Today was the traditional post-christmas trip to Essex to see the family.  As is also traditional, as soon as we get anywhere near the old manor I keep saying to myself “I remember when this was all fields”.

Not a bad trip at all.  All the queues for Lakeside were on the other side of the road and the M25 was not too jammed up.  Very foggy though.  I thought it was bad enough around here, but once we reached Essex the fog was really heavy which delighted the locals because they all love an excuse to put their foglamps on.

It was only when I was commenting on this that Jayne told me that our car has foglamps…  It was only last week she told me that we had a rear washer.  How long have we had that car?   Three years? More?  How come I only find out what features it has in the week I intend to replace it?  It shows how rarely it is my turn to drive it.

It was good to see everybody though.  This is the one time each year we are guaranteed to get all three siblings together with partners and an assortment of offspring.  I was a little worried over the past weeks that we might end up with snow preventing us getting there, or preventing Jane from getting down from Yorkshire but it all worked out in the end.

All back now, and with the “Big 4″ DVD to look forward to (Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer and Anthrax in one 5-hour concert).  If that gets too much I also have a book which says it will teach me to play the Ukulele I got last christmas.  We’ll see.  I am remarkably resistant to instruction when it comes to musical instruments.