New Year's Eve!

So, we find ourselves in Tier 4 as from midnight last night, which means no bars, restaurants, cafes, pubs are open (as in Tier 3), but with the additional closure of non-essential shops, leisure centres, hairdressers, beauty salons and indoor entertainment centres (like Berzerk). Golf courses can stay open so Mike will still be working (well, he did last time anyway, when they closed).

Sophie regretted not going to the gym yesterday, but to be honest, it was freezing cold and nasty on the roads, and I'm glad she stayed at home! We mooched about all morning again and then headed off to Waitrose at Wootton in the early afternoon. We needed Champagne for tonight, and a couple of ingredients for the rice pudding Sophie was making.

As expected there was a queue, and we stood in the freezing cold trying to keep warm! A man joined the line behind us and Sophie said she recognised him, but couldn't remember where... it was only when we got home later that she realised - he was Sean Dyche who manages Burnley football club!

We bought lots of goodies in Waitrose - Keith had given us £20 to spend on Champagne, and I also bought a bottle of Vermouth for cocktails, some Heston Blumenthal mince pies and the ingredients we needed, as well as bread and cold meats for lunch.

Back home we enjoyed a lateish lunch sitting in the conservatory, and then Keith and I took Mike into town as he was spending New Year's Eve with Abbie. Sophie made the rice pudding and had spent ages preparing the Chicken Tikka Marsala for our Indian feast tonight.

We played cards in the conservatory with a cocktail (a dirty Martini), and at about 7pm enjoyed different Indian (and Asian) starters (onion bhajis, pakoras, samosas). We didn't start cooking the curry until about 8.30pm, and I threaded the marinated chicken onto skewers while Sophie prepared the curry sauce.

We sat down to eat at about 9pm, and the food was delicious. This is one of our favourite recipes and it didn't disappoint this evening. Sophie went upstairs to talk to Zain while Keith and I watched a couple of programmes on the television, and at 10.30pm we tuned into Graham Norton who had some great guests on his show - Jamie Dornan, Tom Hanks, Emily Blunt and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall.

Midnight was quite subdued compared to previous years, but there was a light show, and also some fireworks going on in London. I was expecting to feel very emotional at midnight as it had been such a challenging year, but I didn't cry, which was a relief. I did think I'd burst into tears!

We drank some Champagne, Keith did first-foot, and by 12.30pm we were all ready for bed! Here's to 2021!