Merry Christmas! I hope you’re having a lovely time, or at least a comfortable one depending on your circumstances.
We’ve had a bit of drama at home that’s left us without a cooker for a while, as I’ll explain during this post. But otherwise this month has been going well so far. And as there’s a fair amount to mention already, I thought I’d do a post now to get some of it out of the way.
In particular, I’ve got out and about quite a bit already, as I’ve attended an office party, had a nice dinner with a friend, and taken a trip down to Devon. Plus there are a couple of pieces of technology I got in the Black Friday sales that I’ve enjoyed using.
So that’s what I’ll cover in this post, none of which is sponsored or gifted to appear here as usual. And then in Part 2 during January I’ll go through the myriad of things I’ve been watching and listening to, one of which will be getting a special post of its own anyway before the year’s out. There should be more to mention from London as well, as I’m hoping to explore a bit during the rest of my time off.
So let’s get on with it, and I hope you enjoy this first part of my Christmas roundup!
January 2025 Update: I’ve now shared my Christmas Favourites video alongside Part 2 of this festive roundup, which includes everything I’ve mentioned in this post. So I hope you enjoy all of that too!
Contents
Food & Friends
Cooker Drama
After 2 months of work on the kitchen and other parts of the house, my mother and I were looking forward to relaxing this festive season – only for our cooker to break down and spring a gas leak yesterday, on Christmas Eve of all days! Thankfully an emergency engineer came within an hour and was able to make everything safe, but it’s left us without an oven and hob for a while. We’ve ordered a new cooker, which we had been considering anyway and now this situation has forced our hand, so hopefully that will come soon.
We’ll be able to manage in the meantime though. My aunt was able to cook our Christmas dinner for us, which came out very nicely, and we’ve got enough for tomorrow as well. And actually it’s nice not to have to go through the rigmarole of preparing Christmas dinner ourselves for once! We’ve also got a microwave, so I was able to pop out before the shops closed yesterday and pick up some ready meals. I’ve also ordered a microwave with a grill and convection oven built in as well, another thing I’ve ben tempted to do for a while, as that will come next weekend and give us further flexibility. Plus we’ve got an electric hotplate and a toaster, and takeaways are always an option too. Not to mention the cakes and treats we naturally have in the house for Christmas as well.
So we won’t go hungry, and in the grand scheme of things we’re still much better off than the many people who sadly have little to nothing over the festive season. Being able to cope with relative ease in a situation like this has reminded us how fortunate we are, and I hope that those who really need support and company are getting that this Christmas.
Office Party
I’ve been Emily Davison’s support worker for almost 2 years now, a role I fulfil from the comfort of my own home, and I finally got to visit the offices where she works with her journalism colleagues this month, as they kindly invited me along to their Christmas party. I have met them all before at a previous social outing, but this was my first visit to their headquarters. And it was a very enjoyable evening.
We started off with a big taste test, for which Emily had sourced a variety of Proseccos, canapés, cheeseboards, panettones, mince pies and yule logs from some of the major supermarket chains. We then randomised the products in each category and assigned them each a letter, so nobody knew which brand they were, and we produced a score sheet for each person so they could rank the items in order of preference. And no, the irony of two visually impaired people organising a ‘blind’ taste test wasn’t lost on us!
The following week I then consolidated the results so that Emily could write an article about the findings, as we obviously had a list of what the items were. My personal favourites were amongst the yule logs and mince pies, where by chance the Tesco products got the top spot for me in both cases, with the rich and gooey Tesco Finest Belgian Chocolate Yule Log and the delicious Tesco Finest Mince Pies just about standing out from the others. They had very strong competition from the likes of M&S though, it was all nice! Likewise for the Proseccos, where the M&S Bellante Prosecco Rosé just pipped the others to the post in my rankings. I’ve never got into panettones in a big way though, I don’t know why. There was a chocolate one on this occasion that was ok, but there was nothing amongst the selection that made me a convert to them.
