lnr | January update (Reply)

Things wot I have been up to:

lots of painting working on my Christmas present from Emily, which is now finished (see image below)
New glasses, varifocals again, but with a much stronger reading portion - the painting revealed how necessary this was!
Big garden birdwatch: 2 bluetits, 1 robin and a woodpigeon. And a squirrel which sadly doesn't count
I read a whole book! Accidentally all in one go. Neil Gaiman, The Ocean at the end of the Lane. It is very Gaiman and very good.
Preparing to be on strike. First date is this Wednesday (1st Feb) but it's the first of 18 days.
Work: all sorts of different odds an ends. Today was lots of user admin, plus reviewing some python code from a colleague, and cursing my own PHP. As you do.
Admiring lots of ice with Matthew enjoying breaking as much of it as possible :) The cold has meant we've had fewer family expeditions at the weekends though.

Things I am looking forward to next month:

Being on strike? Well sort of. I look forward to the solidarity and I hope it works. We're definitely going to get a better offer than we would have without this action, but it's still not gone far enough.
Half term: a few days with Emily and family (last met up in 2019!) and then finally a Christmas with Evan and Gina, whose heating has been broken but will hopefully be fixed
Taking part in an interesting study with Addenbrookes involving MRI scans, breathing extra oxygen and doing some exercises, all at the same time. 3 daytime visits and my coffee/lunch will be on expenses, but I don't exactly need any travel expenses paying :)
Finishing the sinister cats embroidery I'm working on
Choosing my next project: hare embroidery, badger cross stitch or silk/mohair knitted shawl.

There's probably other stuff, but that's what I remember right now.