What next?

It's not looking good in Europe. 

Austria has implemented lockdown for anyone over the age of 12 who isn't vaccinated - they may leave their homes for 'essential reasons' only such as work, food shopping or exercise; last Friday The Netherlands went into partial lockdown for three weeks; Ireland is on the verge of mandating Covid certificates for gyms and hairdressers. It's not very encouraging. I can only see things heading one way if we start following what's happening over there.

We all know from bitter experience that Boris loves a lockdown, so does he join in with similar restrictions? Will he or won't he? My guess is, he will. He said yesterday he can't rule out "Plan B" which is his not very subtle way of coercing people into having the booster jab (the age threshold has been lowered to over-40s). It allows him to keep us dangling on a string - which he can pull any time he likes. Nasty little man.

Quite honestly, it won't make any difference to me - we'll still go shopping once a week, still go out for a walk round the village and the lotties, and still see our lovely foursome because, if we can't go to theirs, they'll come here. So, do your worst... I don't care, matey. I stopped taking much notice of Govt bs a long time back, your stupid rules and regulations won't affect me. I won't be having your snake-oil, whatever you threaten me with. It's called choice. Now go away Boris, I'm busy, I have a family Christmas lunch to think about.

Christmas is getting ever nearer - the spare bed is covered in presents which need wrapping and the pantry is filling up nicely with little treats.

My days of making everything myself have gone, sadly; the spirit is willing but the body is weak... I still do some things but M&S and Waitrose pick up where I leave off. I haven't yet managed to track down an acceptable non-fruit festive cake but I'm working on it.

It's a lovely day out there - cold but sunny. This is our flowering cherry tree today - just about to drop its leaves but before it does it's putting on a show. What a little beauty.

Right, I'm disappearing into the kitchen now to put a couple of trays of Freeze-ahead Roast Potatoes away for the Big Day. It saves so much time on Christmas morning.

I'll get this posted if it kills me! Had to break off for a phone call and then another Amazon delivery - I'm almost on first name terms with our drivers... they've been here so often recently! Delivery men and women are worth their weight in bread pudden - what would we do without them?

Update 19.11.21: Austria has gone full lockdown and, in case that's not enough, to make matters worse the jab will be made compulsory over there from next February. The world is slowly going mad.