Monday November 27th 2023

 Well Lois and I have stayed alive so far, in spite of the crushing cold in our daughter Alison and son-in-law Ed's crumbling Victorian mansion in Headley, Hampshire, despite having had no heating for over 48 hours.

And here's the now-famous picture that went viral yesterday!

this iconic picture of me with a dressing-gown over my clothes

 and a hot-water-bottle strapped to my waist went viral yesterday 

- did you get YOUR copy? If not, here's another chance!

Our teen-sitting duties are over now, though, because Ali and Ed have come back from their weekend in Berlin. And now we have only one more day here, before going back to our cosy, gas-heated new-build home in Malvern.

08:00 This morning Lois and I try to stay in bed as long as we can, although there's a slight air of tension, because we're not sure exactly when Ali and Ed's new 2-woman cleaning team are going to arrive. 

We try to generate some heat and friction in the bed with a debate about the primitive Germanic languages - luckily, on the quora website one of our favourite pundits, Jason Almendra (crazy name, crazy guy!) has been weighing in on the subject just recently, and he's also included a handy map.

Jason writes: Old Norse or North Germanic was spoken up in Scandinavia and [on] the island of Zealand. That's where Copenhagen is.

On mainland Europe, there were the East Germanic languages like Gothic, Burgundian, and Vandalic. They settled on the Vistula, Dnipr river valleys and Crimean peninsula.

On the upper Elba river valley, Irminonic, named after Hermann a legendary ancestor, was spoken. [The languages in this group] were Old Alamannic, Marcomannic, Quadic, and Semnonic languages….

Istvaeonic languages like Old Frankish were spoken in the Rhine/ Wesser river valleys....

Ingvaeonic languages like Frisian, Old Saxon, Anglic and Jutish were spoken on the southern shores of the North Sea.

That's us, the English-speakers, in that last group - Jason leaves them till last, keeping Lois and me on tenterhooks, but we get there in the end, which is a relief! And we both express a certain amount of jealousy of the Irminonic crowd, who've been named after Hermann, a legendary ancestor. Why can't OUR lot be named after some great warrior too?

No fair!

three typical Ingvaeonic warriors

And it's nice that Jason's map makes clear the situation in what is now modern-day Denmark, where Norse was spoken only on the island of Zealand, where Copenhagen stands today, whereas in the remainder of the territory, our linguistic ancestors the Jutes, Angles and Saxons were speaking a form of West Germanic. 

Later we were influenced by the Scandinavian tongues anyway, when the Danes came over in the 10th century and set up their own jurisdiction in Eastern England, the Danelaw.

Eventually we have to leave the subject for today, and get up. We'll try and do a bit more research tomorrow, when we'll be snug and warm in our own house, which will be nice!

12:30 It's good, nonetheless, to get out of this cold house today and feel some warmth - when you're in the house, being in bed is the only warm place at the moment, which is kind of restricting to put it mildly!

Two of our three grandchildren are at school today, but the third one, Rosalind, doesn't have to go in to school today, so we take her over to Frensham Garden Centre at midday to have a quick look round and to meet Ali for lunch in the restaurant there. Ali works part-time (mornings only) as a teacher's assistant at a local primary school.

Rosalind and I both go for the BLT plus chips - yum yum!

That's better!

On the way back, we see another clue that maybe Lois and I are getting old - the Volkswagen that Ali and Ed ordered for their daughter Josie to learn to drive in. She turned 17 in September and she's already been having her initial lessons.

You know you're getting old when your grandchildren are learning to drive, don't you. My goodness yes - that's a very big clue, no question!!!!

Lois showcases the little Volkswagen that Ali and Ed

have bought for their eldest, Josie (17) to learn to drive in

20:00 We wind down for bed by watching one of our favourite TV quizzes, Only Connect. Ali is beside us on the sofa, falling asleep. Her hectic weekend in Berlin with Ed and their friends is beginning to catch up with her.

Can you see the sequence in the blurb above: Aua (J), eua (F), a (M), and what's next? Why, it's Ai(A)  - names of the first four months of the year with their consonants taken out, followed by the first letter of the month in brackets - see? Simples, when you know isn't it haha!

Here's another challenge to reader. Can you see the connections between these 4 "things"?

No? 

Well, Spanish Crown Prince Felipe competed in an Olympic Sailing Event (1992), Prince Constantine of Liechtenstein competed in an Olympic skiing event in 1948 (he came 99th! Poor Constantine!!!!), a Monaco royal twice competed in the bobsleigh etc etc, and finally Princess Anne competed in the Olympic Equestrian Events in 1976. 

Presenter Victoria Coren-Mitchell recalls that Princess Anne, one of Britain's most dedicated horsewomen, also took part in her brother's Opening of Parliament this year, accompanying the coach in her role as "Gold Stick in Waiting", a ceremonial bodyguard. 

According to Victoria, the BBC commentator covering the event said that, at the end of proceedings, "...Princess Anne slipped out of a side door and was quickly mounted". 

Oops! I wonder who did that? 

Whatever next! What a crazy world we live in !!!!

22:00 We go to bed - zzzzzzzz!!!!!!