Christmas 2011

Just jotting down a few memories of Christmas 2011 ... we were so busy I might not recall the details later ..  Apart from anything we both seemed to be fighting off coughs and colds and a couple of times my nights were very restless with my usual belly-aches etc etc .. boring stuff .. but that aside, we had a great time. 


We decorated the shed in homage to my mum's decorating style:

I suppose Christmas really started with my trip to Dorchester to see all the family and exchange gifts there.  The boys seemed to like their shirts: 

 On the way back up the country I also managed to grab a little meeting with Mark, Tracy and Luke, despite the flat tyre trauma at the start of the return trip! 


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Brigid and I started our Christmas plans by getting Brigid a 12 day guest membership at my gym, which we used at least 8 times, I think.  We went most mornings if there was not a "better offer" and generally did at least one class.  We did lots of body-balance and yoga with a few cycling classes of great strain thrown in for good measure.  You never work so hard on the bike as you do in a class with a super-fit  guy barking out intructions for interval training  .. we really enjoyed that.


We also made good use of the time to do relaxing in the spa bath and the heat of the saunas for a treat too, which was very relaxing.


People
We saw a fair few people over the holiday, which as lovely.


Went to Manchester to disperse a few pressies and caught a glimpse of Kasia and Gary before they set off to Poland for their own Christmas time.
The same day we enjoyed a little party at James and Huw's  house, where we met a few new people, we especially liked Sarah and Beck. James and Huw also came over to us before  Christmas and we had a meal up at the pub with them.  Here I am modelling one of my sister's dresses:

On that same day we has seen Liz as she was driving by over and called in on her way to Chester.


We also bobbed around a bit with Mr Kettle, including a rare foray back to the house to collect Christ mas Cards! 


Kay entertained us at her house for Christmas Day, and is her photo, and also one of me wearing the other dress my sister lent me, though the cardi pretty much covers it in this photo! 

Greg came one afternoon and left his business card .. so professional these days!  B and Greg went out for a walk in the woods, but I was a bit frail that day.


Mandy and Pete planned a great evening where we went to theirs for tea with Jenny and John.  We then all went  out to the Theatre for a very entertaining show: "You can't take it with you"


We saw Bet who lives on the site a few times, she sometiems came over in the evening for a little drink with us.


Clare came over one afternoon to get the last look at the shed before we winterised it.


On the way home from the shed on New Year's Eve we popped in for a lovely lunch with Jane, David and their son Timothy.


Activity
In addition to the gym routine we also made good use of the mild weather to do some trips out.
One evening we went for a walk around the Chester City Walls.


One afternoon at the Chester Zoo, which I am determined to use more when we are back the the shed next year, it is lovely, apparently one of the top 15 zoos IN THE WORLD!  The tiger cubs feeding and the jaguars walking by our legs on the other side of one-way glass were highlights of that.


I already mentioned the theatre trip, which was close contender for being my favourite part of the holiday, so many laughs, but the actually tip-top favourite trip was braving the winds to get a long walk along the coast at Crosby .  I just adore being there and gazing out over the Gormley statues.  The tide was going out when we arrived and the wavews were very high.  In parts it was almost too hard to walk into the wind with the soft sand whipping into our faces, but to me that makes it all the more interesting.  It is a blend of art and nature that never seems the same and always holds my interest. Awesome, really exhilarating.

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Packing up was quite hard work, and we are still busy unpacking and arranging all the stuff from the shed into the house .. it is rather strange cos everything here is still very new to us as well! We are faced with new wardrobes, new shelving outside in the shed, new kitchen.  Nothing very familiar about it at all, yet.  But two months hibernating here will soon make it feel like ours again!