Boxing Day...

I sometimes think being with others as I was yesterday can actually have two effects perhaps even more. You feel part of someone's family and it creates memories and lifts your spirit. It can make you appreciate how lucky you are.

Then again, it can also bring home to you that you still return home alone.

There are times where being on your own can be positive experience and if you like yourself, are comfortable in your own skin that's no bad thing.

I came home quite "Chipper" and listened to the radio. Got cosy under the duvet. I watched a couple of TV programmes on catch up via the internet too. I forgot about a programme I wanted to hear on the radio but will attempt to hear that later(if my internet allows)I keep losing my connection.

I watched a kind of documentary(more like a collection of thoughts of friends and family of singer Cilla Black)who recently passed away. I wish no harm and I was obviously interested to watch so that says something. Not really a fan, I can say I particularly liked her as an artist but I grew up in a time where a lot of her music was played on radio and TV and she had big shows on national TV on Saturday night. I never purchased any of her music but I do own some of her music when they have turned up on compilation albums of 60's music which was mainly her time. As I say later about a friend's reaction to the new Elvis Presley release music is a very personal thing to each and everyone of us.

I have slept well but today I feel a little deflated. Not in a major way but when you've been part of something one day and the next is quiet you are going from one extreme to the other. That can be good though.

For one day(Christmas)you can put all the usual things on hold. Then for many everything picks up again practically straight away. Many are back at work, doing what they do 364 days of the year and the news/media goes back to its normal mode.

The Christmas lunch was lovely and I was made welcome. I think I was eating duck breast(I've not had that before)there was a little turkey, the usual trimmings and followed by Christmas pudding and custard.

Then a couple of hours resting before coming home.

That weather changed and we've had a fair bit of rain coming down but nothing like what many are experiencing across the UK especially in other parts of Northern England/Scotland where they have had so much water in recent weeks causing floods and loss of property and businesses. The ground is so saturated it is unable to cope. A month of rain falling in 24 hours.

I know I sometimes get criticised for my honesty but the main present for a friend(anyone reading back knows the situation)was not as liked as We/I hoped. He is a big Elvis Presley fan. There is a new CD out and cynically some will say its a way to cash in on his name. Others will say its a new way of hearing him and something he might've tried had he lived. With clever and careful use of technology they have lifted his voice from original recordings and combined him carefully with new arrangements of some of his popular sings performed by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Perhaps its takes some getting used to and isn't for the purists.

You cannot make people like music it is a personal thing to each of us. He kept saying its not Elvis on his own. Well it is, its just not as stripped back as his early material as in session/studio musicians. After all as he progressed he did concerts on Las Vegas with a big band behind him. This time it is a big orchestra.

Its difficult to explain, the reaction is more than just "Not liking" you can tell comprehension is missing. And no this not criticising him or showing a lack of understanding. I get it!

With no bus service today I shall potter about today. Rest. Sleep. Listen to the radio. May watch a little TV. Bother to make my own series of meals and snacks(descriptions and images may follow)and I may relax with a drink later. I can make cocktails or go for a cider or have something like a vodka and lemonade. Why not?

Remember the balls in the tumble dryer? As long as I am here I'll still make use of the washing line weather permitting but yes I do believe they make a difference to how quick clothes dry and how wrinkled clothes come out. I have my clothes to put away later. Another little task.

Update:Amazingly though I love in a fairly important part of the North East of England(even allowing for the weather)and that could've changed things anyhow...I discovered that some locations were running bus services today we were not even offered a Sunday Service. I hate to think tomorrow with all the rain that has been falling what services will be available and if my own area has been affected. I am quite near Yorkshire(I know that has been badly hit)I know Bishop Auckland and the like suffer regularly and its a fair bet Durham will have been once more.

I may take a walk down the town for an hour or so soon. We usually only have some minor problems if drains cannot cope. That's not to say that some parts of the town do not suffer from flooding. There is a lot of countryside that surround us.

I have listened to some interesting radio, drama, comedy and documentaries(the latter mainly nostalgic)one was about the TV programme The Magic Roundabout and I am now watching a programme about an animation studio that has made and continues to produce many popular characters.