'Woody'

Visiting Pucklechurch today and out and about with Andrea - including a cup of tea with Carol, John and the lovely Woody.

Now 8 months old he is a cuddly and very lively Cockapoo - being a cross between a Cocker Spaniel and a Poodle.

He very kindly posed for a couple of photos.

Iris, viola and bee

These mini iris -  'Iris Reticulata' are normally a Spring flower but are blooming particularly early this year. In the morning sun on the balcony their colour was very striking.

Also brightly coloured in an adjacent pot, this purple viola attracted the attention of a huge bumble bee!

Morning Sun

David had an early start this morning so there was an opportunity to nip outside and take a few shots as the sun filtered into the garden..

Goodbye for a while

David and I travelled down to Bath this evening and so it was time for a 'goodbye' photo with Theo, which has become something of a tradition.

This evening, Lauren sent me a composite picture with the 'goodbye' photos from my last four trips home..

Somebody is growing up very fast!

A jelly tradition

Cat-shaped jelly is something of a tradition in the family - ever since David and I were given a cat jelly mould on our wedding day 31 years ago.

Keeping the tradition going, when David and I arrived at Lauren's yesterday she had made a lovely cat jelly - with added glitter and a sparkle as it was made with fizzy lemonade!

She also made jellies from the last drops of a bottle of Eiswein, a white dessert wine, and they were also very good!

More Christmas

As we were unable to get together as planned before Christmas, we all spent the day together in Shillington and exchanged some belated Christmas gifts.  Theo had lots to discover and enjoy.

And some fun with his great grandparents..

As well as some quiet cuddles..

Platform 9 3/4

This afternoon we took the train into London from Stevenage.  It is many years since I have been to King's Cross Station and it looked very different.

There was a long queue of people by the Harry Potter store - waiting to be photographed at Platform 9 3/4.

We didn't join the queue but did stop for a moment to look at the floral tributes nearby which have been placed in memory of the actor Alan Rickman, 'Snape' in the Harry Potter films, who sadly died last week.

Tomorrow we are off to the US Embassy to renew our visas.

Back in Reston the snow has stopped - and the sun is out - but very low temperatures expected tonight (-14C) mean that the drifts will not  melt away just yet.

This photo from the web of Market Street in Reston town centre shows the extent of the snow - said to be around 28 inches.