18:00 We settle down in our daughter Alison's crumbling Victorian mansion in Headley, Hampshire, where she lives with husband Ed and their 3 children, Josie (16), Rosalind (14) and Isaac (12).
flashback to the frosty weather of last week:
Alison and Ed's house (front and back)
Tonight we have the "greenest" meal we've ever seen: macaroni in a cheese-and-spinach sauce, with broccoli and peas - and "peas is good food" - that's what we always say!
us, with our daughter Alison,
for Lois and me it's the "greenest" meal of our lives,
so later we vary the colour scheme with some ketchup (not shown)
In fact "The Traitors" is actually one of the dozens of crazy reality TV game shows that fill the remaining slots in the schedules these days. So there - we've learnt something already before the programme even starts, with is nice!
The series is getting near the end now, but Lois and I tried to get our heads around the premise of the show. We think about 20 or so ordinary TV viewers are selected to live for a couple of weeks or so in or around a big mansion in Scotland, with at least one person being eliminated every night - whoever's left at the end of the run gets a big cash prize.
The twist is that three of the contestants have been secretly chosen by the programme-makers as "The Traitors" and these three conspire to keep themselves in the game and to eliminate, if they can, all the non-traitors, the so-called "Faithfuls", one by one, so that, if they are successful, these three "Traitors" can share the prize money at the end of the show.
"The Traitors" presenter, Claudia Winkleman
the remaining participants still in the contest
And Lois and I also find the contestants' lengthy soul-baring conversations incredibly tedious.
What's wrong with us haha!!!!!!
the so-called "Round Table" where each night
the contestants decide which of their number to vote off the programme
22:00 We go to bed - zzzzzzzzz!!!!!
10:00 Ali hasn't got round to posting any Christmas cards yet this year. She does have a busy life, with her job as teaching assistant at a local school, in addition to bringing up 3 children and looking after an enormous house and garden, so fair enough!
But she wants to at least hand-deliver their cards to the neighbours, so this morning we all take a little walk around the nearby streets delivering cards to Ali and Ed's friends in the area. It's a chance also to give a little walk to Sika, the family's Danish dog, that they brought back to England after their 6 years in Copenhagen 2012-2018.
And it's a chance for Lois and me to see the outsides of some of the local village houses at the same time. Some of them are pretty grand, with long drives, so long that you can't even see the actual house, which is taking privacy a bit far in our opinion!
we hand-deliver a number of Christmas cards
to some of Ali and Ed's neighbours
Having skimmed through Smith's book on the subject last night, it's interesting, on our walk, to note where some of the local paths were strengthened by concrete during World War II. This strengthening was aimed at enabling the Canadian tank regiment that was stationed here to park their tanks in such a way that they wouldn't sink into the mud, which was probably wise!
some of the Canadian servicemen stationed
in Headley during World War II
13:00 After lunch, Ed gives us Rounds 2 and 3 of his special 2022 Christmas quiz. Round 1 (yesterday) was general Christmas facts, and today Round 2 is Christmas song lyrics and Round 3 is Events of 2022. I think I'm lying in 3rd position currently, behind Ali and Lois, so not too bad, but could do better. There are about 10 rounds, so I could still steal this year's trophy if I study a bit harder - I'll be "burning the midnight oil" tonight haha!
14:00 Ed drives off to Haslemere to hand-deliver some Christmas cards to some of Ali and Ed's former neighbours - the family lived in Haslemere until about 18 months ago.
Ali and Lois are doing some pre-Christmas baking in the kitchen.
Alison showcases how you can hitch a biscuit on to
the rim of a cup of tea - here the cup is the "Crazy Cat Lady"
given her by her colleagues at the primary school
where she works a a classroom assistant
I take the opportunity to slink away upstairs to have a quick nap. Otto, one of the family's two cats joins me today, which is nice!
I steal away for a nap on the bed, to be joined later by Otto,
one of the family's two cats, which is nice
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