It’s Christmas Day and it is as dark as night. Roger and Dorothy are with me down the lane. Mary is sat in Bluebell, ears pricked. She is coming to work with me today .
Bitches fall out sometimes and never forget a spat, and poor Iwan ( Trendy Carol’s Husband ) found himself in the middle of a noisy bitch fight yesterday, which was unfortunate .
To help with frayed nerves, my old girl will be coming to work with me , and will be spending time sleeping in Bluebell and being walked and loved and cooed over by a plethora of Hospice staff, patients and visitors.
Dorothy is too excitable in the car and will bark incessantly during the 3/4 of an hour journey , not something I can cope with on Christmas Morning , so Mary it is.
But at the moment it’s just me, Roger and Dotty
And the dark lane , in uncharacteristic warm weather.
A barn owl , huge and almost silent swoops over our heads but is missed by the dogs in their sniffing, I watch it in awe….
I’m tired and have not slept well
2023 is coming towards its end and I’m going to think about that over coffee before I leave
I want 2024 to be a happier year, but I’m dammed to know just how I make that happen
I was four cards short in the living room Christmas card Garland 😰🎅🏼🌲🌈🎄🥃🎊🍷🍹
Hey ho
Happy Christmas xx
Wishing you all good things for 2024, John. May it be your best year yet. Xx
ReplyDeleteMerry Christmas John!
ReplyDeleteHave a good day John, Mary will love all the attention won't she....... like you I'm very much hoping for a happier 2024, I've had an unsettling year but know I still have lots to be Thankful for. Thank you for your blogging, it means a lot to a lot of folk.
ReplyDeleteHappy Christmas and a Blessed New Year x
Alison in Wales x
Merry Christmas from San Francisco. This night is black as well. Very much looking forward to tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteHappy Christmas John. And here's to a happier New Year, for you, for me, for the world.
ReplyDeleteMerry Christmas, John. I'm sure there will be a few late cards to enable you to reach your target. I will be facing some big decisions next year and have come to the conclusion happiness is acknowledging the joy in each day, however small. Then I hang on to it for dear life amidst the chaos. Sounds like Mary will be your joy today.
ReplyDeleteHope you all have a good day. I have also been thinking of the year past and the year ahead. I am absolutely of the same mind as Susan and will treasure every moment I can.
ReplyDeleteMerry Christmas, John - and all your lovely readers. You have some great things planned for 2024, the happiness will follow. xx
ReplyDeleteWishing you the most LUVERLY Xmas Day ever, JayGee, and to each of your li'l bow-wows too - with the most contented and healthiest of 2024s to come, just round t'corner.
ReplyDeleteMerry Christmas John.
ReplyDeleteHave a wonderful day and the coming year will also be a good year.
ReplyDeleteYes, it felt just the same here, dog walking in the dark morning late for us at 6am. Roads wet and shiny but strangely still after a week of high wind and raging rain. Still a few cars an emergency ambulance. Hope but no belief that 2024 will be better than 2023 has been. Have a good day. Mary will bring a lot of people a simple seasonal joy and connection with life. God bless, John.
ReplyDeleteTaking Mary to work on Christmas Day in Bluebell... just like Joseph taking her to Bethlehem on a donkey.
ReplyDeleteJust eaten three Dairy Box - am getting as bad as you with Scotch Eggs! Happy Christmas and Happy New Year. And DO keep up your course - when you get to the end it will do your psyche no end of good - I promise dearheart,
ReplyDeleteAssume you aren’t talking about whole boxes…
DeleteMerry Christmas John.
ReplyDeleteI hope little Mary wasn't hurt in a tiff with Dorothy.
Poor Iwan. What a high-maintenance crew you have. Four cards short of a full garland. It could be worse. You could be one card short of a full deck or one brick short of a full load. Wishing you happiness throughout 2024 whether you make it happen or not.
ReplyDeleteHappy Christmas John. X
ReplyDeleteMere Kirihimete John from New Zealand, where it just ticked over midnight to boxing day and I'm about to head off to my bed. Thank you for what you said - reminding us all that we do have quite a bit of say in how happy we can make our lives. not all of it, but a fair bit! I shall take that question to my dreams tonight, as I too am wondering how I can make things better <3
ReplyDeleteIt is 6:30 am here in Toronto, 4degrees and going up to 7 degrees today, so warm for us too. Still dark, my robot is hoovering as you call it and I am getting house ready for a visit from one daughter, my grandson and her hubby. Lunch take out from the pub later. Your blog gives me something to get out of bed in the morning for along with aches and my dog! I consider you my friend as do so many of us. If only you would meet your person in 2024, all would be well. My brother called yesterday and told me he has been with his husband for 55 years now. He also said that sometimes it took a lot of work. I hope you and Mary are having a peaceful day and that when you get home Dorothy and Roger will have missed you two. Gigi
ReplyDeletewell from one old coot to another I wish you the merriest of Christmas' and the Happiest of Holiday Seasons. Oh, and my one true love, Timmy The Terrible Terrier sends a Happy Pawsday to your gang. May 2024 be a better year for each of us and for the entire world. Much love to you from the sometimes not so great state of Texas.
ReplyDeleteMerry Christmas, Mary will be so loved by so many today.
ReplyDeleteMerry Christmas to you John and all of your readers!
ReplyDeleteA merry Christmas to you and your beloved doggos, John. I look for a word each year, to try and consider as a mantra. This year's word was "soften," and I really have, in so many ways, because I was trying to. I believe I've found next year's, and it's "connection." You have such lovely friends, family, neighbors and coworkers and such good and loving connections with them. I think you can find a way to make 2024 happier. I heard a podcast where Arthur Brooks, the professor of happiness at Harvard, says that happiness isn't a feeling, it's a result of faith, family, community and meaningful work. I see all of those in you!
ReplyDeleteMerry Christmas John. Just getting our day started over here and wishing you only wonderful things and much happiness in the next year. X
ReplyDeleteMerry Christmas! I hope your Owl sighting is a good omen (as is the belief in my family). We have been seeing one here for the last couple weeks and feel hopeful even in the midst of a bout of covid and other (temporary?) woes. In '16 we spent the summer going to sit with a friend in hospice every day - the days where we brought one of her big dogs were especially meaningful so it is kind as well as prudent to bring your special friend along to work today.
ReplyDeleteCheers, Ceci
Pouring rain here in north Florida on this gloomy Christmas day. Ah well.
ReplyDeleteIt's good that you can bring Mary to work with you today. I am sure that she will be a very cheerful presence. Wishing you a day with sweetness in it, John.
Merry Christmas, John. It is a dark wet warm (47F) morning here in Michigan. I am trying very hard to be cheerful but "threw my back out" on 12/8 and am fighting acute sciatica untouched by tramadol and flexural. I haven't been out of the house since then except to go to ER, dr's, and just started PT with friends and neighbors doing all the driving. I know this will pass, just wish it would start feeling better. I am scheduled for MRI on 1/4 and wonder if it will show a ruptured or bulging disc.
ReplyDeleteI will be with family today, however, and being waited on hand and foot, so I'm blessed. Pat your furry little friends for me, and I will give my two extra love also.
Merry Christmas, John!
ReplyDeleteI think that's a pretty impressive Christmas card haul! Have a great Christmas. :)
ReplyDeleteHappy Christmas. All is quiet here on my street. I have been up early doing some food prep. I wish you well on the happiness front John. I think there’s levels of happiness. Trying not to be too philosophical here in Winnipeg. Jean
ReplyDeleteHappy Christmas, John. (and to all your four footed family) I don't think you are alone when it comes to hoping for a better year ahead. It's been a rough year for a lot of people and one can only hope and pray for a better year in 2024. It is dark and dreary and rainy here today. Not typical for Minnesota. No white Christmas. I wish for much joy and happiness, all around. Ranee (MN) USA
ReplyDeleteHave a good Christmas even though you're working today. Everybody's nerves can get frayed during the holiday season, even the dogs!
ReplyDeleteMerry Christmas John. Here's hoping that 2024 is a better year for both of us:) Sending hugs to you.
