Day five of My Annual November Dry and bearing up well.

I have decided to list 5 positive aspects of the exercise.

1. The Mornings; they are much improved. I am not a person who suffers much from hangovers (that is provided I remain within my fairly wide parameters) but it often takes an hour and a pint of coffee before I become my usual cheerful self.
In November I awake in good form.

2. The Weight ; This hasn’t been doing too well lately. The Chambre d’Hôte system doesn’t help, sitting at table with guests and matching them course for course. I’m hoping that ( and therefore this one has to be aspirational positive) the reduction of calories from the reduction of alcohol will make me miraculously slimmer.
But then there is point three.

3. The Financial Gain for the Lemonade and Exotic Fruit Industries; These lads are thriving. Because I have forsworn the demon I reckon I can thoroughly indulge in lemonade and fruit juices. Lemonade here is made in the old fashioned way with citric and tartaric acid and loads of sugar, none of that silly introduction of lemon juice. But its raison d’etre and the justification for consuming great quantities is that it comes in these marvellous glass bottles with attached ceramic stoppers which we re-use as carafes. The fruit juice aspect is that I then further indulge in exotics like Mango and Lychee juices to make these palatable.

4 Then there is Not Getting Pissed and Disgracing Oneself : Always a possibility with my generous attitude to self drinking which a few glasses endows. This is particularly dangerous when we have guests present. This results in that dreadful moment in the mornings (see 1.) when you wake and remember that you can’t remember the last hour of being awake the night before.
Not drinking makes such moments extremely rare.

5 The Brain. I have beaten Síle in Scrabble every night since the 1st of the month.
Enough said.