Tuesday, December 23, 2025

Christmas Eve already

Came home close to 11:00 pm, (technically yesterday, 23rd) after a Tesco run, and having watched the second Panto of the season, Snow White. It was lovely! Best two and a half hours of stage presence that flew by in a flash. Ate ice cream in the intermission. Absolutely delicious- British whole milk and full cream. With bits of strawberries that brought a smile at every bite. :-)

Finished watching the whole series of Lark Rise to Candleford, after a quick bite to eat, as we were all hungry having eaten dinner much earlier. Cold will do that to you. 

Lark Rise is such a sweet name, but the farming community is depicted as a forgotten hamlet of the working class farm hands, living off the land owned by rich farmers. Candleford is the nearest town. Lark Rise to Candleford has the most thought provoking dialogue, and if I were to watch it again, I should do so with a notebook and pen, to write down those phrases and sentences that the characters speak with such earnestness; and the reading of which would regale me when I revisit them. Like savoring some deeply penetrating flavor or soul searching wisdom. That sounds just like the language of these charming hamlets with their endearing characters, my favorite being Minnie, in her effusive simplistic mannerisms. 

Winter has its own charms, and I'm not feeling it so much, probably because it's steadily and slowly crept up and grown on me. It did feel like a blast upon our return from Australia, in November, not just because we were coming from summer (which felt like winter on some days) but also because when we left in October it was still warm here, not even autumn cool. Now that winter has truly settled in, its presence is more defined, being felt inside the house and outside, in the weather, but more strikingly in the landscape and how it defines our days.

Putting my pure Italian wool coat to full use. Remember buying it in Berlin, where we visited all their nine major Christmas Markets. I had gone ill prepared for the German winter in December. It had even snowed while we  were there. The perfect coat was hard to find, and after looking at so many shops in the big mall there. It is perfect for me, not heavy, just the perfect length and an ever durable style, the kind that cannot go out of fashion, is smart and has just the right touch of formality, without being fussy. 

Back to the Panto. It was a much better production than the production at the Belgrave Theater we saw last month. Cheaper and better. The theater scene at Rugby never fails to surprise one. I think that's one of the joys of life in the UK- loads of theatrical productions, like the fabulous show we saw at the Isle of Wight in August. Anywhere we go in the UK, there's always good theater!  

On that note, it's hello to one day closer to Spring!

Veenu Banga
24th December 2025
1:44 am


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