Slow January

Most of January was pretty quiet - after our glorious day of snow, the weather became much gloomier, and wetter, and the month dragged along, as it so often does, seeming to last for ever.

Towards the end of the month we headed back across country for another family visit - taking the Van for a 'winter' run.

Unfortunately proceedings were enlivened by a visit to A&E after a minor fall.  All turned out well (no major damage), although we were a bit shocked by the parking costs - given the free hospital parking we get here in Wales! 

Stayed on an extra day or so before finally heading for home again - enjoying another 'slow' January day, following a 'house' along our narrow Welsh roads . . .

Good to see everyone - but good to be home - roll on February!

In 2025 I Mostly Read . . .

Here is the now-traditional reading list for 2025 . . .

December 2025 – A quick re-read of C.K. McDonnell's  Relight My Fire ahead of his latest 'Stranger Times' offering Ring the Bells with an appropriately festive setting.  Excellent as ever!

November 2025 – More short stories, this time a physical copy of a book (borrowed from the Library) where I had started reading one of the stories on a Kindle sample. Night and Day by John Connolly includes a biographical essay, but I stuck to the supernatural short stories.  These were very good - particularly liked the premise of Caxton's Library where literary characters come to life in the real world.  May have to look at some of his other stuff!

October-November 2025 – One from the Kindle 99p backlog, a book of classic sci-fi short stories by Alice Sheldon (under the pen name James Tiptree Jr.) Ten Thousand Light Year's From Home - interesting but occasionally a bit too 'out there'!

July - October 2025 – Bit of a mix here, mainly some Ben Aaronavitch ‘Rivers of London’ offerings, leading in to his new publication Stone and Sky (basically taking the London ‘cast’ on a Scottish holiday), its predecessor Amongst Our Weapons (had I forgotten anything?), and the novellas The Masquerades of Spring (great fun!) and Winter’s Gifts (focusing on Peter’s FBI friend from one of the earlier books).  Then in-between returning to some of my oldest friends with the Modesty Blaise series, a bit of a late night easy comfort read – love the characters, and know those stories so well . . .

June 2025 – Something a bit different with the novel which spawned the tv series Queen’s Gambit - interesting to compare the two, and a good read, especially as Martin and I attempt to learn chess!

March - June 2025 – Back to Charles de Lint, working my way through Someplace to be Flying (love the Crow Girls), Moonlight and Vines (another short story collection), Forests of the Heart (new characters in the mix), The Onion Girl (focusing fully on Jilly Coppercorn), Tapping the Dream Tree (more short stories), Spirits in the Wires (with more of a focus on Christy Riddell but many of the regular ‘cast’), and lastly Widdershins which finally sees the Jilly / Geordie storyline brought to its conclusion.

February 2025 – Brief dip away from the world of fantasy with Bob Mortimer’s autobiography And Away - interesting stuff, seeing where ‘Vic and Bob’ came from, and leading in to his health issues and the Gone Fishing series.

January - February 2025 – Continuing with my Charles de Lint ‘Newford’ re-read, including Memory and Dream and the short story collection The Ivory and the Horn.  More urban fantasy, with that real spark of magic, and some great characters.

And We Shall Have Snow!

Sunday morning brought the first snow of 2026 - just a light covering, which gradually melted away over the course of the day, but it was nice to see while it lasted.

Then this morning - on Twelfth Night no less - we opened the curtains to a real Winter Wonderland.

(Couldn't resist a quick snap of the Tree - soon to be dismantled until December rolls round again - but for once with an actual snowy scene outside the window).

It continued to snow for a while, before giving way to a beautiful crisp sunny morning:

In the afternoon we headed out with our snow boots on for a walk in the sunshine.  (Couldn't go further afield as our road appears to be off the gritting route now, and it stayed snow-bound for the rest of the day). 

It was just lovely though - felt a bit like being back in Norway, with the snow all crisp and white and sparkling in the sunshine.

Took lots of photos and enjoyed it while we could - before tomorrow's rain washes it all away . . .

Welcome to 2026!

Wishing everyone all the best for a happy and healthy year ahead.
Let's hope it brings a little peace and sanity - Remember to 'Be Kind'!

In the absence of fireworks, here is one of nature's wonders - today's prom murmuration was truly rather special.  

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: