It's official! ptII

Today is the first day of winter, and quite fittingly, the forecast is for more snow...

This week Her Majesty The Queen became the oldest serving monarch in British history. Surpassing her great-great grandmother Queen Victoria by a few days. In 2012, she shall have served for 60 years, and in late-2015, she will have observed another of Queen Victoria's milestones, being the longest serving monarch.

I hope you're all ready for Christmas, and are looking forward to welcoming in the New Year. All the shopping is done, gifts wrapped, boys as good as gold, pigs fed and ready to fly...

George had his last day of school yesterday, and seemed to enjoy his Christmas party. Each of his class took part in a Secret Santa, and George was quite spoiled by his! Even though I think the young lady concerned has a slight crush on him, and he on her...

Batteries! Why are batteries not included? I spent a small fortune on rechargable 'D' batteries yesterday. Was not impressed.

Happy Holidays! Still not too sure of this one. I'm not on holiday, and when I am, I can quite assure you it's happy!! If you wish someone, say a store assistant, a Merry Christmas, they are initially taken a-back, but the greeting is usually reciprocated with a smile. Not sure if the smile is for someone not being politically correct, or one of "we'll see how long that lasts...".

Don't know if it's because Brandon is quite a small town, but there doesn't seem to be the urgency that comes with Christmas shopping in the UK. The queues are a little longer than normal, with shopping carts a little 'fuller'. But you can still park your car with relative ease, there's no 'rudeness', and a certain amount of decorum is observed. Oh how I miss the Merry Hill Centre at this time of year...

Speak soon...

God Save the Queen

God Bless Canada