Nice time of year, full of positive vibes (apart from the election, of course.)

Loads of Probus social events for Probus members and their wives/partners/ friends. Lots of food, of course (and some alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages.)

I’ve lost count of the events with food and drink that I’ve taken part in – and we haven’t reached Christmas yet!

• The club Christmas lunch was well attended and with lovely chatter and food
• The Probus carol concert had some great brass-band driven carols (and buffet)
• The biennial Christmas walkers’ lunch at William and Vic’s was a spectacular success – another 4 hour lunch. It’s a tribute to the 11 of us that we still have the stamina for such an activity!
• The traditional Probus walker’s lunch (it’s the lunch that’s traditional, not the walkers!) after a walk through the Fountain’s estate was excellent.
  • Our walk was notable mainly for having to walk past a line of pheasant shooters in the Valley of the Seven Bridges. They stopped (briefly) as we passed them, and we were ‘treated’ to the sight of birds plummeting to earth and being picked up by the gun dogs! Not a common experience.
  • The food at The Chequers pub was notable for its usual excellence in newly and beautifully decorated surroundings

OK there have to be some Christmas gripes.

• Why does sellotape for Christmas parcels have to be so thin that it’s really difficult to use, requiring constant re-establishing where the end of the roll is?
• Why does a fault that develops in your Pay TV have to wait for Christmas to materialise?
• Why are Christmas tree lights so complicated? They used to rely on all lights working correctly – if one failed, none of them would work. Now it seems that they have a huge number of settings – from always on to flashing at various frequencies. I had to rely on a visiting grand-daughter to fix it so that they didn’t flash all the time, driving me crazy (er)!
• Why are some websites so difficult to use (while others are wonderful)?
  • I’m now the proud owner of two pairs of new trousers of the same colour, rather than two of different colours that I thought I’d ordered!
  • Actually I like them, so maybe Google (or similar) knows better than I do as to what colour would suit me best? (Big Brother/Mother)

Happy Christmas!