I did not buy this while I was in London

These last few days have been quiet, as I had to leave Pauline behind at the house, while I flew to London for Nicholas' parent - teacher meeting on Tuesday evening. This meant an hour or so's drive to Marseille Provincial Airport, which is conveniently closer than Marseille city itself and a BA to Heathrow on Monday afternoon. I then dutifully returned on Wednesday morning.

Nevertheless, I managed to sneak in some retail therapy in the West End on Tuesday morning before driving up to Mill Hill in the late afternoon. Essential purchases included some Christmas decorations for our tree, Walker's shortbread biscuits in festive shapes, and hand cream and Marigold kitchen gloves for Pauline. London is well decked out for Christmas as usual and it is certainly a disappointment to miss spending Christmas in London for the first time in decades.

This morning, back in Rasteau, we took Magnus to the vet because he has been limping on his left rear leg for the last week and it has not been getting better. The vet thinks that it may be a problem in the knee, but needs to sedate and x-ray him next week to check if there is a cruciate tear. Fingers crossed that he will not need any surgery, but in the meantime, we have cut down on our explorations of Provence as it would not be the same without him. He also complains a lot if he can't come with us.