So that was quite fun, and quite filling too! I think if the group had realised there would be so much food, they might not have pre-ordered pizzas for after the taste test. But as it was, a big stack of them did arrive, and we gradually nibbled away at them in the meeting room during our next event, which was a quiz. This had been put together by a couple of other members of the team, including a suitably festive presentation on the big TV screen to display the questions.
I was in a team with Emily and a couple of her colleagues, though I couldn’t answer many of the questions. There was a whole section on the company and the people in the department, which naturally I wasn’t able to help with, and another round was about royalty, which I’m always pretty clueless about. I was also unlucky with the general knowledge round and the section on film and TV, as they just didn’t happen to mention things I knew or had watched. However, I did know a few of the Christmas songs we had to identify, and in a round about other news stories I was able to help my teammates with a couple of questions, including one about the man who got £2 compensation for a smooth Mars bar. And that proved to tip the balance in our favour, as we won by just 1 point! So we had worked very effectively as a team, and we got some chocolates a prize.
Finally, the evening concluded with some awards for various members of the team, from serious accolades for things like best interview, best campaign and most page views, to more light-hearted ones like loudest ringtone and best freebie blagger (the latter going to Emily).
And to my surprise they also gave me an honourable mention for best support worker (indeed the only one), with Emily saying a few words, which was very kind of them. Plus I was given a Christmas card from her editor, and Emily generously sent me a gift of sweet treats in the post. So although I’m not actually an employee of the company, as I’m freelance and get paid by Access To Work, they do treat me like one of their own and were very happy to see me again, they’re a great bunch of people. So thank you to everyone for making me feel so welcome, it is humbling to know that my work for Emily is noticed and appreciated!
Bill’s Dinner
I also met up with my good friend Claire for a lovely dinner and a catch-up at Bill’s in Covent Garden, which has become a bit of a tradition for us, having visited last year for my 40th birthday and Christmas.
We were served by a delightfully friendly young man called Ryan, and I enjoyed having the 8oz Chargrilled Rump Steak for the main course, served with rosemary salted fries, garlic butter, roast tomato and pea shoots. I had it last year as well, but it is difficult to resist, as it is very nice. Then for dessert I had the Sticky Toffee Pudding, topped with a lovely combination of vanilla ice cream, Biscoff topping sauce and biscuit crumb.
I had a couple of cocktails as well, my favourite being the Strawberry Margarita, consisting of Casamigos Blanco Tequila, strawberry purée and fresh citrus. But the Raspberry Gin Spritz was also nice, made up of Tanqueray London Dry Gin, Prosecco with Fever-Tree Raspberry and Orange Blossom Soda.
That all filled me up very nicely, and I know Claire enjoyed her meal too. She also very kindly gave me some lovely sweet treats to take home, and later sent me an audiobook as my main Christmas gift, which I’ll mention at a later date once I’ve listened to it with my mother, as we’re both interested in hearing it. So thank you to Claire for a lovely evening and the presents!
Paignton Visit
Christmas Meal
Even though it’s been over 2 years since I was made redundant from my old job, I still keep in touch with my ex-colleagues, and we’re still reuniting each year for a Christmas dinner. We used to have our festive meals in Torquay, as that was close to where we worked so we could go there straight after clocking off. But as several people actually live next door in Paignton, where I used to reside as well, we went there this time instead.
We ate at the Costero Lounge by the Vue Cinema on the seafront, where I had some lovely Red Pepper & Mozzarella Arancini balls for starters, followed by a deliciously succulent Slow Roast Pork Belly with mashed potato, braised red cabbage, honey-roasted carrots, parsnips, sprouts and gravy. And finally for dessert I had the Warm Chocolate Brownie with ice cream and chocolate sauce. So that was very satisfying. After the meal a few of us then went on to The Talk Of The Town, a Wetherspoons pub just down the road, where we had a couple more drinks, so that was nice too.
