Guess what...

A picture of the three of us wrapped up against the elements. There's something new about this picture, can you guess what? Look closely now! ;0)

Rain stopped play

We tried for a walk along the canal on Sunday after a lovely pub lunch, only to be beaten back by floods! We hadn't realised just how much it had rained this week - the weir in this picture is normally a quiet little trickle but here it's torrenting over the top and into the river. We managed a few muddy fields but when we got to the flooded stile we decided to turn back!

Wicked!

This week Emma had the last of her Christmas presents and spent the evening with a friend at the new musical production at the Apollo Theatre in London.

Sadly Tim and I had to go and lose ourselves in London for a couple of hours so we settled in at a little Italian around the corner - what a hardship eh?

The girls had a lovely time - they said it was - you guessed it - Wicked! ;0)

Castell Dinas Bran

The most amazing views from the top... now back down to town for a well earned coffee!

Historic Walk

Waking up in sunny Wales, we headed off for a 6 mile "Historic Walk" around the countryside of Llangollen. We took in the horseshoe shaped weir designed by Thomas Telford, the ruins of a 12th century abbey, and then walked up to Castell Dinas Bran, reported associated with King Arthur, fairies and a hidden silver harp. To say the sun shone is a massive understatement. For a country that is so often under a cloud of rain, we were truly blessed to have a cold (minus 4 degrees) and sunny day, perfect for walking. We opted to take the steam train back to the car but the 4 miles we did walk were mainly uphill so we still feel saintly!!

First weekend away of the new year...

To herald in the new year we headed for a weekend away to get some fresh air and walk off all those vol-au-vents! We've often headed for the Devil's Kitchen in Snowdonia but at 4 hours it's quite a drive. We've been back to explore a place we often used to just drive through on the way - and at only 2 and a bit hours from home it's easy to get a full weekend away. We've found a great little hotel that sits on an island between the canal (so cold there were icicles hanging down) and river, and is also opposite a steam railway line - unbeatable in terms of location. So, when we arrived we had a little wander around Llangollen, a cute little town on the river Dee, took a drive out to Ruthin, famous for its castle, then checked into the hotel. The railway people recommended an adorable little pub for some real Welsh food - lamb stew and crusty bread - scrumptious! Now, an early night ready for our big walk tomorrow...

Mamma Mia!

In honour of the year's most successful and delightful movie, we decided to treat (!) our New Year's Eve guests to a buffet reminiscent of the 1970s...the idea heralded much debate and brought back fond memories of seasonal celebrations with our grandparents - so, in tribute, we dined on the vol-au-vents, scampi, cheese hedgehogs, avocado and black forest gateau!!! It was all good fun, we played board games and toasted in the new year with London celebrations on the TV (brrr...) and a bottle of bubbly...

To all our friends all over the world, Happy New Year!

I'm sure 2009 won't be nearly as eventful as 2008 has been, but who knows...?! ;0)

Cold and bright

The weather has been very kind this holiday by bringing us perfect conditions for walking - cold but bright sunshine. This week we visited Stockgrove Park, popular with local dog owners, for a circular walk around the frozen lake. Here's a picture of Emma and Tim working out how to use the Stonehenge-style sundial, and within a few minutes' accuracy it actually worked!