December 2021 - The Arrival Of Christmas

I had a day of freedom in December, can you believe it? Well I had two or three I think in the end. Most of them I was too knackered to do anything, but on one of my days off I headed up to London to visit the Jack the Ripper museum. I'd seen it advertised somewhere, and thought it sounded interesting, particularly as there seemed to be more about the women themselves than just about the killer.

So I caught the train up, and planned to spend the day exploring as well. I headed first to the museum, which was near Whitechapel. The East End is somewhere I don't go very often while in London, so it was nice to wander about somewhere new and looking at all the historical buildings as I did so. The Museum is just on Cable Street. And first impressions were good. There was a little gift shop where you bought your ticket, and then explored the house.

There were several rooms which were really interesting, like this one of the office where the police and investigators worked to try and work out who had committed the murders.

And this is what the room where Mary Jane Kelly lived and was murdered in, recreated from crime scene photos and police reports. It was not what I imagined at all, but it made her feel more like an actual person seeing where she would have lived, rather than just as a victim of a mass murderer.

Therein lies the problem with this museum. While there are some good areas, and some really interesting history behind the area and the people that lived in the East End during the Victorian era, it sort of minimises most of the victims. There's a really questionable bit in the basement with a mock morgue with their names on the doors. I feel like it doesn't quite know what it's trying to achieve as a museum, and it's trying to balance both the victims and the murderer. I think with a bit of tweaking and some further development, it could be a really good museum. But it's not quite there for me yet. But that's the point of me writing this, I write about everything, good and bad, and it comes from my perspective. You might visit and agree, you might visit and disagree. But it's good to have these discussions, because it helps us move forward and learn more.

If you are wanting to visit, tickets are £14 for an adult, or if you prebook, there's a £2 discount. There are also walking tours available, for further details, check out their website at: www.jacktherippermuseum.com/

Like I say, take it with a pinch of salt, and enjoy the bits you can. There were comment cards there, so fill in one if you want to! I did!

I then just went for a wonder about, and found myself in Chinatown, where I got myself some lunch, before heading into Soho to go special underwear shopping and discovered the Broad Street Pump. I had read about it ages ago, and if I remember rightly, the pump was situated above a burial ground or a cesspit, and gave delicious clear water, except people were dying of cholera in their hundreds because of it. The pump handle was removed, and funnily enough, the Cholera epidemic stopped. 

(Ok, so I just looked it up, it was John Snow who made the link and removed the pump handle, and started what could be the first ever attempt at disease epidemic control and study. Ok, so I remembered half of it!)

Other things from December included my christmas cactus flowering, with these beautiful pinkish blooms, and the discovery of yet another split melon at work with a eyes drawn on it. I thought it was hysterical, the other managers not so much. Which brings me onto another piece of news. To my complete surprise, I was offered the Team Manager role. I did not see that coming at all. But my store manager was giving me a chance, and I promised I would do as well as I could. So that meant that from the middle of December, I was now the Ambient Team Manager. Not much changed, it was all about christmas, but it meant that in the new year, I would be fully responsible for the Ambient department. And I looked forward to seeing what I could do to sell more. 

One evening when I finished early, James took me up to the christmas market at Winchester Cathedral. We were a bit too late, and most stall were closing up, but I did get a nice little dried fruit wreath (like dried oranges, limes clementines that sort of thing) to hang up in the bathroom for some festive cheer, and to you know....make it smell a bit nicer. But what I loved most was the cathedral and the trees around it bathed in these beautiful purple and blue lights. It looked fantastic, and I could have stood and stared at it all night as it gradually changed. 

Here's Husky and James in bed, while Husky is watching me intently as I ate my sticky chicken lollipops after a gruelling shift. In Husky & James's defence, I did come home at midnight, very grouchy and hungry, and ate delicious smelling food while complaining bitterly about how stupid and horrible the day had been at 1am. I do admit, not fair on them. Both were very tired the next day, although Husky got to have an all day lay in!

And finally, christmas came. The week before I think I only slept a grand total of 10 hours, spending all of my time at work, trying to deal with the onslaught of people. There was no rumours of covid lockdowns or local lockdowns, and it seemed everyone was having a massive christmas event. We sold out of most things, and by the time I left on christmas eve, the were was many empty shelves it was like the first lockdown all over again. But it was nice that it was over.

I had christmas day and boxing day off. I spent most of christmas day sleeping and chilling out, before seeing some family boxing day. Then on the 27th, it was back to work, and I was attempting to fill the gaps, which was impossible as there was nothing left in the warehouse. But luckily huge deliveries came in, and Valentines stock started to appear. No rest for the wicked!

But the daffodils also arrived, including this one that was already in bloom. I guess that means that spring is not far away!