Datchet Days

This seems to be the most popular Christmas Carol here as far as I can tell. I'd never heard it before. (If you've seen Love Actually you've heard Hugh Grant sing a bit of it.)

GOOD KING WENCESLAS
(Traditional)

Good King Wenceslas looked out
on the feast of Stephen,
when the snow lay round about,
deep and crisp and even.
Brightly shown the moon that night,
though the frost was cruel,
when a poor man came in sight,
gathering winter fuel.

Hither, page, and stand by me.
If thou know it telling:
yonder peasant, who is he?
Where and what his dwelling?
Sire, he lives a good league hence,
underneath the mountain,
right against the forest fence
by Saint Agnes fountain.

Bring me flesh, and bring me wine.
Bring me pine logs hither.
Thou and I will see him dine
when we bear them thither.
Page and monarch, forth they went,
forth they went together
through the rude wind's wild lament
and the bitter weather.

Sire, the night is darker now,
and the wind blows stronger.
Fails my heart, I know not how.
I can go no longer.
Mark my footsteps my good page,
tread thou in them boldly:
Thou shalt find the winter's rage
freeze thy blood less coldly.

In his master's step he trod,
where the snow lay dented.
Heat was in the very sod
which the saint had printed.
Therefore, Christian men, be sure,
wealth or rank possessing,
ye who now will bless the poor
shall yourselves find blessing.
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SNOW JOKE FOR BOOKIES

Mirror.co.uk: BOOKIES are facing huge losses on there being a white Christmas after slashing their odds for snow on Christmas Day today. William Hill drastically shortened its odds for snow in Glasgow in December 25 which is now rated a 1-4 shot. And Ladbrokes announced the odds of snow in London had been cut from 3-1 to evens, while Cardiff has gone to 2-1 from 3-1, with Manchester now 1-5 having been 3-1. Ladbrokes spokesman Warren Lush said: "We're shivering at the prospect of a white Christmas across the country. It will cost us alone more than £250,000 and the industry over £1 million. "What we're most scared of is snow in London. This will cost six figures alone and force us to take a cold bath." The biggest bet Ladbrokes have taken on a white Christmas was £5,000 on snow in London at odds of 5/1 last month. A wet Christmas is widely forecast with odds of 12-1 posted that the record for the mildest Christmas Day is beaten. It reached 60F (just over 15C) in Killington, Devon, on Christmas Day in 1920. Bookmakers paid last paid out on a white Christmas in 2001. Weather experts said many parts of Britain will experience a white Christmas, with some areas getting "significant” amounts of snow. Weather expert Philip Eden said: "The forecast indicates that there is likely to be the biggest widespread white Christmas since 1995 when there were blizzards in Scotland and north-west England. "For a reasonable amount of snow on Christmas Day in the Midlands and southern England, you have to go back to 1981. Before that, 1970 was a prominent white Christmas in the South, with even Devon and Cornwall, which normally escape the snow, getting some." He added: "Strangely enough, some of the worst winters of the 20th century - 1947, 1962-63 and 1978-79 - saw the first of the snow coming after Christmas Day. Of late, Christmas Days have tended to be either bright, sunny and frosty or mild and wet."
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God and mammon mix

LONDON (Reuters) - Cathedrals don't just minister to Britain's spiritual needs -- they help bring the money in as well, according to a report. English Heritage has estimated the total economic impact of all England's 42 Anglican cathedrals at around 150 million pounds a year. Research carried out by the government conservation group showed that they are directly responsible for generating local spending of 91 million pounds a year. When indirect economic effects are taken into account, such as the cathedrals' expenditure on staff salaries, goods or services, the total annual economic impact rises to 150 million pounds. "Cathedrals' contribution reaches far beyond bricks and mortar," said English Heritage chief executive Simon Thurley. The cathedrals are also responsible for 5,500 permanent full time jobs, with another 12,000 people working as volunteers. Some 300,000 children benefited from school trips to cathedrals last year, the report adds. York, Canterbury and St Paul's in London were the three cathedrals attracting most of the 8.8 million visitors last year, followed by Durham, Salisbury and Winchester.
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I'm reading a book about blessing others in your life, and found the following quote in a chapter on the importance of touch:

In San Juan, Puerto Rico, people touched an average of 180 times per hour. In Paris, France it was 110 times per hour. In Gainesville, Florida, two times per hour. And in London, England, zero times per hour.

Very interesting.
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Shopping crèches for moaning men

LONDON - [Press Association] Women fed-up with their menfolk moaning while out Christmas shopping can now leave them in their own crèche. High street chain Marks and Spencer has created special areas in six stores equipped with everything to keep men entertained for hours. Men can settle back in sofas and watch a selection of films and TV programmes, including comedies such as The Best of Monty Python, and Football's Greatest Ever Matches. Each area also has a Scalextric set, remote-control quad bikes and walkie talkie sets. The crèches will open in Marks and Spencer's stores in Aberdeen, Edinburgh, the Metro Centre in Gateshead, Cardiff, Marble Arch in London, and Meadowhall in Sheffield.
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Authorities unmoved by speedster tales

LONDON (Reuters) - A mercy dash for a dying hamster, a UFO-inspired trance broken only by a speed camera's flash and severe diarrhoea were among the year's best excuses from speeding motorists in north-east England. Northumbrian authorities were having none of them. "Some drivers seem to think that if they tell a good enough story, then they will get off," Ray King, manager of the Northumbria Safety Camera Partnership, was quoted as saying in Friday's Guardian newspaper. His organisation has issued a top 10 list of tales that included blaming a low-flying aircraft for triggering the speed trap and another saying the cause was bad vibrations from a surf board carried on the vehicle's roof. Speeding drivers earn penalty points for their licences, possible bans and fines of 60 pounds or more.
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We've almost always gone to the movies at the theatre in Slough, which is just a ten minute drive from our house. On occasion we have gone to Reading because the theatre there is nicer and there is a Chili's in the same shopping complex. It takes about 45 minutes to get there, though.

