17.12.2022 Party-party!

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 Saturday 17th -2C/28F. Getting much warmer than last night. Up at 6am.

7.00 Cold indoors! 12C/54F upstairs. 8C/47F in the lounge and the kitchen. 3C/38F in the bathroom. A visitor is coming. I must light the stove! Then tidy up! I was supposed to get some flat boxes for glass and china donations to the charity shops, but didn't. So the lounge floor is covered in assorted boxes again.

 8.00 I cleared the kitchen drawers into a clear storage tub. I shan't discard anything until I know what I need. Though some of it reached the bin. 

 Then I replaced the batteries in my hearing aids for the first time. It took only seconds. A little magnet on a stick is provided to make it easier handle the batteries. The battery compartment hinges out to turn off the aids overnight. Or fully opened to allow replacement of the batteries. The moulding which holds battery will only allow it to fit one way. So reversed polarity is never a problem.

 13.00 0C. My British friend has spent the morning here. He very kindly set up my new smart phone with all the apps I am likely to need for the moment. This has saved me from [potentially] weeks of work struggling to achieve anything at all. His familiarity with his almost identical phone was a huge time saver. Lots of useful settings, advice and gestures have hugely improved my whole smart phone experience.

 I am also enjoying my minimalist kitchen worktop. It will take a few tries to train myself to automatically open the drawer for cutlery. 

 The after tidying view. My wife's ornaments and fossil collection continue to gather dust on the windowsill.

A suitable plastic tray for safely holding knives [for cutting bread rolls, cheese and bananas] and a very few cooking implements is next. Just to keep them under control. So they don't slide out of sight at the back of the drawer. I have the plates and saucers at knee height in the cupboard below. Instead of stacked on top of each other on the worktop. Trivial, but steady progress.

 Next is the neighbour's party. 3-6pm. It was great fun meeting neighbours socially. Noisy too. We played Pass the parcel. Throw a six and choose a present. Or steal it form somebody else. And so it went on round and around. We were 7 adults and three boys. 

The before view with the cutlery and crockery all on display.

 Returned in the dark to relight the fire and make mackerel on toast. The fridge-freezer isn't cold enough in this cold weather despite the oil-filled radiator going constantly. 

 The thermometer in the freezer was showing only -5C. The frozen bread was soft instead of hard. Which was what alerted me to the problem. The kitchen has been sinking to the lower 40sF. 6-8C. Hopefully the increasing temperatures over the next couple of days will allow the kitchen to warm up again. Allowing the fridge to recover. 

 I was worn out after a very long day and sat dozing in front of the TV until bedtime.

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