I relent - the 4.5 togger goes on...

I have a bug - having come over all nauseous last night this morning I have woken and feel like I have been hit by a steam roller - I am guessing it is a sort of flu thing which hopefully will last just 24 hours.  I decided it was to be a day of abstemiousness for me - no coffee, no alcohol and nothing to eat that might upset my tummy - deep joy!  First thing this morning I didn't feel like doing much at all but I wanted to go down to the cemetery and sort out Dad's grave before Mum goes on Christmas Day.

It was another lovely day today, the weather forecast for tomorrow is not so good so we must take advantage whilst we can.  It has been in no way as cold so far this Winter, wet yes but cold no.  The garden is confused - we have things still putting on new growth that we would normally have cut down by now and plants which would have lost their leaves nowhere near that position.  I hope they are not in for a nasty shock come January.

After a slow start to the morning we decided that we should go on down to the cemetery sooner rather than later and whilst down there we would put in an official visit to the newly refurbished Droushia Heights Hotel for a cuppa and to look at the changes in the daylight.



The Hotel is looking splendid - it is really hard to believe that we are in Droushia - it is so stylish and classy.  I like the new colour schemes and some of the areas have changed very little like around the fireplace and the sofas but it is all updated.  They have tried to capture the views from all locations so now the extended bar area takes full advantage of what is outside.  We are truly blessed to have this on our doorstep and we hope that it is successful but never too busy for us to find a corner when we want one.



John had a coffee,  I managed a bit of root ginger bobbing around in some hot water - to be fair it actually hit the spot as I had been feeling quite thirsty but couldn't decide what I might be able to drink that wouldn't make me feel sick and ginger is supposed to do exactly that.

Armed with plastic bags to cover our shoes we set off for the cemetery to tidy up.  It was rather messy there because they have already put in the new pathways which will make access so much easier.  When I say already I do mean JUST as the cement was still wet!

We tidied up and raked around Dad's plot filling in where the soil had really sunk down - it looks like this will soon be ready for a more permanent memorial.  I will rescue the plants which have done so well and make a space for them in our garden.  As you can see John decided to forego the carrier bags - I didn't and was glad I made that decision because he had a lot of scraping to do after we had finished.

We left feeling that it was as good as we could make it and happy that now nearly ten months after Dad passed away his grave looks, and has always looked, loved and cared for.  I know he may have preferred to have been cremated but I am sure wherever he is, looking up or looking down, that this is a good alternative and when we select the permanent memorial we must include somewhere a cross, this is apparently, according to my neighbour, very important for his journey - I am not sure he would mind either way but I feel that as he has been accepted into our village cemetery we should take into consideration these views.

I felt a little better this afternoon and with John putting himself through some more Sheffield United hell I started with some preparations for our Christmas lunch.  I made some bread sauce - only a small amount as John doesn't like it and I made some sausage-meat, cranberry and apple stuffing which I have never made before so I hope it will taste ok.  I have had to write down a plan for the cooking I want to do so that I don't forget anything otherwise it would be just my luck to get up on Tuesday and the meat will still be in the freezer.

My final job of the day was to start the mulled wine which I plan to serve on Christmas Eve when our guests come - if nothing else it well provide a lovely festive smell in the Kitchen!

I began to feel a little brighter but was tired.  I relented tonight and allowed John to put the 4.5 tog duvet on the bed - he was ecstatic - I new I would boil then freeze irrespective of what was on there!