25th December 2022 Disaster averted!

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Sunday 25th 4C/40F, Up at 6.10. Still 19C/67F upstairs. 

7.45 The stove is lit and going well. Spreading the warmth ensures the whole house becomes [slightly] more comfortable. Rather than stripping off in the only heated room. 

 Man went to the moon 50 years ago and survived flaming re-entry. 50 years later there is still no sensible insulation for cold homes. Yet we are all told to cut back on our heating. Both for the climate's sake and for reducing our inflated bills. 

 Home insulation costs so much that it may never pay for itself. A heat pump in an uninsulated home is keeping the birds warm. Those without home insulation are most often those who suffer from energy poverty. 

 Is spending countless billions on offshore wind farms really the best way to reduce CO2? Or is it just the most profitable and inefficient way to subsidise the 1%?  The same, alien elite which is terraforming the Earth. For their own comfort and tax-free profit.

 8.40 I have opened my presents. Thank you for your kindness and generosity. Happy Christmas.  

Light enough now for a walk. Grey, misty and rather windy!

 9.40 5C/41F. Heavy overcast, Back safely from a walk to the village. Only 3 or 4 cars passed me. I didn't see a single car moving until I reached the village. A cool headwind on the way back. Flocks of up to 50 small birds moved along the roadside hedges. Mostly finches. 

 The stove was still alight. With the intervening doors to the kitchen open. My thinking is that heat loss is proportional to the temperature difference. Between hot air and cold surfaces. So spreading the heat, at a lower temperature, should result in lower losses. Despite the surface area of the cold walls being much larger.

Had a nice long chat with my brother on the phone and a WhatsApp chat with my friend. 

 11.50 My first DIY "Christmas Dinner" is demanding my increased attention. Very useful advice coming in on preparation and cooking. I just need to get my timing right for the various tasks. I have the option of using the oven or the frying pan for the baked potatoes and chicken. Still not decided. I'll start with preparing the Brussels sprouts and the baking potatoes. Then go on from there.

 Everything was perfect despite the potatoes taking an age to soften. Or perhaps because of it. I sat down at the table with a mound of food on my plate.. Something was missing? Gravy! 

 I dashed back to the kitchen and quickly made some Bisto gravy. Another first! The plate stayed warm on top of the cooling potato saucepan. A couple of minute later I was able to pour the gravy onto the waiting plate. Then I was tucking into my very first fully self-made, Christmas Dinner. Thanks to the long slow cook everything was perfect. 

 Lessons learned. Wait for the potatoes to begin to soften before starting anything else.  Make only 1/3 of the potatoes I think I need. Halve the number of carrots. Remember the gravy! 

 BTW: It wasn't a patch on my wife's cooking. Her Christmas Dinners were always the highlight of the day. She once made a full chicken Christmas Dinner dinner in the windowsill of our derelict cottage in a mini-oven as we waited to start work on the place. We were living in the garden shed at the time.

 I have been talking to family members for hours today. I've done the washing up. I don't need to make anything to eat. Will Netflix have anything worth watching?

A Merry Christmas to all my readers. 💥

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