ReplyDeleteWhat a treat for staff and your patients to have Mary there where they can love on her and see her friendly little self.
ReplyDeleteWishing you all good things, lots of laughter,, good good, good books, a friends in hugging distance in the new year. Meanwhiile, Merry Christmas!
Hugs!
Merry Christmas John. Peace to your household.
ReplyDeleteMerry Christmas from Tucson where it is still Christmas Day here !
ReplyDeleteMary will have a grand time loving everyone back !
Merry Christmas, John! Let's hope for a happy year ahead! tho seems to me you had a pretty good year--You fell in love with Venice, I think you got to Spain; went to the ballet in London, many films were seen. The Flower Show began again, the Town Hall project is a success, as is the town pond. You finished a year at Uni, doing well, and embarking on a much suited new career. No covid, some G & T s with friends, a few scotch eggs. Count your blessings--and plan for even more to come. Much love and grateful thanks for your charming daily blog.
ReplyDeletelizzy x
Wishing you a peaceful and reflective Christmas Day. Your companions Roger, Dorothy, and Mary seem like wonderful company. The encounter with the barn owl adds a magical touch to the morning. May the coffee and contemplation bring clarity for a happier 2024. And hey, missing a few cards in the living room Garland just adds to the uniqueness of the day. Cheers to a brighter year ahead!
ReplyDeleteVisit https://www.melodyjacob.com/ Happy Christmas!
I think your year has been magnificent !
ReplyDeleteKeith
Xx
Happy Christmas John x
ReplyDeleteSending Christmas Day wishes from across the pond dear John. So much respiratory illness going around here that we didn't see all the people we hoped would visit, or we would visit! Coughing and fevers, running noses and such - I'm thinking perhaps spending next Christmas 'down under' where I'm sure they don't suffer as we seem to here in the northern hemisphere at the holidays!
ReplyDeleteTake care, may 2024 be a better year for us all.
Hugs, Mary & Bob xx
Merry Christmas from Jekyll Island, Georgia! Jackie
ReplyDeleteMerry Christmas and all best wishes for 2024. x
ReplyDeleteChristmas greetings from the base of the mini-mountain in Maine, John. I'm sending hugs and warmest wishes to you for the holiday season, including the very best New Year you could want. You've achieved so much ...a lot to be proud of. Hugs again to you and all of your pooches!, Regina
ReplyDeleteIf beng 4 cards short in a garland is all you have to be bothered about you lead an untroubled life. Perhaps a look at what's going on in the wider world beyond a Welsh village might put thngs in perspective.
ReplyDeletePerhaps it is you who should find a life
DeleteComplaining on a blog on Christmas Day when there are people to love and things to celebrate
Get a fucking life
And you're counting Christmas cards?
DeleteNot everyone celebrates Christmas John.
Delete"four cards short of a garland" cracked me up! Is that like a holiday version of two fries short of a Happy Meal?
DeleteJohn four cards short of a garland Grey - best comment ever Lizzy D and it sums him up to a tee!
DeleteAnon, you are such a fool, a fool ….lol
DeleteHow sad when someone cannot see that this life in a little Welsh village is the rock and foundation of a good and decent life to inspire goodness and love in return and be the sort of baseline to be sought by all yet clearly bypasses some because of it's clarity and simplicity. There are none so blind as those who will not see.
ReplyDeleteThanks Liz xx
DeleteA barn owl , huge and almost silent swoops over our heads but is missed by the dogs in their sniffing, I watch it in awe….
ReplyDeleteI’m tired and have not slept well
Write that bloody book. Those two sentences are superb.
Merry Christmas
Thank u
DeleteThank you everyone for your kind Christmas messages
ReplyDeleteXx
Did you add the one from the gift from me or just add the gift it will fill the void nicely. !
ReplyDeleteGemma's person, you are a truly kind and generous soul as are also other Followers on John's Blog who generously send cards and gifts, spreading Christmas cheer :)
ReplyDeleteBelated (though still Christmas here, ha) Christmas wishes to you and the furry loved ones at your house. I've been blessed with a second chance this year and I intend to make 2024 the best year ever. You never know what's around the corner, we've got this!!
ReplyDelete