Now that was a stormy night with high winds. The good thing is that the winds moved the clouds and this morning, although quite cold, we have some blue sky. The storm clouds are still lurking at the side.

Yesterday afternoon I did something completely different and for the first time in many years really enjoyed a visit to the supermarket.

It was a dismal day with constant rain, meaning that when I arrived in the store mall it was in full lights. One of the treats of Christmas are the lights. I do my week-end shopping on Friday and when I forget a few things, Mr. Swiss gets them on Saturday morning, but Mr. Swiss no longer goes anywhere very much and so I decided that I will get the necessary in the afternoon. Our store is now open until 5.00 p.m. which gives me plenty of time. As I did not need so much I decided to take my walker with me instead of having to use the supermarket trolley. I managed to put it in the boot of the car and I was off.

When I arrived there was 0 parking places showing as free, but I decided to see if there might be a place for the handicapped. I drove past a column of about 6 cars hoping for a space at the end  discovered that all spaces were free. This was ideal. I removed my walker from the car boot and entered the store. This was ideal for me and I enjoyed every minute of my shopping. Of course there were many people there, but it is a large space in the store, and I wasalone and could do my own thing. I never thought that shopping  could be such fun. I had no stress, had a few items to pick and buy. I even enjoyed seeing the people. After the task was completed I folded up my walker, put it in the car, and drove home. It was now dark, but no problem. Traffic was not a lot on the road and I arrived home OK. I should do this more often I discovered.

Even the store Christmas tree was showing its best with the lights on. I have not been out so late for a long while.

There was only Mr. Swiss and me at home as No. 1 son was off to Zürich for his Jethro Tull concert. I heard him arrive home about 1.00 in the early morning. It was all organised with a coach.

I should really now get busy with some housework. I had a few things to tidy up on the computer this morning, looking through the nightly visits of my online colleagues. If you are in an international site, it seems that the world never sleeps.

And at last I got a few photos of the local sparrows. This group was picking up the remains that had fallen from the birdhouse.

There is quite a lot of bird traffic during the day, but the rush hour seems to be towards midday when they have a group get together. We used to get finches and colorful great tits with their yellow breast, but this year I have only seen a tit once. The sparrows have taken over.

And a further installment of my amaryllis where the second stalk also now has flowers. Now I am approaching the danger of it losing its balance, so I have to keep a careful eye on it.

Who knows what the day will hold. I might even venture an outing this afternoon, but perhaps the wind will have to get less before I go anywhere.

I hope you are all keeping well wherever you are. Take care and I will see you around, or on the flip side as some say.