Welcome 2015!

Wishing you all a very Happy New Year!

We spent a lovely New Year's Eve with Andrea and Steve and Pucklechurch friends - a great meal and lots of fun!

We even exercised our brains with a few quizzes and games..

Lunch in Montacute

After a picturesque drive through frosty and in places foggy countryside to Glastonbury and Street we made a quick visit to Clarks Outlet Village this morning.

We then headed on in the sunshine to Montacute, where we met Jenny and Colin for lunch and a 'catch up' at the King's Arms Inn.

After an excellent and leisurely lunch it was all too soon time to set off again, in opposite directions..

Frosty Flowers

After a very frosty night the sun was shining this morning in a blue sky.

I made a quick tour of the garden at Stonefield to capture the frost on the leaves and flowers, before it all melted..

A single rose growing tall in the middle of the flower bed was particularly beautiful..

Frozen Again... Sunday 28 December

Today was Lauren's birthday and the Frozen theme continued with her birthday wrapping paper..

.. and her cake!..

We celebrated at Maggie's both for Lauren's birthday, Kate's forthcoming trip to New Zealand (Bon Voyage, Kate) and a Dando family Christmas.

It was a lovely day and a great treat for us to see all the family together.  We have had such lovely family times over this holiday and now look forward to New Years Eve with friends.

Frozen

No, we didn't get snow!  

However, Lauren did have a copy of Disney's 'Frozen' in 3D for Christmas and so this is father and daughter enjoying the movie (while James and mother-in-law cooked the dinner).

Boxing Day

Today has been a quiet day.  Other than a short foray to Sainsburys for a few essentials and a brief look at a few sales, the weather was a bit wet for a Boxing Day walk.

Instead we stayed in, read our Christmas books and, this evening, tested another new cat-related game, won by Lauren.

Happy Christmas!

Our lovely Christmas Day began with stockings.. not all of which were stocking shaped..

The cats also had some treats..

.. including a DVD of enticing sounds and moving objects..

Informal wear was the order of the day.. David's 'Darth Vader' onesie was a particular success!

It was sunny when we set out for lunch at Mallory Court, a few miles down the road.

After lunch we had coffee and mince pies..

When we left the afternoon was already drawing in..

After more presents and talking to all the family on Skype or by phone, we settled down for a few Chrustmas games, several of them featuring cats!!

It was a great day, thank you to everyone and hope that you had a lovely day too.

The Night before Christmas ...

Home-made marshmallows have become part of the Christmas Eve tradition over the past few years - made by David and James.

Mulled wine too...

And some traditions date back a little further.  

This is the stocking that we bought for Lauren's first Christmas..

It was lost in a Christmas box in the loft for a few years but was rediscovered and is now back in use...

Christmas Rules

With such a short time to go.. I thought I would share the Christmas Rules, as displayed (along with the above countdown) in Lauren and James' kitchen..

Christmas Tree Reminders

We are again staying with Lauren and James having travelled back from Bedfordshire today.

This evening I turned my lens on their lovely Christmas tree and some of the decorations which they have chosen or been given as reminders of particular places, times or experiences...