Happy New Year!

Happy 2018, Everyone! Sorry that I'm a bit late with this post, but E only went back to uni on Sunday, so we have been a little busy. I hope that everyone had a wonderful Christmas. I can't tell you how relieved I was to be able to take down all the decorations. It feels as though the house can breathe again. We had a lovely festive season, with both girls home and L's boyfriend, J, joining us from the 27th. Lots of food was eaten, games played, walks taken and Hamish enjoyed having lots of attention and ear rubs. R bought me a painting course at our local college for Christmas - I was a little bemused initially but, having read the spec, it does actually sound rather fun. Lots of dancing around to music whilst throwing paint at a canvas! My birthday present was a trip to Antwerp, but that's not for a couple of months yet. He thought that it would be nicer when it's warmed up a bit.

Anyway, here are a few shots of the holidays:

Falafel King in Bristol where we went for lunch after collecting E:

 Everyone thought I was boring when I chose the soup, but it was delicious and everyone shared it!

R decided that he didn't want any presents for his birthday/Christmas. I cheated a little and bought him a bottle of Laphroaig and some concert tickets. Having frozen in Clifton Cathedral the week before, we togged up to the nines and then, of course, had to strip off as it was toasty warm!

Some of the minis from my Advent Calendar. Most have now been incorporated into a cushion for a dining chair. It is finished, but I forgot to take a photo!

 A bit of a last minute wreath:

 Joining Dani from Little Bobbins in a Christmas Eve cast on. This is a pair of socks in the 'I smell snow' colourway, cast on whilst listening to the 9 lessons and carols from King's.

 A rather poor photo of our small amount of snow:

 Photos from my birthday walk:

 Our finished Christmas jigsaw:

 Hamish enjoying having E home:

 !0 pin bowling. R won .......... he always wins!

 Finally, another Sock Head Hat in the Equinox colour from Elm Tree yarns:

Well, that's me all caught up. The girls have both gone back now and the house seems too quiet again; it always takes me a while to adjust. I have the decorating itch again and am planning to repaint our hall and landing - once I've decided on a colour that is. One upside of the girls being away is that I can dump everything in their rooms whilst I'm painting, so we don't have to keep tripping over all the c**p!

Anyway, best wishes for a happy and healthy 2018.
Toodle Pip for now. x