Just jotting down a few memories of Christmas 2011 ... we were so busy I might not recall the details later .. Apart from anything we both seemed to be fighting off coughs and colds and a couple of times my nights were very restless with my ususal belly-aches etc etc .. boring stuff .. but that aside, we had a great time.
We decorated the shed in homage to my mum's decorating style:
;D
I suppose Christmas really started with a trip to Dorch to see all the family and exchange gifts there.
I also managed to grab a little meeting with Mark, Tracy and Luke, despite the flat tyre trauma at the start of the return trip!
Brigid and I started our Christmas plans by getting B a 12 day guest membership at my gym, which we used at least 8 times, I think. We went most mornings if there was not a "better offer" and generally did at least one class. We did lots of body-balance and yoga with a few cycling classes of great strain thrown in for good measure. You never work so hard on the bike as you do in a class with a superift guy barking out intructions for interval training .. really enjoyed that.
We also made good use of the time to do relaxing in the spa bath and the heat of the saunas for a treat too,
People.We saw a fair few people over the holiday.
Went to Manchester to disperse a few pressies and caught a glimpse of
Kasia and Gary before they set off to Poland for their own Christmas time
Enjoyed a little party at
James and Huw's house, where we met a few new people, we especially liked
Sarah and Beck James and Huw came over before Christmas too and we had a meal up at the pub with them. Here I am modelling one of my sister's dresses:
Liz drove over and called in on her way to Chester that day too.
Kay entertained us at her house for Christmas Day, adn this is a glimpse of her, and the dinner, and also me wearing the other dress my sister lent me, though the cardi pretty much covers it in this photo.
Greg came one afternoon and left his business card .. so professional these days! B and Greg went out for a walk in the woods, but I was a bit frail that day.
Mandy and Pete planned a great evening where we went to theirs for tea with
Jenny and John then all out to the Theatre for a very entertaining show: "You can't take it with you"
We saw a fair bit of
Bet who lives on the site, and she sometiems came over in the evening for a little drink with us.
Clare came over one afternoon to get the last look at the shed before we winterised it.
On the way home from the shed on New Year's Eve we popped in for a lovely lunch with
Jane, David and their son TimothyActivityIn addition to the gym routine we also made good use of the mild weather to do some trips out.
One evening we went for a walk around the
Chester City Walls.One afternoon at the
Chester Zoo, which I am determined to use more when we are back the the shed next year, it is lovely.
I already mentioned the theatre trip, which was close contender for being my favourite part of the holiday, so many laughs, buttha actually tip top favourite trip was braving the winds to get a long walk along the coast at
Crosby . I just adore being there and gazing out over the Gormley statues. The tide was going out when we arrived and the wavews were very high. In parts it was almost too hard to walk into the wind with the soft sand whipping into our faces, but to me that makes it all the more interesting. It is a blend of art and nature that never seems the same and always holds my interest. Awesome, really exhilerating.
Packing up was quite hard work, and we are stil busy unpacking and arranging all the stuff from the shed into the house .. all very strange cos everything here is still rather new to us as well! New wardrobes, new shelving outside in the shed. New kitchen. Nothing very familiar about it at all, yet. But two months hibernating here will soon make it feel like ours again!