Went for ride with Kelvin and Graham on Monday as it was another glorious day. Had a pint at the Stardust Brewey just outside White Waltham.I tried to go in the summer but it was closed. Had lunch in The Bell at Waltham St. Lawrence. Did about 30 miles. I was very domestic on Tuesday. Did another ride out to Frieth on Wednesday with Kelvin and Stuart met Andy at Middle Asendon and had a pont at The Loddon Brewery on the way back. They've changed the taproom so that it now all enclosed. About 43 miles and quite hilly. Went to watch URZ in the evening. They lost 2 0 to Luton. Things not looking good. Spent most of Friday learning songs for Friday's practise. Had a goolie zoom in the evening. Bad practise on Friday. Had Lynda, Brendan and Kelvin round on Saturday for the delayed Xmas meal. Great night. A good start to the day on Sunday  we didn't get up til gone 3. Very lazy after that.

Went swimming Monday lunchtime. Good start to the week. Madeline is four months old today. M was on University Challenge in the quarter final. They came from behind to beat Birmingham. It was very tense even though I knew the result. Later she was on a quiz night zoom call. Housework and stuff on Tuesday. Went to see Reading v Fulham in the evening. Had to show covid pass to get in. Only a cursory glance from security though.

Went for a ride out to Mattingly with Kelvin, Andy and Stuart on Tuesday. First one for about a month. About 37 miles. Wet to start with and cold at the end. Andy told me Willie's partner Ali is expecting. J, A and M made it safely back to Glasgow.

On Thursday J n A downloaded their Scottish NHS Covid passes via the app. This shows the dates of their jabs so they were able to go back to Boots to get their boosters. We combined this with a walk into town and along a The Kennet. Spotted some street art I dont think I'd seen before.

And some more on the prison wall. The text is from The Ballad Of Reading Gaol, its probably a Peachy. They had Moderna jabs. Their previous ones were Pfizer. James reacted quite badly to his but Amy was OK apart from a saw arm. Sadly she found out that her folks will no longer be able to come in January as planned as their air line has cancelled all flights due to a shortage of crews because of omicron. They are thinking of possibly coming in April with Kathryn, Amy's sister. Amy cooked a great steak pie on New Year's Eve but J n A both went to bed quite early so we we just watched TV until midnight and then went out into the street. There were a few out and lot of fireworks going off. The Russian lad across the street climbed out of bedroom window onto the first floor bay window roof and didn't seem to be hanging on. We were all shouting for him to get back in which thankfully he did. Kelvin popped round with a bottle of whiskey which we made a sizeable dent in after a bottle of champers. Madeline enjoyed her day.J n A's friends Hannah and Al came over on Sunday with their dog Eli. They are living on a narrow boat in the London area. Currently they have a winter mooring in Cheshunt in Hertfordshire but normally they have to move every 14 days. On Sunday we looked after Madeline while J n A went to visit their friends Josh and Vicki in Caversham then we cooked there last meal with us, a lasagne, preceded by a bottle of champers.  Madeline enjoyed a bath.

We took Madeline for a walk along the canal on Monday afternoon. Tom cooked some excellent burgers. M took Madeline out for a walk on Tuesday, early afternoon and then Andy and Jeannie came round to see her. We did LFTs, all negative. Tom is doing one every day. Played a good card game with Tom in the evening called The Crew. Drove over to the house in Ash on Wednesday. It's a great place. Tom cooked some great pizzas. Went into Canterbury on Thursday. Very busy. M and Anne went round the cathedral but me and Wynn just had a pint opposite as it was £14 each to go in. Cooked the Ottolenghi mushroom lasagne in the evening. We popped into the local pub, The Chequers, on Christmas Eve. We'd booked a table the previous evening for drinks but didn't make it in the end so just wanted to apologise. They only had one real ale on but it was Dark Star Hophead. J n A cooked a Thai as its a tradition for Amy's folks to go out for one on Christmas Eve. Later on we a Tom popped out to see if we could get ice cream from the co-op for Christmas day. They were closed but managed to get some from the bistro across the road. Went for another swift pint and by the this time they had run out of Hophead but had some Jack Frost from Wells and Youngs I think which was pretty good. Had goose and beef on Christmas day provided by Wynn. He did the meat and veg, Tom did the roasties, I did the Yorkshire's, M did the Christmas pud and Anne did and apple crumble. Dished out stockings in the morning and pressies after dinner but before pudding. We did secret Santa for pressies and stockings. I got a game called Jaipur and an album by Johannes Johannsson. Amy managed to zoom her family. Went for a walk at Sandwich Bay on Boxing Day.Sandwich is a nice place. Had roast lamb and bubble and squeak in the evening. Played a few games of cards and table football.