New Year’s Eve

Lots of people are finishing their 365 project today.  WOOHOO! and well done for finishing!

 

But I started my 365 project on my 50th birthday, so I still have 3 months to go!

Maurice and I are just chilling tonight on our own, so no special celebrations.  I am going to cook a really nice Indian meal and we may well have our last bottle of champagne, while we watch Jools Holland on tv.

And I guess we will eat some of these!  (I don’t think I have ever had such a big box of chocolates – and they are all nutty, which I love!)

30th December

I managed to persuade Maurice to take me and Mum to RHS Wisley for the lumiere show:

The laboratory and pond were lit up with different colour lights.

 

Unfortunately it was raining, so my photos are not brilliant, because I didn’t want to keep my camera out in the rain for too long.  I took my tripod, but I really need to practise more with it, I am useless!

But inside the big new greenhouse was spectacular, and really rather spooky!  I love the ‘fairy grotto’ look to this photo!

 

And this path looks like it might lead to a fairy glen!

I have to say that the rain did spoil it for us, and it was really cold.

29th December

Still got Nicholas’s friends here!  Here they are just before Fran and Susie left.  Greg and Philip stayed all afternoon and caught a train to London at about 5.30pm.  Now we just have Nicholas and Freya.

28th December

I bought a jigsaw that I thought my Mum and I would do on Christmas Day, but it was just too hard!  We only managed to get the edge pieces and a few other bits in.  It obviously takes very clever people like university students, because Nicholas and his friends have finished it today!  It is a lovely snowy Christmas scene, but that’s what makes it hard, because all the colours are the same!  I can see this becoming a new tradition though – I love doing jigsaw puzzles!

 

And here is how you can tell we have students here:

My lounge has been taken over!  But they have gone out now to Chichester to see a film and have a meal, so we can relax a bit!

 

Finally for today I have tried and failed miserably to take some nice pictures of the Christmas tree, but this one I took just now isn’t too bad:

We decided to go for bronze and gold on the tree, and it does look very nice.  The trouble with the tree is that we put it up too early (it’s a real tree) and it has wilted!  It is looking very dry now.  Next year I must remember to put the tree up a bit later!

Nicholas is 21!

I can’t believe that my little boy is 21 today!!!  Good grief, where has the time gone????

2 of his university friends turned up today plus his girlfriend Freya:

From l-r, Nicholas, Freya, Susie and Greg!

Boxing day

We have had a really lovely day with Maurice’s brother, 2 sons and their girlfriends.  But my photos were rubbish!  All seriously out of focus!  How could that happen?  Must have been all that red wine consumed :):)

 

But these two photos came out well.  Tom and Lucy wearing the drinking glasses that I bought them as a ‘table’ present!  So funny!

Christmas Day Morning

We opened our presents in bed this year cos we were due at Mum’s for breakfast by 9.30am!

 

Here’s Nicholas and Maurice looking like Morecombe and Wise!

Lucy with new gloves and scarf.  Yes that’s my toe in the bottom of the picture!

It always annoys me that Maurice never buys his own wrapping paper.  This year I thought I had him stumped, there was hardly any left.  Aha!  He will have to buy his own wrapping paper!  But, sadly as you can see, he didn’t.  He just cobbled together enough small bits to cover my present!  (This was a posh new cycle helmet with flowers on it!)

Breakfast over, it’s time to open more presents!

Here’s my pile, a calendar (flat coated retrievers!) , a book (Chris Evans) and wellies (with stars and stripes on them!)

My brother Andrew with daughters Izzy and Michelle

Izzy opening a present containing new jeans.

Izzy showing SIL Lynda how to use her new iPOd touch!

Michelle and Andrew: