Home is where the heart is

The morning of the last day of the year was spent tidying. Lorraine adopted the Mari Kondo style folding I have been doing lately. I showed her my draws of teeshirts, socks and boxers, all folded so that you can see everything in the drawer at a glance. Deeply inspired by this, she did the same thing to her drawers (ahem) and it sparked joy in her, plus and a deep appreciation of me as a beacon of tidiness and order.

Then breakfast. We had coffee and I felt in need of healthy things this morning, and had porridge and assorted seeds and frozen berries. We discussed the new regime for food starting at the beginning of January, and other plans and schemes. 

It is warm for the time of year, but hosing down with rain and very windy. Lorraine and I walked down to the sea when the rain stopped for a bit, and loved the white horses and the wildness of it. Then a spot of shopping in Morrisons, and the health food shop where Lorraine bought some Tamari sauce having read about its existence in bed this morning.

When we got back we went across the road to our neighbour Stephanie, who had phoned earlier. She was having difficulty upgrading onto her new phone, and said the process had made her cry. I said I was only able to do mine with lots of swearing.  Between us, and a call to her daughter, we worked it out. We both liked Stephanie, a little woman who is bright and cheery, despite having lost her husband a couple of years ago, and having her mother ill in hospital right now.  She had been a midwife before she retired. She had friends coming over tonight, and hugged us both before we left. It's all very neighbourly round here. 

Once home, Beth and James dropped in on the way to Eastbourne for cups of tea. Really enjoyed seeing them, Beth talking about how she had whacked her hand accidentally but the fact that she had a cold knuckle made it far worse, which made me laugh. Gave James a lebkuchen and he was genuinely appalled by it -- saying it made him think of Chinese food. Beth identified it star anise in it, and then saw it in the ingredients. 

Parcels arrived today, some cushions for the chairs in the kitchen. And for me some hybrid slinky strings, as I have started troubling my guitar again and a hardback of The Box of Delights with illustrations by Quintin Blake. My paperback did not survive the move, and despite me having at least two copies, they have all gone west. I missed reading it over Christmas.

We cooked a roast chicken and lots of vegetables, shared a bottle of wine, and chilled on the sofa. Felt no need to be seeking out parties, just delighted to be at home with my lovely wife and the cats with a tree and all the lights. 

Went to bed shortly after midnight, and Lorraine said she was looking forward to the new year, and drifting to sleep, we listened to the stormy sea breaking on the shore. 

A quick scamper by the heavy foaming sea.