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Sunday 28 December 2008

ACTION AT LAST

A couple of weeks before Christmas my back yard looked like this! The snow lasted well over a week and freezing temperatures reminded us of the winters "we used to have". The cat was amazed by her footprints in the snow and the snow-ploughs and gritters were out twenty four hours a day keeping the roads clear. The weather gradually warmed up and by Christmas we realised that unless we lived at the top of the Pennines or in north west Scotland, we would not have a white one.

We still wore the clothes we had prepared in expectation as we walked on the beach at Highcliffe on Boxing Day.




The crowds had gathered to watch the hardy souls swim in the freezing Solent for charity. People of all ages bathed for sponsorship money and smiling faces collected extra from observers such as ourselves. A collection for Cancer research always gets a good donation from me. These intrepid souls were still rubbing themselves dry as we passed on our walk along the beach path and back via the cliff top.

If you look back from the cliff path you can just see the western tip of the Isle of Wight and the Needles. We had a gloriously sunny day and a bit of a haze prevents you from seeing them in a glance but they can just be identified.
A wonderful Christmas has been enjoyed by many people in this part of Dorset and particularly within this household, which my sister and brother-in-law run with open hospitality, love, great food and drinks and the best seasonal fun. Much thanks to them for the best Christmas I have had for a long time.

I'm hoping to tell you all more about how things are going very soon.

Cheers Gillian




5 comments:

stitching and opinions said...

Good to see you back on line. Happy New Year.

Heide said...

Lovely pictures! I'm glad you had a delightful Christmas. Without my glasses I misread the word "hospitality" and thought at first you'd typed "hostility". Time to get some coffee and wake up.

Anonymous said...

Looks like you had an awesome Christmas! We had the family round ours and you could still feel the tension between my mum and my Grandma! And how cool to go for a walk on the beach and get all that snow as well! Glad you're back! xx

Sue said...

Happy New Year to you too Gillian. It is so good to see you looking so happy with your sister in that photo. It seems you are very busy enjoying the sights of the townships you visit too. I love the snow photo, how lucky to enjoy it for a little bit.

carol said...

Lovely to see and read you again Gillian. I'm so glad you had a good Christmas and thank you for the excellent photos - the masts are a real find. I wish they'd think of that round here.

Tigger looks well!