Sorting Out
22 October

It's been scarf weather if not gloves weather as we head into autumn. Leaves tumble and the mornings are darker and gloomier.

For the first time in a long while, I'm looking forwards to the hour changing at the end of the month. Not so much for the dark nights even though the prospect of them feels quite cosy. No, it's more to do with the mornings being lighter again. I'm not sure that I really like getting up in the dark.

What else?

Well, talked with Colin and it seems as though he will shortly be on the move back to the North West. Talked with Phil who seems in good form. He still can't watch videos of Johan without seeing Ross.

And, frankly, I know what he means. They could almost be sisters. *Smiles* Drinks with Chris on Tuesday.

I've also sorted out Christmas with my parents. When it came to it, they said that they had made a commitment to stay with me and that was what they were proposing to do. My mum was even more forthright, saying that, after all the support I had offered her and my dad during my Aunt Ellen's illness and death, it was the very least they could do.

So, that was a moist moment. I explained that I had been apprehensive and had been bracing myself for the possibility of them saying that they wanted to be near to Mary - after all they're both in their 70s so they need to make as much of the time they have with their new Granddaughter as they can. My dad's response to that was quite blunt. "We couldn't do that to you", he said.

So, we've come up with a compromise that seems to suit everyone in which the ageing Ps will stay with me for the first part of the holiday up til Christmas Day and then they'll decamp to Linda's for the rest of their stay. Why are families like United Nations diplomacy at times?

I've got some time off coming up in November. At the moment, I'm not sure whether or not I shall stay here and chill, or visit Colin in Lowestoft, or visit Phil in Southport, or visit Chris in Grenoble, or take Eurostar to Paris, or fly to Amsterdam from Stanstead. It's a bitch, isn't it! *Raspberry*