Ice cold and crystal clear weather. Lovely.

I wanted to share the experience of seeing the massive starling flocks at Gretna with Hector, so mid afternoon we trundled up the M6 and parked up to wait for the party to begin. As we waited more people turned up to see the spectacle too and it nice to meet new folks. The flocks arrived in smaller pods, but unlike last time were a little way away and quite low in the sky, so the view wasn’t as good as last time, but it was still amazing.

The sun went down before the birds arrived……

And when we got home I tried a new pasta recipe (Gary Rhodes), tagliatelle, spinach, creme fraiche and brie. Y-y-y-y-yummy.

Our holiday from work is slip sliding away and I realised that already I can’t remember what we did the day before yesterday…. probably nothing. We aren’t very dynamic.
The wonderful set of curry/Indian cooking paraphernalia that Jamie and Becks gave us for Christmas got its first use and we made a curry from scratch. My dish was milder than He’s – obviously.
Yesterday I cleared some of the junk out of the garage though there’s still loads to do. We went to the Spa but it was packed to the rafters wtih noisy children who filled the pool and the whirlpool and even the sauna. I left He at Spa and drove up to the hill above Penrith and took pics of the sunset. It was beautiful up there, golden sunlight and crisp frost. I took the pic of the Pennines and the radar station on Dun Fell too – the clouds over the crest of hills was like a purple breaking wave.

Comfort winter food for dinner in the form of minced steak and crispy-topped dumplings. I may not be a gourmet cook but my dumplings are superb! (Ooo err missus!) While cooking, and having been clumsy all my life, I was taking something from the top shelf of the cupboard and knocked the box of sugar cubes which tumbled out scattering the hard cubes onto me and the floor and the cooking I was doing and most amusingly, filling the toaster with the now crumbling cubes of sugar. Did He laugh? Oh yes. Did he come whizzing through to help clear it up? Well, yes he did….

Today its lovely weather again, but as He is on call at work we are staying around the house. I’ll probably watch back-to-back Cary Grant films. Wonderful.

We blew away the cobwebs on a very slow and ambling wander along the river at Armathwaite. Crisp and clear weather and a clear running river near the village was a perfect start to a walk.

At the Mill Farm area the white rushing water over the rapids was clean and fresh looking – lovely.

…and later…. a REAL treat on BBC2- a Morecambe and Wise special from 1971 followed by a Generation Game Christmas special from 1973. Ah. Bliss. Now THAT was good festive entertainment. Nostalgia nostalgia.

With good friends and a welcoming country pub we had a lovely Christmas Eve. At Sally’s we tasted her home seeped Damson Gin and Raspberry Vodka (yum) and then I joined the other ladies and Jess to share in the Kirkoswald villages nativity promenade and carol singing as it wound its way up the hill via two inns with no room for Mary and Joseph, and on to a field with angels and shepherds and to the chapel for the manger. It was delightful. Later we wandered to the pub and got chatting to some other festive folks. A nice time.

The most beautifully decorated cottage I ever saw…..Some of the lovely lights at Kirkoswald

Crimbo Day!
I got up early to light the fire so it was cozy for pressie opening and we lazily enjoyed the plenty that was the gift-opening! He loved his bass guitar – a hit there I think! He gave me a wonderful new Crumpler bag for my MacBook laptop and loads of other goodies.

It was very entertaining watching Frank open his gift from Lis.

At 12 we got the the Eden Hall Hotel for our Christmas lunch. It was lovely food and a real treat. Then we fell asleep snuggled on the sofa together while supposedly watching ‘Pirates of the Carribean’….

And the highlight of the evening? Wallace and Gromit “A Matter of Loaf and Death” – delightful!!

The spirit of Christmas arrived in the form of Ross, who was here for the weekend, and a visit to my family for swapping of pressies and some festive fare (mince pies and biccies) on Sunday. A very pleasant couple of hours and happy recipients of gifts.

He and I opening our pressies at Mums and even Frank getting all twinkly…

I’ve been experimenting with the camera and with some post-production of my photos…. can you guess which are at point of taking the shot and which are post-production manipulation?

He is feeling quite Christmasy (not like him at all) and I am getting more so under his brighter influence. A week today we’ll be sprawled on sofas well and truly ‘flup’ after a large Christmas lunch at the nice hotel. Lovely. Then almost two weeks off work for me to simmer down and read books and relax!

Mr and Mrs Scrooge thats us! Not feelin’ very Christmasy. But, we are going to get our Santa gear out of the loft and buy in some Xmas cheer (gin and wine and beer) and make merry – any day now!

I did get the cherry red little lights on the lilac tree in the garden and they look pretty; albeit understated. MOST presents have been bought and some are even wrapped!

Our new sofa, armchair and pouffé arrived. Comfy or WHAT! Just need to sell the less-than-one-year old pair of leather sofas now.

We had a nice afternoon with Chris and Fiona at the Spa and later He and I formed our own teeny-weeny two-person team for the Christmas pub quiz. It was a lot of fun and very busy. We didn’t win – obviously not with a half size team. Got some ok piccies at the quiz though.
A cozy faced drinker in the firelight and He’s fingers getting thawed out….

Our new sofas arrive this week. Big squashy sofa and armchair and big pouffé. Can’t wait.

Tempus Fugit!
Another week gone by. He was in Sheffield for a couple of nights and had a great time with his family when they all took his Mum out for a meal. A shame I couldn’t be there coz of work. Hey ho.

The weather turned very wintry and there were some extremely low temperatures and a few days of snow. The roads and lanes here weren’t cleared so any travel was slow and white-knucklesome.

Another weekend which stretched ahead promising quiet home time for He and I and disappeared in a flurry of nothing-to-write-home-about. Lovely and peaceful and good for the soul. A few photos taken – obviously. My best was this pic of a blue tit on the cherry tree in the garden, with wings outstretched. Its gone through some post-production to look like this!