Christmas Things

 And on to Christmas . . .

Didn't have to do much food shopping / preparation this year, as off to stay with family across country for the Christmas festivities.

The local farm milk vending machine had a lovely idea though - and those tiny milk bottles always make me think of the milk we had in primary school back in the day (and longer ago than I care to think!).

Nice to spend time with parents and family - had a lovely dinner, and a crisp sunny walk with the dog on Boxing Day morning, taking in a festive postbox topper along the way . . .     

And yes, she'd have been in there after the geese given half a chance!

Back to Wales, and another topper (a giant Christmas bauble mouse house) on display in Welshpool on our way through.  The work people put into these is just amazing!

Home to reheat the house, unpack the bags, and plan for round 2 with family here.

Hope you all had a good one!

Winter Sea and Sky

The year is drawing to its close, the Winter Solstice has passed and Christmas is following fast on its heels, with all its hustle and bustle - time for a couple of peaceful images from December walks on the prom, sea and sky:

Lego Land

It's been a bit of a 'Lego' year - which of course leaves me with the question of what to do with all the finished models.  

The 'Lighthouse' has its home on the storage chest by the french doors - but 'Rivendell' is a bit more problematic, given both its size, and relative fragility (all those trees).  In the end decided to house it in one of the display cabinets - where it's protected from knocks (and dust!).  

With the addition of some lighting (thanks Martin!), I can still see and enjoy it (although I had to separate it into its sections as it was still slightly too big to fit when connected as a whole).

'Tudor Corner' currently sits at the end of the sofa - but may yet find its way to the same cabinet (just one shelf down).

Then there's the seasonal 'Christmas' display (including the 'Lighthouse' which has been displaced by the Tree) which incorporates the new 'Alpine Lodge' alongside last year's 'Holiday Main Street':

Have to keep an eye on things mind you, as a certain person finds it most amusing to swap things around when I'm not looking:

Rainbow Day

It has been an autumn of rainbows - but this one, just outside our door, was particularly fine . . .

Christmas Starts Here . . .

Time for some Christmas 'bling' methinks . . . 

Have to make the most of it - especially as 'constructing' the tree is a right faff (only exceeded by that of deconstructing it again).  Fair play though, it has done us well, over 20 years of Christmases and hopefully a few more to come!

Posts that Didn't Happen: November 2025

And finally November (after which normal service shall resume!)

Another month of rather mixed weather, so nothing really happened Van-wise (every time we thought of doing something it would start pouring with rain!).  Although we did have at least one rather gorgeous sunset down on the prom:

In other news, I may have overdone it on the Lego - had already indulged in the Christmas Alpine Lodge set (which I'd had my eye on for a while, as an addition to last year's Holiday Main Street), then talked myself into the LOTR Rivendell too.  

(And of course then I saw some other Lego sets I'd been looking at on sale, and the rest is history!)

Life otherwise just pottered along . . .

. . . did a bit of 'work', sorted some stuff for charity / sale online, gave blood, ordered new glasses, participated in an ONS survey (vouchers for which mostly funded the Lego Santa's Sleigh!)   . . . and completed my Rivendell mega-build.

Later in the month, there was the usual trip across country to visit / stay with family, this time with some added dog-sitting for one night.  She was very good, spending most of the time asleep, as she's a bit of an old lady now.  Although she still managed to take us on a nice long woodland walk!

Diverted to Stratford-upon-Avon on the trip home, got to admire the Christmas lights, enjoy an evening out, and a bit of shopping.  Then home again to think about putting up our own Christmas decorations.

Posts that Didn't Happen: October 2025

October was not the best of months weather-wise - but at least I was busy with a bit of consultancy work, while Martin was occupied with constructing cupboard doors for the Van.

In our downtime, Martin was still learning chess, although I'd drifted away from that a bit, having my attention caught by 'miracle' sudoku puzzles instead.

And then there's the Lego . . .  after the Lighthouse in 2023, I indulged in a Christmas themed set in 2024, then in the summer fell in love with the 'Tudor Corner', and seeing it on sale just couldn't resist.

So many an evening has been spent constructing - and enjoying the intricacy and inventiveness of the interiors in particular - just love that cute little loo!

The middle of the month saw us heading back across country in the Van (quite possibly the last Van trip of the year) for another family visit . . .

. . . helped out with shopping etc. (including picking up one of the new  'Geese of March' calendars), and had a very nice family Sunday dinner (meeting up at a half way point between us and family from Suffolk).  

Back home to Wales for a few days then before heading north - dropping off Martin's folks for a visit with family while we had a couple of night's in Chester.

Enjoyed some (occasionally wet) walks around the wall, did a bit of shopping, visited the castle, had a drink or two, and indulged in a very nice curry.

We were slightly intrigued though to find the following messages inscribed in various locations around Chester - at least I knew where my Martin was!