Monday January 5th 2026 "Have YOU got plans for summer this year? Some geese have got theirs already would you believe!"

Yes, Friends, with travel supplements in all the "nationals", have YOU got your plans for Summer 2026? Some people are still uncertain, but one local goose is 'bucking the trend', which is nice! 

This morning's Onion News has more:

Poor local goose!!!! 

But that little fellah's dread of spending idle days with his parents up in Scotland brings a vague smile to the lips of me and my wife Lois this morning, as we struggle to get out of bed here in semi-lovely Liphook, Hampshire, to put it mildly!!!

me and my wife Lois - some recent pictures

"But why the vague smiles today, Colin?", I hear you cry!

Well, seeing as how you're obviously "gagging" to know, it's because, like that local goose when he's back home in Scotland with his parents, Lois and I have to face some forced inactivity ourselves today, having woken up to a light blanket of snow, which will keep us from doing much again, which is a pity!

[So what's new! - Ed]

(above) the scenes outside our house at around 8 am this morning,

and (below) a bit later, around 11:30am - not much improvement, is there!

Poor us !!!!

Is "doing nothing" necessarily a bad thing, however, once in a while? Steve, our American brother-in-law, sends us an interesting article in today's Guardian by Anita Chaudhuri, suggesting that idleness can help creative juices.

Psychologist Sandi Mann of the University of Lancashire says her research has revealed that boredom, far from being a bad thing, can make us more creative. A group of participants was given the tedious tasks of copying out numbers from a telephone directory, and at the end they were asked to come up with as many uses as possible for a plastic cup, and they came up with far more answers than did a control group who'd, presumably, been allowed to do something more fun, presumably. And a third group, who were given an even duller task than the first group, just reading telephone numbers out loud, did even better at creative brainstorming.

Mann says that when there's nothing much to do, we start mind-wandering and daydreaming, and these two states have been linked to creativity.

I wonder....!

At my age, and Lois's age, however, sitting around all morning daydreaming, or spending the afternoon in bed, isn't necessarily the best thing, unless done in moderation - something we're both quite good at, which is nice! 

And are we getting enough protein to sustain us in all our daydreaming and napping? Channel 4 tonight is going to tell us tonight, no doubt about that!

One of the programme's guinea-pigs is Suzi, who's in her 70's, so of particular interest to Lois and me.

Yes, our son-in-law Francis, who lives with our daughter Sarah and their twin daughters in Perth, Australia, told Lois and me that we needed to up our protein intake, when the family were staying with us last summer.

flashback to July: Lois with our daughter Sarah and her husband Francis

and their twin daughters in London on their last UK visit:

Francis gave Lois and me some useful nutritional advice during his stay with us

Younger, inactive adults can get by on 0.75g of protein a day per kilo of body weight we're told. However, for the over 65s, maybe doing a little light walking each day, this rises to 1g to 1.2g of protein a day.  

Lois is about 9 stone, and I'm about 10 stone or so, so that means about 68g for Lois and 76g for me, whatever that means (!). 

But what's the best way to get our protein? Tonight's TV programme tells us not to take any notice of what's said on social media, at least, because only 2% of that information is accurate. And we shouldn't take any notice of any "high protein" labels by themselves, because these products could be also full of sweeteners and ultra-high-processed ingredients detrimental to your gut bacteria.

Also, ignore the quick fixes of protein bars, pills or powders, because they won't give you the fibre you need, and won't slow down your digestion, which isn't good, either. Chewing is good, because it makes you feel full when you should be feeling full. So stick to whole foods for your protein sources - eggs, meat, fish and dairy - you know the kind of thing!

Plus, have protein components at every meal, not just your evening meal. A lot of people don't have much protein in their breakfast, so the programme suggests 2 eggs scrambled, plus wholemeal toast.

Since our son-in-law Francis' visit in July, I've been breakfasting every day on cereal with fruit, followed by a boiled egg and 2 slices of wholemeal toast.

Job done!

Will this do?

[Oh just go to bed! - Ed]

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