goodness' sake - chilblains, so feeling rather blah. After a couple of days off for the holidays, M is working all-out on his book for the next couple of months, so New Year was quiet and the days since likewise. Watching a lot of gift DVDs (yay Peep Show box set) and holiday-taped stuff in the evenings - full marks for The Thick of It, nul points for the much-hyped Aristocrats.

Ventured out yesterday to meet O, who had asked me to teach her to knit. We met at the South Bank and had Japanese food (I had the kai sen gohan that looked so yummy when AJ had it on our V&A trip).
These recycled bottle Christmas lights made the area look very cheery. We looked round a very interesting exhibition of contemporary jewellery in the lobby of the National Theatre and I used Nana's Christmas cash to buy myself some earrings. Then the rain caught up with us, but we squelched undaunted along the Albert Embankment down to Vauxhall and the I Knit London shop (more details over in the knit blog). Quick stop in Stockwell for a glass of champagne with Gunny and Chris. Shame that Liverpool exited the FA Cup while we were there...