It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas Off Topic Chat

Lunchtime walk was treacherous. Cross country so mud was thawing on top and sliding over still frozen underneath.

Higher humidity made it feel colder

Hasn't stopped raining here all day and windy bring back the frosty mornings and the cold.

Lashing rain here and windy but who cares. Have nothing planned. Getting stuff done around the house and will settle down and watch some TV after. Off abroad with work again next week so I will enjoy the time with the wife and child while I can.

Lego Winter Village packed away, as I need the space it was in to put other stuff out of the way of another stage of the renovation from hell.

There's a teeny stub of scented candle left to get through the storm tonight, then it'll be back to neutral/normal until, well, October probably.

Went to put the bins out for collection tomorrow, not a chance, reckon the bins and their contents would be in another post code by morning!

Hope this has blown itself out by morning as I've to drive to Sligo tomorrow!!🫣

Christmas tree lights and curtain lights (lights that cascade down the wall like a curtain) still twinkling away.

Lovely on a day like this!

Himself started making noises about taking it down this weekend.

I said leave it as with a storm coming it be nice to have the lights on (plus I was no more in the humour of tackling it)

It will be down this week when the kids go to school.

The curtain stays up all year round...I'm not a fan of it but he loves it , not a hill I'm prepared to die on 😂

Hope everyone survived the storm last night with minimal damage. We had a couple of really heavy things take flight but beyond that, we were ok. Electricity didn't cut out which we were surprised about - it normally goes off at the slightest gust of wind.

Our electricity did go last night at about 9:30. It's a very regular occurrence out my way, and has been raised by local politicians and councillors. I went into the office today, just in case, but it came back around 9 this morning. Last summer it was gone for nearly 22 hours, so at least it's an improvement!

Another dull, rainy day with another storm on the horizon. Finally took the last of our Christmas decs down. Had planned to leave up my garland on the mantle piece but realised that I hadn't lit it in about a week so I decided to let it go. Sitting room feels very bare now.

Same here. Christmas 2023 is now just a dot in the rear view mirror.

This year, I think January seems to be going by at a normal pace, last year, it seemed to last forever! I'm not sure what that means for how quick the rest of the year is going to go though.

Yes, I have started to put it behind us & looking forward to the rest of the year. Think it helps that it is almost the end of January already & it went by surprisingly quickly. Looking forward to the bank holiday now & the midterm. Still clinging on to a hope that we might get a night away soon too.

Weather has gone from dull to poxy here, lashing out & very gusty. Every so often I look out the window and can see the rain being blown sideways. It's to get much worse tonight.

Is it Royal Doulton with the periwinkle pattern? 😂

Between the 1st and 24th of December feels like a few days compared to the 1st to 24th January. Which feels like months.

Got paid today at long last. December pay is always a week early, so 5 weeks or so between pay days feel like hell

I'm the same, I think January has gone by pretty quickly, although there's still a week left! No other month goes by as fast as December, that's always a blink and you'll miss it month.

I don't get paid until tomorrow, but we got our pay slips today. Nice to see the tax changes kick in.