Mercure Hotel
My hotel, the Mercure Paignton, was just a short walk down the road from the Costero Lounge, and I was very happy with my 2-night stay there. I treated myself to a Super Privilege room with floor to ceiling windows that gave me a view over Paignton Green and the seafront, so I could see the Geoplay Park and Paignton Pier, as well as the restaurant mentioned above.
The room also had a lovely big comfortable bed, a large screen TV with an impressive selection of channels and access to Youtube, tea and coffee making facilities, still water and biscuits, a mini fridge containing a can of Coke and a bottle of Britvic orange juice, a wardrobe containing a bath robe, slippers, a hairdryer and a safe, and a bathroom with a choice of rainfall and handheld showers.
Breakfast in the restaurant downstairs was also very nice, and the friendly staff had no problems helping me to get what I wanted on both mornings. It seemed pretty quiet in the hotel as well, as with many children still at school and adults still at work, my stay thankfully preceded the big Christmas rush – although I’d imagine it’s the summer season when they get really busy, as there’s much more going on then. In any case, it’s perfectly positioned for the seafront, the cinema, nearby pubs, and a quick walk into the town centre.
Altogether I paid £284 for 2 nights in the Super Privilege room, with breakfast included, on a flexible rate so I could cancel up to the day of arrival if my plans changed. So it costs more than the Premier Inns I’ve tended to stay at, but I felt it was worth it.
Coastal Walks
After meeting my ex-colleagues I had the next day to myself, as there hadn’t been any other friends available in the area to meet up with. So in the morning I had a nice walk for a couple of hours, firstly exploring some of the streets I used to know, and then strolling along a section of the coast path from Goodrington around to Paignton, which took me over the cliffs and Roundham Head to Paignton Harbour. It’s a route I used to do a lot with my parents as a kid, so it brought back nice memories and the sea views are lovely.
On Roundham Head there’s also a nice memorial stone to Lieutenant-Commander Arthur Leyland Harrison, a Torquay-born Royal Navy officer who was killed in action during the 1918 raid on Zeebrugge. So that was quite interesting to read about. Incidentally, a short way down Esplanade Road from my hotel is a memorial to the Parachute Regiment and Airborne Forces, which is much harder to read given the speckled stonework, but still a nice tribute.
With rain then passing through in the afternoon, I relaxed for a little while in the hotel before heading out again in the evening to take a look at Paignton Pier, which was decorated with bright stars and blue lights along the railings. The pier is mainly full of arcade machines as you can imagine, though some of the outdoor ones were covered over because of the unsettled weather. But the vast majority of the machines are in the central building, which seems to stretch on forever, it’s huge!
There were also statues of cartoon characters that people could take selfies with, including Woody, Buzz and Jessie from Toy Story, Snow White, Mr Bean, Mickey & Minnie Mouse, Pinocchio and Popeye, along with a heart-shaped archway. And there’s a mini golf course at the far end of the pier.
It didn’t take me long to walk up and down its length, but it was still nice to have a quick look for the sake of nostalgia. Then before leaving I decided to have my tea at Paignton Pier Chippy Co. It’s very positively reviewed online, and I can see why, as the large cod and chips I ate was genuinely one of the best fish and chips I’ve had for a while. I had a nice bottle of Hunts Andsome Bay sweet cider with it as well, a local drink that I’d never heard of before.
There wasn’t much else to see in Paignton in the evening though. The Christmas lights in the shopping streets were disappointing to be honest, with no Christmas tree outside the Tesco like there used to be when I was younger, and in general the selection of shops hasn’t been very good for several years now. What used to be a lovely Woolworths many moons ago is now just a Poundland for instance.
The place to be for light displays is in Torquay, where they have the Bay of Lights installation, which I shared video footage of last year. I didn’t go over there on this occasion though, partly because I had an early train to catch the next day anyway, and also because I knew it would be really busy. Plus, if last year is anything to go by, some parts would probably be a bit difficult to navigate, as ironically some of the pathways between installations weren’t very well lit on my last visit. However, there was a Christmas tree outside my hotel, and a very tall tree with animated patterns by the Costero Lounge, so they were nice.
