Showers.

Speedy slept all night and still wasn't hungry this morning. Looking at his bulging sides I think it's safe to say his sleepiness and lack of appetite were due to over eating. Possibly a wild rabbit or else the contents of a bin somewhere. By this evening he was looking thinner but I still only gave him a small portion for his supper.

While Peter painted the walls of my study with the bright green gritty paint I took myself off to Aber. There had been some showers earlier but luckily I only got lightly rained upon as I walked round the shopping streets. It's always nice to see so many independent shops and going through the photos I saw that the shop with the black frontage is a music shop. Good to know. I went into the wool shop and bought two bags of wool for felting. It wasn't too expensive and as well as wanting to have something to do in the bleak winter months I wanted to support a local shop. (All non-essential shops in Wales will be closed again from Christmas Eve.)

I went to the carpet shop to see what remnants they had in their window but though there was a suitable piece for £10 they're not open until Monday. Peter needs a piece of carpet to put under his study chair as he feels the wheels are a bit slippy on the laminate floor. I had first done the food shopping in Lidl's. They've got a promotion on basic veg and potatoes-1.5kg, carrot-1kg, parsnips 500gms and red cabbage per kg were all 14p. I bought plenty and tomorrow will be making a giant batch of swede and carrot mash and a pan of red cabbage cooked with bacon and apple. With two fridges we have plenty of freezer space and both of those freeze well.

I called into Tesco's for a change and treated myself to a pair of reduced sports leggings, black ones (surprise, surprise) with a blue patterned strip winding down the side. In the three months we've been here I've worn a very limited selection of clothes which apart from some old work clothes consists of some loose b&w trousers and a pair of black sports leggings to wear with boots. Talking of boots I so nearly succeeded in a search which has been going on for years. Every time I go in a charity shop I look for a pair of well loved and cared for men's leather walking boots in the hope they will be soft enough to fit gently round my wide toes. Today I came across a beautiful pair of excellent quality boots but sadly they were just a little snug across the toes, a size larger and they would have been perfect.

A bit of a horrible journey home when having had my journey in to town diverted I missed the turn-off on the way back, hoped the road closed sign on the long way into Borth didn't apply,(it did) and had to backtrack miles to get home. As I unloaded the car in the pouring rain a gorgeous rainbow arched over the village but by the time I got my camera only the tail end was left.

Supper tonight will be eaten on the sofa so we can watch the final of Strictly. No doubt once again Peter will be complaining that it's a popularity contest instead of a talent contest. It is what it is and as far as I'm concerned it doesn't really matter who wins. It's just a fun spectacle to watch.

New restrictions have just been announced, large areas of the south-east will not be allowed any mixing of households and for the rest of the country the relaxed rules will only apply to Christmas Day. In Wales the lockdown which was due to come into force on Christmas Eve now starts at midnight tonight. This is all due to the new variant of the virus which is more virulent and to the fact that people simply will not follow the rules. I'm glad I did my town shopping today.