Yesterday was a most remarkable day in many ways - but then Boxing Days are often unusual. The carers were due at 8.00pm and I had actually got up at 5.30 in the morning not wishing to oversleep my normal getting up time of 6.00am. But we waited and waited and nobody turned up and Meg was showing some signs of agitation after the long wait. So I fed her some banana and some yogurt in anticipation of the breakfast I would cook her once the carers had departed. In practice they both turned up at 9.00am as their schedules had been changed but one way or another the agency had neglected to tell me about it. So the two carers did a great job despite last night being a little unsatisfactory and then one of them was scheduled to stay on as Meg's sit so that I could do some shopping - not that any shopping needed doing on this occasion. So I decided that after breakfast, it would be a good idea that Meg and I and the carer would make a trip down the hill, have a coffee in Waitrose and then return - this way, Meg could get some of the fresh air she had been denied over the last day or so. When we got to the bottom of the hill, we discovered that Waitrose was closed so pressed on to reach the High Street and we made our way for our second favourite cafe being 'The Lemon Tree' But this too was closed so we headed back into one of the few coffee shops open on the High Street that seemed to be teeming as a consequence. It was a bit of a cold and drizzly day and Meg was not feeling at her best so we all had some hot chocolate but would have done if we had not waited so long for it to be prepared. So we requested some 'take out' cups and made our way back up the hill again, by which time our 'sit' carer needed to depart. Whilst Meg drank her re-heated hot chocolate back in the comfort of our Music Lounge, I popped some of the leftovers from yesterday into the oven for lunch, parboiled some purple sprouting broccoli before this too was destined for the oven and put some of the slices of beef from yesterday into the gravy. As this was cooking, the two carers for Meg's midday visit arrived and after they had checked Meg over, I took the opportunity to dash out in the car to collect a copy of 'The Times' which is published on Boxing Days. One of the carers who was Polish looked absolutely exhausted and she explained that she and eight children had been up until 1.00am in the morning, singing karaoke. She also mentioned that the Poles celebrated Christmas Eve in great style and I know that in Poland and other Eastern European societies there is a tradition of eating a fish such as carp in a huge meal on Christmas Eve. Whether our Polish carer had eaten carp or another fish, I was not able to discern but she mention that she was fed up to the eyeballs with dumplings and red cabbage which, no doubt, is traditional Polish fare. After the carers had departed, Meg and I settled down to watch 'Paddington' (i.e. the very first) whilst we were eating our Boxing Day lunch. I have always maintained that Paddington has some elements and themes that appeal to adults whilst probably being lost on a child audience. These include such issues as how British people (especially Londoners) treat newly arrived immigrants, respect for other cultures and so on. As soon as Paddington was concluded, I swapped over channels and viewed the last half or so of the film of 'Dad's Army' which I have seen several times before but is always worth another viewing.
Last night after Meg was finally put asleep, I scanned the TV channels to see what was worth viewing. Eventually, I settled upon Lehar's 'Merry Widow' which I suppose can be labelled as operetta or light opera rather than the classical repetoire of what is sometimes called 'grand' opera. Nonetheless, the singing was of a high order and the costume department, being a Glyndebourne production, must have worked overtime. The singers seemed to be really enjoying themselves which is one index of success I suppose. Whilst the opera was playing in the background, I engaged in a little task I have never actually done systematically before. From our definitive Christmas card list, I marked off those who had sent us a card if only to discern who had not sent us a card this year. As two of then very close friends and one of them our son's godfather, this is a source of concern to us as I know that neither of the two couples are in the best of health, I am left wondering if either of them have passed away and there is no way that we had been told. One of our best friends in Leicestershire who was a very good neighbour to us died but it was only the non receipt of a Christmas card that alerted us to the fact. Although this might sound a bit macabre, once you reach a certain age you want to know that your contemporaries are still around.
Today is the 20th anniversary of the greatest tsunami that the modern world may ever have known with 230,000 victims in total. The tsunami affected 12 countries along bordering on the Indian ocean with the Aceh Province of Indonesia bearing the brunt of the event. The newsreels have been full of communities visiting the sea and other memorials by laying floral tributes and other forms of commemoration and, of course, we have a lot of video footage of the actual event that the media are not hesitating to show us. Meanwhile, back at home it appears that the Boxing sales are disappointing and the reports seem to indicate a lower footfall than expected. But host of factors are at work here, not least that the amount of real, disposable income is so reduced over the years coupled with the rise of on-line shopping and perhaps an appreciation that the sales are not as genuine as might be thought as returned and rather sub-standard items are especially bought in for the sales which are not as 'genuine' as might be thought.
© Mike Hart [2024]