Overall, therefore, I did enjoy my visit to Paignton, because I got to see my old workmates again, it was nice to look at some of my former haunts, and the hotel was very comfortable. I just wouldn’t visit for more than a couple of nights, as there isn’t a lot to do in the depths of winter. The area’s more geared towards families really, as there’s a fair amount for children to enjoy, and it’s popular with retirees too. Plus it tends to be both more active and attractive during the summer, when I would more highly recommend visiting.
Technology
I took advantage of the Black Friday deals on Amazon at the end of November to try out a couple of things for the first time, and have been very happy with both items since then.
Robot Vacuum
I’ve been curious about robot vacuums for a while, and my friend Emily has one that she’s very happy with. So in the weeks leading up to Black Friday I spent some time looking at reviews of various models online, just in case any deals came up in the sales. And it’s been really interesting to learn about them.
Some are far too dear and have features we don’t need, but there are more budget-friendly machines as well. So I went for the Eufy L60, because Amazon were offering a whopping £90 (36%) off the usual retail price of £249.99, bringing it down to £159.99, and it had very good reviews online. There is also a more expensive option with a self-emptying station that gathers all of the dirt up in a bag for you to empty every few weeks or so, but we haven’t really got anywhere convenient to put that, and the dust compartment looked easy enough to remove by hand anyway. So getting just the vacuum was fine.
It comes with a charging base station that has to go on a hard flat surface (so not carpet), because it has a pad on the bottom to stick it in place, and it’s best to stand it against a wall. So we’ve put it under the table in the kitchen out of the way. The instructions say you need to leave a few feet clear either side of it, so there’s plenty of space for the vacuum to find its way home, but that’s clearly impractical in a small house. And it’s proven not to be a major issue. Before buying it I’d already looked at feedback online where people were saying they had used it in a much smaller space successfully, and it’s been fine for us as well. It does take it a minute or two to accurately position itself before reversing into the charging base, but it gets there alright.
And once it leaves the base station, it’s very good at finding its way around, thanks to its laser navigation. On its first outing it mapped out the kitchen, living room, hallway and my mother’s bedroom on the ground floor – after I’d made sure there were no obstructions of course – and it was pretty accurate, even to the point of recognising the thresholds between rooms. The only thing it messed up was the position of the boundary between the living room and the hallway, but with a bit of fiddling in the app I was able to correct it, by dividing the erroneous spot away from the hallway and then merging it into the living room instead. I’ve also been able to name the rooms, and have added a no-go boundary line in the living room where we have cables next to a wall, just to be safe.
It was also able to map the first floor, as you can select a multi-map option in the app, and then tell it which map to use before you start cleaning. I can’t take the base station upstairs of course, but it quickly realises it can’t find it and will just return to the starting position instead. It’s also capable of recognising when it reaches a flight of steps, so as not to fall down them, but I still put a big box there as a barrier just in case, then marked the edge as a no-go boundary in the app. I don’t know if the smartphone app is accessible for people who can’t see, incidentally, given that the use of the map is an inherently visual task, but thankfully I’ve got adequate enough sight to use it.
Sending it on a cleaning mission is also easy and can be done in various ways. We’ve connected it to Alexa, but there you’re limited to just 3 commands – start cleaning, stop cleaning and return home. So if you use that to start the job, it will just clean all the rooms it’s mapped out on the current floor (unless you shut doors to stop it). The app, on the other hand, offers much more precise control, as you can specify one or more rooms, mark out specific zones within rooms, schedule different cleaning tasks, and adjust the suction strength to one of 4 levels, along with other little features.
And it does the job accurately, quickly and not too noisily. Even the highest suction level isn’t too loud, yet it still picks up quite a bit, and it covers the 20 square metres of space on the ground floor in about 25 minutes. It’s very systematic about it too, cleaning the perimeter of each room first and then going up and down within that. And if it were to get low on power midway through a job, it would just return to base and charge up again before resuming from where it left off, though that hasn’t happened yet as even on maximum suction it only uses about a quarter of its battery power to cover the ground floor.
