And what have we done?
Quite a lot actually. It was a pretty hectic December but things are winding down a little now as we prepare for a holiday on our favourite Caribbean island - Bequia.
So what made the last few weeks so busy? We can't really grumble, apart from the travelling, it was all very enjoyable.
We've been down to London twice to The National Theatre where we saw the fantastic production of Antony And Cleopatra with outstanding performances from Sophie Okonedo and Ralph Fiennes. After the dreadful Macbeth in February it was great to see The National return to Shakespeare in such style - outstanding.
We also went to see The National's Christmas offering at the Dorfman. Anthony Neilson has created a fabulous black comedy based upon Poe's The Tell-Tale Heart. Irreverent, macabre and very funny, this was a lot of fun.
We've also been to see a couple of critically acclaimed films. Robert Redford's The Old Man And The Gun has great performances from Redford and Sissy Spacek but I found the pace very slow and was disappointed.
As for The Favourite? Where do I start? It's going to win a bagful of awards and the three stars Olivia Colman, Emma Stone and Rachel Weisz are outstanding. The costumes and sets are lavish, the cinematography is wonderful and the music striking (if bizarre). But (and for me there is a but - Marion loved it), despite all those merits, I found it at times tedious and a little boring. I can't see the typical Cineworld audience flocking to see it (or if they do go based on the awards) I don't think they will enjoy it much.
We did a lot of driving over the Christmas break. On Christmas Eve, after stocking up with a fabulous hamper made by Framlingham's wonderful Leo's Deli, we drove to Rochester to see the Kent arm of the family.
I took these Rochester views, whilst walking to the shops to pick up a few last minute supplies. It's a great little town and, with the high speed rail connection and new station development, seems to be very much on the up.
Paul and Josephine made us very welcome and Josephine and her mum created the most fantastic Christmas dinner.
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| Bake Off eat your heart out |
The fine weather enabled us to enjoy a Christmas walk with the family in some local woods
I loved the water droplets on this spider's web.
We drove home on Boxing Day and the next morning it was time to drive to see the Scottish side of the family for New Year.
The weather was kind to us in St Andrews too, so a week in the caravan was pleasant and quite relaxing.
It was nice to spend time with Sarah who was enjoying a few days off from her hectic schedule.
It's good to see all the grandchildren sharing our love of reading. Rose spends hours with her head stuck inside Harry Potter novels.
Before leaving St Andrews we had a very good meal at The Fairmont which looked spectacular in its Christmas finery.
The journey home was marred by a puncture which ended up with us having to have two new tyres fitted and a three hour delay in the eight hour drive.
Many of the presents we got this year were home made. I love this bag made for us by Rose.
And my personalised puzzle book from Catherine and Teddy was lovely.
We bought this fabulous cot quilt at a silent auction at St Michael's church. Not sure what we will do with it but couldn't let all this work go for nothing.
I've still been doing a bit on eBay.
I found this super T G Green art nouveau vase for just £6. It's now in the T G Green Museum after selling for over ten times that.
I wanted to do a bit of metal detecting before we go to Bequia but my favourite field has been full of sugar beet for ages. So I spent a bit of time tidying up the coins I've found since moving here.
When I get the coins I've left with the FLO in Bury St Edmunds, I'll have filled both of these printers' trays and will have to find another (on eBay of course).
I finally got a chance to detect yesterday when I saw activity in the field and the beet harvested. Here are some of the finds.
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| Medieval buckle with pronged spacer c1200-1500 plus lead spindle weight |
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| Medieval penny heavily clipped. Unidentified. |
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| Charles I Rose Farthing |
Finally, it's time to mention Mum. She was 93 yesterday and she's still looking great.
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| Here's to the next one Mum. We'll see you soon. |
