The Beyondness of Things

Marley was dead, to begin with. There is no doubt whatever about that. The register of his burial was signed by the clergyman, the clerk, the undertaker and the chief mourner. Scrooge signed it. And Scrooge's name was good upon

'Change for anything he chose to put his hand to. Old Marley was as dead as a doornail.

Mind! I don't mean to say that I know, of my own knowledge, what there is particularly dead about a doornail. I might have been inclined, myself, to regard a coffin-nail as the deadest piece of ironmongery in the trade. But the wisdom of our ancestors is in the simile; and my unhallowed hands shall not disturb it, or the country's done for. You will, therefore, permit me to repeat, emphatically, that Marley was as dead as a doornail.

Scrooge knew he was dead? Of course he did. How could it be otherwise?

Scrooge and he were partners for I don't know how many years. Scrooge was his sole executor, his sole administrator, his sole assign, his sole residuary legatee, his sole friend and sole mourner. And even Scrooge was not so dreadfully cut up by the sad event, but that he was an excellent man of business on the very day of the funeral, and solemnised it with an undoubted bargain.

The mention of Marley's funeral brings me back to the point I started from.

There is no doubt that Marley was dead.

When Charles Dickens wrote A Christmas Carol in 1843, he created an enduring gift to the world, capturing the essence of the Christmas season's love, kindness and generosity. It is a timeless classic and the story’s uplifting magic remains as potent today as when it was first published.

It is the build-up to Christmas and I am making the most of it. In the overall scheme of things, I am on extra time. Yep, three score years and ten is our time on earth and it has been a blast, well some of it, we will forget my initiation to the Afrikaners and the darker side of South Africa.

The UK Government endorses animal cruelty, which is official and comes from the UK government website. We all know that our fearless leader, Rishi Sunak is of Indian origin and they love their fireworks. Any amount of fireworks can be exploded in the middle of a town, on a beach, in the forests and this is with the blessing of the UK government. Let’s think for a moment what it does to animals.

Tonight we had no one come to the door doing Trick or Treat, I was prepared and had a bowl of Cadbury's Celebrations to offer, well I am sure there are people out there who will eat them. I do wonder what Gary is doing tonight for Claudia and Alex, they do love a good Halloween. Come to think about it what is Lady Mally doing for Mark, Emma, Sam and Henry, are there any more?

The weather is on the turn, I know talking about the weather is a British thing. Friday, the early morning temperature dropped to a cool 3.5 deg C, that’s 38.3 degrees Fahrenheit for those less fortunate not to use 0 deg C as freezing. Susan had her early morning swim in the dark and watched the sun come up as she ventured back to the car. Robert and I went at lunchtime to a slightly warmer midday temperature of 8 deg C. Why is this relevant you might well ask, the relevance is that the sea water is now hovering just over 12 deg C and this will only drop further as we approach the end of the year. Refreshing and just the temperature that Angela revels in.

Talking of Angela, that lovely daughter of mine is having another birthday tomorrow, 26th Nov. I know, she did have three weddings, all to the same man, and this seems to have come around rather quickly. I must check my calendar but I do believe she has decided to have an official birthday and then her actual birthday, maximise the chances of getting more presents. I only know of one other person who does that and it was our late Queen Elizabeth.

This morning we had a full house, well almost, the Middle Smiths have a deep fear of cold water and early morning swimming. Robert, Michael, Kate, Susan and I first took Jenson for a walk and then we all went for a swim. Waves were all over the place and it was, as Robert pointed out, a distraction from the cold water. Hopefully this Christmas, we will have everyone taking the plunge as a celebration of the special day. The Dickens family, the Fay family and the Tanzanian Smiths are very welcome to join us, could be fun, hot chocolate or coffee and mince pies after the event.

Robert is down but unfortunately, Lauren could not make it, she was invited to the prestigious Cheltenham International Jewellery exhibition. They needed an internationally acclaimed jeweller to entice the world buyers to attend. By all accounts they are loving her work and the orders are coming in for a bright new year. Well, Robert is happy as he is a poor PhD student and she is the breadwinner. Good luck to our Lauren, owner and head artistic director of the Lauren Bell Brown Group. If you ever go into a reputable jewellery shop, look out for her brand. Her latest collection is Snowflakes which will light any Christmas,

Snowflakes "Of all the forms of water, the tiny six-pointed crystals of ice called snow are incomparably the most beautiful and varied" William Bentley

A "wonderful mum" of two boys, was detained at a mental health unit following a breakdown. While there, she started drinking water excessively, then went into a coma and died. Sort of confirms my thoughts on drinking wine, water is a killer.