After the job is complete, the dust tray is then easy to take out and empty, and it’s no hassle to take out the filter and roller brush to clean them off either. There’s also the 3-pronged side brush which can be removed by undoing its central screw, and there are replacement parts available on the Eufy website if they’re ever required.
You can also view the vacuum’s job history in the app, including visuals of the full route it took each time, with solid lines showing where it performed cleaning, and dotted lines showing where it was just travelling to another position or moving between rooms.
It’s also just quite fascinating to see this little machine going around the house, like a pet that’s quite happy to do as it’s told, as we’ve never had one of these before. We haven’t encountered a situation where it’s got stuck anywhere yet, but my understanding is that the app will alert me if that ever happens.
I like the fact that it talks to you a bit as well, to confirm when its starting and finishing a job, when it’s successfully returned home, and even to acknowledge when you’ve detached and re-inserted the dust tray. It also has a Do Not Disturb mode though, if you want to schedule it to do jobs quietly during the night or any other time when you don’t want to be interrupted.
So it’s been a very cool addition to the household, as it’s been serving us very well so far, and it certainly makes life a lot easier. It can’t get absolutely everywhere of course, as some areas are just too small for it to get into or under, but it greatly reduces the amount of space we need to hoover manually.
Apple AirPods
I’ve always used wired earphones up until now, as I’ve been accustomed to them, and I’ve been hesitant about getting small wireless ones in case I drop them and lose them. But as wireless earphones are now very popular and have been recommended by some of my friends, and I needed some new earphones to use with my iPhone anyway, Black Friday felt like a good opportunity to finally try out a pair.
So I decided to get the Apple AirPods Pro 2, which are a couple of years old compared to the current iterations, but they’re still getting very positive reviews, and I didn’t need all the features of the latest versions. Plus Amazon were offering £50 (22%) off the retail price of £229, taking it down to £179. Apple were also doing a Black Friday deal on their website, but they were charging the full £229 with a free £40 Apple Gift Card thrown in. So getting the £50 discount on Amazon was better value.
And I have to say I’m very impressed with them. They fit comfortably and securely in my ears thanks to their silicone tips (of which there are different sizes included in the box to cater for different people’s needs), the sound quality is excellent, the gestures to operate them are easy to get used to, and they have a nice little case to store and charge them in.
They also use the Siri voice assistant to speak notifications to you, for any apps on your phone where you’ve granted the relevant permissions, so Siri told me I had a WhatsApp message for instance. If I had received a phone call, Siri would also have alerted me and given me the choice of whether to answer it, as the AirPods have a microphone built in as well, but I didn’t get the opportunity to try that.
I also like the different audio modes you can have, including Transparency Mode to hear what’s going on around you, or Noise Cancellation to have the opposite effect. I tried both options during my train journeys to and from Devon, and they very much behaved as specified. I used Transparency Mode so I could hear when the ticket inspector was coming, and I could also hear the tannoy announcements clearly through the music I had on. Then once the inspector had seen my tickets I turned on Noise Cancellation and was amazed at how well it worked. For example, it was only some time later in the journey when I paused the music I was listening to that I realised a couple of families were nearby in my carriage, as I hadn’t heard them come on board.
So I’m very glad I finally got those, as they worked very well during my travels, and it is a relief not to have cables that keep getting tangled up!
Conclusion
So that’s where I’ll leave it for now, that’s enough to be getting on with. As I said at the start, in Part 2 of this roundup I’ll talk about the various pieces of entertainment that have been keeping me happily occupied lately, and anything else I’ve done in London.
In the meantime, I hope you have a wonderful festive holiday, whatever you’re getting up to and whoever it’s with, and very best wishes for the year ahead!
Share this:
Well Eye Never 
One thought on “Christmas 2024 Favourites – Part 1”