I seem to be swamped with Stuff To Do right now.

First, many thanks to the kind people who sent me vgifts (Maia and slaymesoftly), ecards and LJ posts of birthday wishes. I am trying to reply in person to each one, but please forgive me if I've missed you so far.

I had a lovely day yesterday - I visited oxfordia during the day and, though the lovely Miss G was poorly, had a very enjoyable time with the family. I do hope the little one is better soon.

Then Dave and I went to see Arthur Christmas, which is computer-animated but is still an Aardman film and it showed - lots of familiar voices, lots of delightful touches and a witty script. Long may Aardman products stay so essentially British - it's where a lot of their appeal lies for me. Shaun the Sheep made a lighting appearance too! It's not exactly a demanding film, but it's great fun and eminently seasonal. We picked up fish and chips on the way home and a bottle of red wine helped round off the evening. I don't really approve of birthdays after one is 21, but this was a good one.

My main present was seeing JM on Saturday, but my girls gave me a lovely bling brooch and a gorgeous book on fashion, and Dave gave me PD James's murder mystery set in the world of Pride and Prejudice. She doesn't quite manage to sustain the tone, and her Downton-ish interest in the servant class isn't very JA, but it's good fun.

I have over a hundred photos from last Saturday to process, so that's not likely to be done today. I have to tweak my first chapter to submit for the &^($£*$ writing course of which you may have heard me whine complain. But I did scan in three prints and made a few icons. Enjoy.

( Festive James Marsters beneath the cut.Collapse )

Tags: bicester, james marsters, personal stuff, writing course