Bishops' House Advent/Christmas do

We were invited to a do last evening at Bishops' House for the Committee members and volunteers to get together and indulge in a little Adventy Christmas cheer.

The do started at 7:30, so The Builder came into town and met me at about 6 and we tootled to the (Sheffield) Rutland for a burger and a pint.  It's only a little pub and it was quite full when we got there, so The Builder had half a pint and I (not being a huge fan of beer) had a glass of wine, propped in a corner, waiting to see if a table would clear.  And lo - a table did clear.  So we had another drink each and had a burger with chips (home made, tasty burger, home made, tasty chips).

Then we went to Bishops' House.  It was good to see John, the chair of the committee, there.  He's been A Very Poorly Boy Indeed. Very, very poorly.  He seems to be quite a bit better now, but isn't quite as nimble as he was before he took poorly sick.  There weren't many people there (I think the storms which were blowing trees and buildings and vehicles about, put people off - although Sheffield and Chesterfield escaped the worst of the winds and certainly escaped the coastal storm surges). Taffa was there (she's both a volunteer *and* a member of the committee). A few people wafted in. There were candles along the window sills and festive music playing.  More people drifted in. There was mulled wine and mince pies. It was warm and cosy in the main hall (calling it the main hall sounds quite grand - it's only a small main hall!) It was all very pleasant.

We didn't stay long. I had an early start this morning and there were things to do.  I think we left after about an hour and went home via the supermarket for vital supplies such as wine, fizzy water and cat food.

We were still up, watching television, when the news broke of Nelson Mandela's death.  Sad as the news was, it can't have been unexpected - he was an elderly, frail, sickly poorly gentleman. And the obits were ready to run pretty much as soon as the death was announced. But it took over the whole of the late evening news (I would have liked at least a little bit on the storm surges, storm damage and other weather related news). They were still talking about it this morning when I woke up (a tiny bit about other things, but not much). I know he was an important 20th century figure. I know he was a great and good man. I fully expected when he died that there would be a (well-deserved) full on coverage. But there were (and are) other things happening that were (are) equally deserving of coverage.  Such as the Chancellor's autumn financial statement which seems to have vanished without trace and which will most certainly have had some contentious details in it.

Freyja has one sleep to go before her #roundtheworldin41days adventure.  Although she is not going round the world in 41 days. She gets abandoned in California for 5 or so months, while Simon goes round the world in 41 days