16th December 2022

One bleak evening in early December, as I drove across town, I sensed that something wasn’t quite right. Upon reaching Welland Park Road, it suddenly dawned on me: in years gone by, nearly every other house in town would have been brightly lit with flashing Christmas lights of one sort or another, lifting the spirits of passers-by. Now, most homes were dark and subdued.

There are still a few cheerful, festive tableaux, but they are few and far between, and I suspect, not quite as impressive as their creators might have hoped. Even the usual blizzard of falling snowflakes projected onto the front of Willow Bank at this time of year will sadly not appear.

Yes, Vladimir Putin, it is not only the men, women, and children of Ukraine from whom you have tried to steal the spirit of Christmas; here in Europe, too, we feel your spite. As energy costs soar because of your loathsome ambition to rewind history and re-establish the Soviet Union, all you have truly achieved is to unify the free-thinking people of the West.

We have no desire to endure the horrors you are inflicting on the innocents in Kyiv and beyond. We will bear your attempts to switch off our lights and heating, and we will continue to arm and support the brave heroes of Ukraine, and you will lose. Russia could be a great and respected nation, its people and commerce welcomed across the globe, instead of the pariah state you have made it. Your oppression of the Russian Federation and your abuse of everything that is right and just in the world will ensure that your name is forever recorded in history’s roll call of tyrants.

On the 29th of November, we welcomed Sue’s sister Philippa to Willow Bank. She arrived in the late afternoon after a long journey from Totnes. Sue met her at Harborough station and, after a brief visit to Doreen, who lives in the apartments opposite the station, brought her home in time for tea and to watch England beat a rather lacklustre Welsh side 3–0, securing qualification for the knockout stages of the World Cup. Philippa would stay for a few days before heading on to attend a university reunion in Birmingham.

Sue and her sister visited Charlotte and Suraj the following morning, choosing to take Harry on a brisk two-and-a-half-mile walk before returning to Willow Bank for lunch. In the afternoon, they went to see Jamie and Ruth in Waltham on the Wolds, returning in the early evening after picking up a fish and chip supper in Harborough. Later that evening, we watched a video of a recent trip to Greenland.

December began cold and foggy, but despite the weather, Sue and Philippa drove to Newbold Verdon to spend the day with Sarah, Lee, and Alice. A long walk with Mia wasn’t on the cards, as Sarah is now unable to walk far without discomfort, so a visit to the local park proved an exciting alternative for little Alice. They returned in time for tea before heading off again, this time through thickening fog, to Desborough for a second visit to Charlotte’s. As Lucas and Ellis had been at school during their first visit, Philippa was keen to see the boys before she left.

Suraj had just returned from a few days in London, where he had been attending an IT conference, and Sue and her sister were treated to a few early Christmas presents courtesy of the goody bags often handed out at such events.

There was controversy at the World Cup in Qatar as Germany was knocked out of an international tournament early for the third time in a row. Ironically, the issue centred on whether the ball had fully crossed the line, shades of ’66! To my eye, the ball was clearly over, regardless of an unworkable FIFA rule that apparently demands a margin of 1.8mm (or even less, so FIFA claims).

Surely, as in other sports, if the ball touches or crosses the plane of the line, it should be deemed to have crossed it, and is therefore either out of play or, if between the posts, a goal. Simples!

Philippa left us the following morning. She had originally planned to depart from Harborough by train for her university reunion in Birmingham, but a strike by Midland Mainline train drivers forced a change of plan. Instead, she caught a bus to Leicester station, where she was able to continue her journey on a service that was still operating. Thankfully, she made her reunion.

On Saturday, the 10th, Lucas reached the grand old age of 16. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that one of his birthday requests and gifts was a wristwatch, perhaps a sign that he is now well and truly entering adolescence.

As a treat the following day, the whole family visited Jeremy Clarkson’s Diddly Squat Farm.

Over the same weekend, Sarah and Lee took Alice to a Dear Santa production at a local theatre, based on Rod Campbell’s much-loved book.

Meanwhile, having progressed to the knockout stages of the World Cup, England faced France in the quarter-finals and were defeated 2–1, a result I can only describe as an injustice. A combination of questionable refereeing decisions, a dubious VAR intervention, and a missed penalty saw the French progress to face Morocco in the semi-final. It was a solid performance by England and a thoroughly undeserved defeat.

Tragically, later that same evening, poor Maddie passed away. We’re not entirely sure what caused the rabbit’s death, but he was quite old, and he died peacefully while Jamie was cuddling him. In his younger days, he could be rather cantankerous, but over the years, he mellowed, and we all grew to love that mischievous little bundle of white fur.

The following day, Jamie and Ruth called in briefly on their way to London to drop off Rocky and Nala to stay with us. They were spending just a night in the capital, having a very pleasant meal and seeing some of the sights. Overnight, the city was hit by a snowstorm, which closed the M25 and shut down Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted airports for a while.  Thankfully, the roads were clear enough for them to collect their dogs late on Monday afternoon.

The same afternoon, Sue drove me to Leicester Royal Hospital for another eye injection. Considering the pressures that the NHS is under, I was surprised to have my vision test, eye scan and injection in less than half an hour. We were back home, just over an hour after we’d left.

The weather has turned bitterly cold over the past week and is expected to remain so for at least another week. Harborough seems to escape any significant snowfall, but we’ve been making serious inroads into the mountain of logs stacked behind the garden shed.

On the 13th, I bought our Christmas tree. Having left it rather late, most outlets around town had already sold out, and what remained were rather sorry specimens. Nonetheless, I managed to find one acceptable tree, much reduced in price, and gave it a home in the corner of the lounge.

After a flurry of Christmas meals for Sue over the past fortnight with her U3A groups, it was finally my turn to get into the festive spirit and enjoy some seasonal fare. On the 15th December, nine of us gathered in the garden room for mulled wine and sloe gin before boarding a minibus to the Red Lion in Welham for a Christmas dinner.

There was a near disaster earlier in the evening when the glass container holding the (too) hot mulled wine shattered, sending its contents across the kitchen surface. Fortunately, we managed to rustle up a second batch using our own home-brewed red, honey, and spices, this time leaving it in the pan (lesson learned). Our little group had an excellent evening, finishing up with further refreshments at the Red Cow, back in Harborough.

Maddeningly, my sore left foot, which has stubbornly refused to improve since a very long ramble several weeks ago, chose that night to escalate its protests. By the following morning, I’d had enough and rang the surgery to make an appointment with the doctor.