A Winter Picnic

Well, I've reached my half century ..... aren't I the lucky one! R tends to get a bit maudlin around his birthday, whereas I try to look on the positive side - it's an awful lot better than the alternative! I was really lucky with the weather; the 28th dawned sunny but very cold.

My family had asked what I wanted to do for my birthday; it's always an awkward one being so close to Christmas. We all have our birthdays around this time of year, within 6 weeks of each other, so it tends to feel as if we're all celebrated out. I didn't even want a birthday cake this year! Given the lovely weather, I thought a walk and a picnic would be nice, so we dug out the circular walk book, packed a rucksack with food and flasks of hot chocolate and tea and off we went.

It was a bit crunchy underfoot:

 An early sign of Spring?

Over the stile:

 The oak tree where we enjoyed our lunch:

 Enjoying the view:

 Quiche and salady bits:

 E borrowed the camera and took some photos. I like this one because of the rainbow effect:

 ...... and the reflections in this one: 

 The walk took us back via the towpath which was incredibly muddy. There are no photos of this bit as we were concentrating hard on not falling over!
It wasn't too long a walk as R had managed to catch 'the lurgy' at work and E and I were beginning to come down with it. Back home, I played with some of my presents:

A new veggie cook book - I can heartily recommend the caramelized garlic tart!

Birthday lilies:

A new apron - this photo took me a while. I tried taking a selfie without the aid of a mirror, but there was some horrible crepey neck/double chin thing going on - well, I am 50 you know!

.... and, my new toy - who's a lucky girl then?!

A Thai meal in the evening completed a really lovely day. Sore throats abound at the moment, so I'm just off for some more hot mulled apple juice - it's surprisingly soothing. Wishing you all a very Happy New Year.

Cheers!