The UCG theatre is Slough is going downhill fast, though. The last couple of times there hasn't been any heat in the theatre, which makes for a chilly movie viewing experience. The loos are often out of order and things just seem to be generally falling apart.

Friends recommended the Vue theatre in Staines as a good alternative. So, for Philip's birthday on Wednesday, we ventured out to see After the Sunset in Staines. Naturally, I did not manage to drive straight to it. So I can't comment on exactly how long it took to get there from here, other than to say it was no where near the 45 minutes it takes to get to Reading (even with getting lost), but also not as quick as getting to Slough. I'm guessing it is about a 20 minute trip if you know where you are going. It is situated in the midst of Staines town centre shopping area and has a large car park out front, which serves the theatre and surrounding shops. (Always a bonus here in the land of no available parking.) The theatre is new and has stadium seating (my favourite). And, the heat works!!

I think we may have found ourselves a new movie theatre.
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The cold weather seems to be staying so the switchover to the 13 tog duvet has been completed. A duvet is not something that has been used in our family until our move to the UK, but will be from now on. Being able to ditch the top sheet has turned bed making into an easier proposition. Not to mention the fact that not having to untangle oneself from the mess of sheets and blankets makes sleeping more of a joy as well. (I'll admit that getting the duvet cover back on after a wash is a bit more difficult that just spreading a sheet on a bed, but we're getting better at it.)

Now I think we need some of the European style pillows and we'll be set.
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Today I went to a Christmas luncheon for our Bible Study group. We met at noon for a half noon start. There were ten of us there, four gentlemen and six ladies. We had a lovely soup from Waitrose, nice cold salads and ham followed by cheese and crackers. One of the cheeses had cranberries in it. Quite yummy. I made Parker House Rolls to bring along, and one of the other ladies brought a Victoria Sponge cake. We had about three hours of eating and chatting. It was very pleasant.

Everyone in the group has at least twenty years in age on me. It was enjoyable to listen to them talk and reminisce about their common history together. They spent a lot of time talking about WW2 and current day politics. I got to ask some questions about Parliamentary Rule (specifically as it applies to the Queen) and try to listen to six people trying to explain it to me all at once. Someone mentioned the study released rating the top Prime Ministers, so I looked it up online once I got home and have included it in the post below. I'm ashamed to admit that I had only heard of three of the top five: Churchill, Thatcher and Blair.
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Blair fails to make grade in historians' survey

By James Lyons, in the Independent - Tony Blair has failed to make a list of the five most successful prime ministers. Clement Attlee, whose post-war Labour administration founded the welfare state, topped the Mori poll of academics published yesterday. Attlee scored an average of 8.34 out of 10 among the 139 history and politics experts asked to rate 20 prime ministers. The wartime leader Winston Churchill took second place on 7.88, ahead of the Liberal David Lloyd George on 7.33. Margaret Thatcher and her fellow Tory Harold Macmillan were fourth and fifth on 7.14 and 6.49 respectively, while Mr Blair trailed sixth on 6.30. Anthony Eden, who oversaw the Suez Canal crisis, was rated least successful with 2.53.

The poll will make gloomy reading in Downing Street, where Mr Blair is said to be concerned about his legacy after announcing he will fight only one more general election. Churchill's statesmanship in the Second World War was seen as the greatest success of any 20th-century prime minister. But for the academics, it was outweighed by Attlee's domestic reforms, according to the research commissioned by the University of Leeds. Academics were asked to select three characteristics that were essential to being a successful Prime Minister from a list of 20. Top answers were leadership (64 per cent), sound judgment (42 per cent) and being good in a crisis (24 per cent). Being seen as honest, down-to-earth and understanding economics were the least rated.


TWENTY PRIME MINISTERS

Clement Attlee Lab, 1945-51, Ranking 8.34
Winston Churchill C, 1940-45, 51-55, 7.88
David Lloyd George Lib, 1916-22, 7.33
Margaret Thatcher C, 1979-90, 7.14
Harold Macmillan C, 1957-63, 6.49
Tony Blair Lab, 1997-now, 6.30
Herbert Asquith Lib, 1908-16, 6.19
Stanley Baldwin C, 1923-24, 24-29, 35-37, 6.18
Harold Wilson Lab, 64-70, 5.93
Lord Salisbury C, 1895-1902, 5.75
Henry Campbell-Bannerman Lib, 1906-08, 5.01
James Callaghan Lab, 76-79, 4.75
Edward Heath C, 70-74, 4.36
Ramsay MacDonald Lab, 1924, 29-31, 31-35, 3.73
John Major C, 1990-97, 3.67
Andrew Bonar Law C, 22-23, 3.5
Neville Chamberlain C, 1937-40, 3.43
Arthur Balfour C, 02-05, 3.42
Alec Douglas-Home C, 1963-64, 3.33
Anthony Eden C, 55-57, 2.53
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