Happy New Year!

Hello, and a very Happy New Year to one and all. I hope that everyone had a merry and healthy Christmas. There seemed to be a lot of bugs doing the rounds but, fortunately, my little family managed to avoid them ........... until after the celebrations anyway!

It's a little snowy here today so, after a rather slippery lunch time walk, I thought I'd make myself a hot drink and upload some photos from the past month.

For the first few, I have had to drag my mind back to R's birthday in mid December. I had arranged a quick trip to Salisbury - not a million miles away from where we live. We had, however, concert tickets to hear 'Messiah' being performed at the Cathedral, and thought that it would be nice not to travel home in the cold and dark afterwards.

Milford Hall Hotel looks very pretty from the front and was only a short walk away from the centre. Our room was in the far less salubrious modern extension at the back. On the plus side, multiple fire doors and stairs protected us from the noisy party which was going on after the concert had ended. We heard not a peep and a good night's sleep was had by all. I've had better breakfasts, but then our dietary requirements are quite annoying, so I was grateful for what we had.

After checking in and a sushi lunch in the centre, we went on a circular walk around the city. Starting in the market place, it took in the water meadows and returned us via the very pretty Cathedral Close. There was a very handy pub with spectacular views half way round. Sadly, all the outside seating was occupied (we were extremely lucky with the weather), so we continued on our way.

Supper was a pre-concert affair at an Indian street food place, a few minutes walk from the Cathedral. It was very pretty inside and extremely popular. The starters were amazing but I've had better main courses. The sag aloo was a tad disappointing, as was the daal, and the bangara baingan was a little too coconutty for my taste.

The concert was lovely, although not the best acoustically; I feel we have been spoilt after visiting the Cadogan Hall! The counter tenor, however, was brilliant, with the most incredible range. Coming out to a clear, starry sky and an illuminated Cathedral was just perfect.

After checking out on the Sunday, we headed for nearby Langford Lakes Nature Reserve. Binoculars in hand, we spent a few hours pottering round and enjoying a cosy picnic in one of the many hides. A wildlife photography exhibition in the room adjoining the cafe was fantastic. I bought a couple of cards from the photographer - absolutely gorgeous and much cheaper than W. H. Smith's (although I don't think it's called that anymore! :O(   ).

Having had our fill of birds, we drove a few miles to Dinton Park and Philipp's House - a National Trust property with rolling parkland and a neo-Grecian house. After stamping round the grounds (the house is privately occupied) for a while, we saw rainclouds gathering on the horizon, heading our way. A quick march back to Bridget ensured that we were home before the rain caught up with us.

The girls came home on Christmas Eve and the weather Gods again smiled on us. Christmas Day saw us walking to Bagnor and back via Donnington Castle:

Boxing Day was a walk around Greenham Common:

Apart from stockings for the girls, we did Secret Santa again this year. I had L's partner, V, and my youngest, E, had me. She did the most amazing present - 12 books, one for each month this year, chosen from her favourites that she read in 2025. Some were charity shop books, some Waterstone's mystery books, and some free from work. All were carefully wrapped, with a clue as to the genre on the outside. This month's has been devoured already: Andrea Mara's 'No-one Saw a Thing'. 2 young girls get onto an underground train in London, but the doors close before their mother can board. Only 1 of the girls gets off at the next stop! I'd never read any of her books before, but I really enjoyed it (despite hyperventilating at the thought of that actually happening!), and will be on the lookout for more. The other 11 books are still wrapped, waiting for their month; I can hardly wait!

Unrotated Christmas jigsaws!

A circular walk round Whitchurch on the 27th:

3 of the 4 of us may have purchased some sweeties at this old fashioned shop (Give me chocolate any day, but I'm not really a fan of sweets!).

The shop was Lord Denning's birthplace. According to Margaret Thatcher, he was 'probably the greatest English judge of modern times'. Upon retiring, he returned to Whitchurch to live.

After our picnic lunch, E decided that a piggy back from her big sister would be just the ticket!

For my birthday on the 28th, we headed off to Bath for the day. Lunch was enjoyed at The Green Rocket, a lovely vegan restaurant that E and I had visited before:

Knowing we were having a large dinner later, I opted for the courgette and leek soup. Very nice it was too!

My birthday treat was to do 'Mary Shelley's House of Frankenstein Escape Room'. There were 2 to choose from and R had booked 'The Shallows'. There were 4 puzzles, 3 of which we whizzed through fairly quickly ....... then came the 4th! We were stuck for ages and I was convinced that we were going to run out of time and get locked in. More by luck than judgement, we suddenly worked it out, and escaped with just 5 minutes to spare. It was great fun and I would definitely recommend it.

Dinner was at at Rosa's - a Thai restaurant chain that we have visited before. Then it was back to the Park and Ride bus stop, only to realise that the buses stopped running at 6pm on Sunday! Rather annoyingly, since we had bought return tickets, we arrived back at the car park via Uber!

After the girls had gone back home, R and I did a few more walks in the period between my birthday and New Year.

Snelsmore Common:

The Ridgeway:

If you look closely at the shadows, you can see us waving in this one!

A New Year's Eve concert at Dorchester Abbey:

New Year's Day walk and picnic on White Horse Hill at Uffington. It was freezing! :O)

A warmer walk starting in Ecchinswell:

Just 2 more photos:

A hot air balloon that came to land close to the bottom of our garden. At one point, I thought it was actually going to land in the river!

 

My Cosy Memory blanket made up of squares using, amongst others, my advent calendar yarns from the lovely Barbara. It is big enough now for a single bed, but I want it wider!

Well, that's all for the moment. Could I just take this opportunity to wish all the lovely people of Blogland a very happy and healthy 2026.

Toodle pip for now. x