Quick seasonal warning. Mistletoe is poisonous. Do not misinterpret Cliff Richards and think you can safely put mistletoe into mulled wine. You will not have a merry Christmas with your family if you do! My sons who work in health care tell me that it happens more often than you would expect.

Why is there no easy command on my TV for ‘that thing I was watching last night - just play me the next episode’?

We’re proud that a Bantshire student ambassador is on placement at the OBR today.

Blimey! They’ve just found a WW2 bomb a couple of miles away. Waiting for the army to check/defuse it. Some traffic inconvenience. I wonder when the very last unexploded WW2 bomb will be found?

Wordle 1,596 4/6

⬜⬜⬜⬜🟨
⬜🟨⬜⬜⬜
⬜⬜🟨⬜🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Sudden flash of inspiration at line 4.

Wordle 1,594 5/6

⬜🟨⬜⬜🟩
🟨⬜⬜⬜🟩
⬜🟩⬜🟩🟩
⬜🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Tricky one. Wrong guess at 4.

On a day like this, it’s great to be retired from university lecturing.

Wordle 1,582 3/6

⬜🟨⬜🟨🟨
🟨🟨🟨⬜🟨
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

That’s more like it, though I thought for quite a while about that last line!

#ResisterSisters 💗 Please don't be tempted to skip mammograms. I did and this happened (if it was caught earlier, a lumpectomy + radiation would probably have taken care of it. But nooooo.) After surgery + treatment, I am in remission. BE SMART! #MammogramsSaveLives 🎀 #CancerSucks

I should just like to state that I have a cold so incapacitating and disgusting that even I can’t bear to be in the same room as me!

There was a big bang audible in Kent/ Essex today which rumour has it was caused by a fighter jet escorting a plane to Stansted. Whatever it was, it was very loud.

I used to wonder how we had ever got into two world wars. Now I look at world politics and think ‘oh, just like this’. Events gain momentum and, even though you can see where we are heading, no one seems able to stop them. It’s terrifying and fascinating at the same time.

@englishheritage.bsky.social Your online account is a right pain to set up!

I watched the first moon landings in grainy monochrome and marvelled at the power and intelligence of the USA. I am now watching the orange buffoon crashing the world economy and wondering what the hell happened.

My almost 2 year old granddaughter stayed over last night. She is now cheerfully telling anyone and everyone that she slept ‘with dog blanket’. I have to keep explaining that it’s a cot blanket with pictures of dogs on it, honest guv, not a dog’s blanket!

Spydere man Spydere Man
Doth al things a spydere kan
Sondrye webbes he kan weaven
Thieves lyke flyes he kan cacchen
Lo, anon cometh Spydere Man

We put two sets of Christmas lights in our front garden hedge. These white ones are still here. Some coloured ones that used to be to the right of them have been pulled out of the hedge and the wire cut. But why? And by whom? Humans? Foxes? Aliens?Where is Miss Marple when you need her?