So Trump demolished a bunch of the White House, and now there’s no architect or final plan, and he’s scrambling to find one? Somehow not remotely surprising

It has at last stopped raining. I was thinking the spare wardrobe in the garage would make a good boat . 🚣

Weatherwise, another perfectly foul day.

The bamboo specialist is here for a walk round to check if the bamboo is as dead as it appears to be to me.

Broken night, which was entirely my own fault for going to bed too early. I am trying to rustle up enough energy to shower.

Putin is used to dealing with experienced statesmen and diplomats, not amateurs and grifters like the Trump delegation. #bbcpm

Please don’t repost posts in all caps. Just don’t.

I thought I’d get the Christmas tree assembled. Only one screw. The others may have escaped from the box during the move. Yes, it is artificial. Don’t judge me. I can’t manhandle a real one in a pot, and I don’t approve of cut ones. 😑

Oh, whoopee, another change in tax code just before Christmas and another tax bill.

The laptop insists that both printers are offline. NB There is only one printer, but the laptop has duplicated it. Which is better than when it invented a third copy of the same sole printer. 🙄 The (one) printer is switched on. I moved it. I will have to move it back. 🤬😬😤 Y no hair-tearing emoji?

Morning muse: why do Americans call pasta “noodles”. Are they all so dumb they don’t know the difference? Or are they too stupid to care? And they, apparently, lead the free world. #WeAreDoomed

No wonder it was a chilly evening. There was a surprisingly hard frost during the night. I hope the newly planted bare root rose didn’t mind. 🤞

Up and functioning, on a low level.

@johnfinnemore.bsky.social Good start...

One can hope for exactly that with her.

It’s definitely colder tonight. Am huddling.

RIP Robin Smith. A fine cricketer, and always enjoyable to watch. His personality shone through.

I’m expecting Trump to sue @theguardian.com for a caption over a picture of him, on display as part of the White House Christmas decorations (? Why ?). The caption is Blockhead. The picture is constructed from Lego.

Middle of the night revelation: the political and media onslaught of Reeves is not tax, not the OBR, not even the fact that she is a Labour Chancellor. It is simply because she is a woman in what has traditionally been a man's job. The hatred won't stop until she is defenestrated.

I do miss hearing correspondents like Jeremy Bowen or Lyse Doucet, though, who do speak the truth. It's the presenters and politicians who, if they were dropped, might improved matters.

I used to like listening to #R4Today but I cannot bear it now because of the "balance" of one party spokesperson lying and then another doing exactly the same. There's never an attempt to allow the truth through.

I know I had some interesting, enjoyable, weird dreams last night because the faintest echoes of them were still there when I woke up, but I can't remember any. That's intensely annoying because I can't regale any of you with them. Is that cheering I hear?

White Christmassy rabbits.

Someone I neither follow nor who follows me has just liked a post of mine from two years ago. I find that a bit odd.

There was I, thinking I had to go off tomorrow to a different hospital that I have never visited before, for another outpatient appointment. Only got the wrong week, didn't I? The appointment is not tomorrow, it's Monday 8th. #LetJoyBeUnconfined

#SundayPixBelovedCritters And finally, my small collection of hippopotamuses, of which I am very fond.

#SundayPixBelovedCritters Dog 4: Flossie, another failed gun dog, with my late much-missed husband, in our garden

#SundayPixBelovedCritters Dog 1: Tigger, half lab, half lurcher. Dog 2: Tinder, failed gun dog and most beloved. Dog 3: Four of Tinder's puppies, begot by who knew whom?

#SundayPixBelovedCritters Scamp relaxing, Scamp with his Christmas present, and the chaos a small dog can cause in a kitchen

Did his minders whisk him quickly away?

It's jolly lucky that there are only Labour, Reform, Tories, Green, and Your parties in politics, isn't it? Imagine the problems if there were to be, say, a Lib Dem party which ought to be covered or, at least, mentioned by political commentators. #BBCbias

With regard to the Your Party seeking a new name, how about Dead In The Water Party?

Every year we make a free-to-download-and-print-off-yourself colouring-in Advent Calendar. This year’s heavily features Bigfoots. Please share! Download it for free here… www.worldofmoose.com/pages/2025-b...

I must have slept mostly in one position last night, as I have a horrendous ache across my shoulders. Possibly that longer drive yesterday contributed to it as well. I hate being old.

I’ve eaten some pasty ‘n’ chips, which has been a go-to meal for return from holiday or utter exhaustion from another cause. Time was when we would have a pasty each. Then it was half a pasty. Now it’s just me it’s about 1/3 of a pasty & six chips if I can be bothered. Thus are the mighty fallen.

She has no idea what christianity is, any more than trump does.

Absolutely shattered after a 7am start in heavy traffic and a three-part pre-op assessment. Plus, losing the car in the multi-storey, plus long walk to the right building, plus being charged £9.50 for the privilege of parking at the bloody hospital in the first place. Now have a headache.

Up early, feeling sick, off out shortly. Not the best start to a dat.

So, as far as I’ve gathered from the multitudes explaining the Budget, I’m going to pay more tax and have a slightly lower standard of living, because I’m not a millionaire. Right? Right.

Van door banging man has been really dedicated today to opening and banging his doors shut as many times as he f***ing can. He’s still at it.

I ate some of the Quorn thing I cooked. It was all right, though I couldn’t be bothered to eat it all. Tbh, if you want protein, eat a banana. Don’t waste your money on expensive ultra processed cubes that taste vaguely of chicken. I have a lot left. I don’t like wasting food but it’s bin-bound.

Long telephone chat with old friend about hospital fuck-up. She blames it on me moving to Cornwall. 🤣

Thoroughly discombobulated by a phone call an hour ago from the hospital saying I had three appointments there today. News to me. It doesn't take too much to upset me these days, but that has.

Saw postie stopped outside but he drove off again. So no @privateeyenews.bsky.social for me today. Tomorrow, I hope.

I've cooked up the Quorn pieces with onion and garlic and arrabiata sauce and pasta and a lot of cheese, so I hope that'll taste of something. I forgot to add black pepper, so I'll do that before reheating the dish.

Took the phone outside to photograph plants growing — probably where they shouldn't be — and discovered through the wonders of Plant Net that I have a grove of self-seeded poppies at the base of a wall of the house. Delighted with that, and hope they survive the winter.

So this happened in Oslo yesterday. Four articulated buses got stuck in a roundabout.

Nice man delivering a parcel apologized but said he had to check my age! I didn't know whether to be annoyed or pleased.

Ooh. Surprisingly hard frost overnight. I really must start putting the car in the garage. And the pelargoniums look defeated.

I started today by having to remind the laptop that, yes, it was connected to the Wi-Fi, despite it insisting it wasn't. 👊 🙄