Penelope & Parker in December

A weekend in Somerset with friends from school – we enjoyed a winter walk at Fyne Court which is a pretty National Trust site near to Taunton with some nice family walks and they’ve made the most of a fallen tree and given it steps to help you climb on! Fun for big and little kids alike!

Christmas comes out slowly in our house.  Mr P doesn’t like the sparkly lights to arrive too soon so I slowly place things around the house.

This little tree from the White Company is always first out!  Next comes our gorgeous little tree that has made it through the year in the garden – filled with a plethora of interesting decorations from our travels with two stars up top.

I hadn’t realised the New Forest ponies were quite so docile (or nosey) – we found a selfie savvy one on a recent walk from Beaulieu to Bucklers Hard.  This is one of our favourite walks – we even ate our lunch alfresco at the Master Builders Hotel – very balmy for December and for once it wasn’t raining!

I managed to avoid London for the most part in December but I did make one last trip up for work – it was a gloomy day indeed, and still no sun-up when I arrived at Waterloo (!!).  Even on a pea soup kind of day I love the view as I walk across Waterloo Bridge towards the city.

Such is the lack of daylight and fresh air in December it is necessary to take chances and shower dodge.  Smiling even though it’s pouring. My fault it rained – as I wore my sunglasses!

On another day after the Christmas vacation started the sun came out – well almost, enough for me to use my sunglasses as a headband anyway…

For Christmas we were visiting the Parker parents in Cheshire.  We drove up on Christmas Eve in the pouring rain, but as if by magic after lunch the sky cleared and off we went on a walk.  We didn’t see any horses, but we found a cow – and took a “cowrie” (we are now looking for pigs, sheep and donkey’s!)

Up above the village of Bollington which is near Chateau Parker is White Nancy.  It is an amazing vantage point and commands views across the Cheshire Plain.  Each year the monument – White Nancy – is painted to commemorate different historical things.  This year it was the 200 year anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo.

Happy Christmas from Cheshire!

After Christmas and back in the south we had a cultural day out in Oxford with friends – even in the winter the city was busy with tourists but we managed to find some quiet corners.  Such a mixture of things to see – phalic figures and ‘treatment of the dead’ items in museums (the Ashmolean and River Pitts museums) and the gorgeous architecture of Lincoln College and the Sheldonian Theatre.

After the food-fest drew to a close I decided to start on my fitness regime again (and it wasn’t raining momentarily).  Great to get out and pound the pavements again and it would appear that these rhododendron’s think summer is here – full bloom in December!!

A hive of activity in the garden whilst I sit and have tea and biscuits… Whilst it may just look like I am being lazy, I had actually done a little weeding to spur these two into action!

Pop! Happy new year, this frames it nicely!!

It has been a marvellous year – fantastic fun and games and some less than perfect moments too.  I love my #2015bestnine instamoments – looking forward to seeing what 2016 brings (and the rain stopping)!!