An Alien Bea-ing

We got to Bea's door on Tuesday to find it open and, there,  advancing down the hall, silhouetted against the light, was an alien creaure with tendrils on its head!   Before I could scream     WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH AUNT BEA!!    it thankfully resolved itself into Bea with a tinsel headress on (don't ask).   And we had a lunch of homemade veggie soup (very tasty), followed by apple pie and custard. Bea had bought me some soy cream, which was very thoughtful.  It is not a bad substitute for cream, which is something I can't risk because of my arthritis.

Anna - now a lovely young student - dropped in on her way to meet friends in town and her parents came round for coffee and/or mulled wine after lunch.  We came away with beer and paintings!  Two Bea masterpieces.

We had come up on Monday the 16th, as Ken's funeral was on the 17th.  As I said in the blogpost it was beautifully organised and it went very well.   Penny came over on Thursday and stayed till Friday and we had a productive writing session.    Saturday we planned to visit the York Branch, but I wasn't able to go due to a suddenly recurring and worrying health problem - reminding me that I am now in the Death Zone (under the "threescore years and ten" rule).  Sunday, Himself went treasure hunting and Nute and I picked up the shopping from M & S. If we hadn't arrived 15 minutes before it opened we would have had no chance of parking - and we were nowhere near the front of the queue as it was.  What a frenzied business Christmas is now.  We had the Dronfield Branch round for lunch - crackling pork, and chocolate cake (courtesy of Helen). Captain B had his heated up in the evening.

Monday it was over to Jen's for our annual Veggie feast, which is just what is wanted at this time of year.  Her garden looked splendid, as did Bea's - and yet this is, in theory, a bleak time of year.   Weatherwise it has rained and rained, with some breaks of wintery sunlight. The lacework of the empty trees looks splendid against all weather backgrounds.

And Tuesday was the visit to Bea's, where this blog started.