Merry Christmas & Best Wishes for 2012

Here we go again, Christmas time. I know it comes around every year, but I'm never ready.

I haven't been taking many photographs recently, and some that  I have taken I've not uploaded onto a computer, so below is one of my Christmas card designs and that will have to be the only illustration in this post.

The end of November Agnes, one of my college chums arranged a get together at Rab Haws. In the end there were only five of us, Dave, Tam, Janice, Agnes and me, but some of these guys I hadn't seen for 15 years! Well, you'd have thought we had just walked out of the classroom,we just picked up where we left off. Great to see them again, all looking a little older .... but not too much.

The following weekend I went up to Ann Hunt's yard, just along the road from Gleneagles equestrian centre, to learn to lunge. Oh, it was so bitterly cold, I couldn't stay warm at all, vibrating I was! I did learn a lot and was worth being miserably cold. No photographs.

The next weekend was Dad's Birthday. we all went to Uplawmoor Hotel bar for dinner which was excellent. Chris and Michael had steak and raved about it for about a week. Dad seemed to enjoy himself, although he was quiet. I gave him two audio books. He used to love reading - thrillers mostly - but his ability to concentrate has diminished, so I thought he could listen to someone reading to him instead.

Last weekend there was quite a lot of snow, and actually we had very pleasant cold Artic weather, but it did prevented me from riding Bombay. In fact, these past few weekend the weather has been exceedingly unfair, preventing me from riding the horse at all because of very high winds. I'm not sure how much time I'll get over the break to ride out or do any work in the garden for that matter.

Very briefly talking of high winds, my house did suffer a little roof damage of few fallen slates, but I have one small patch with no slates. It looks a bit rummled and there are about two missing slates, leaving a gap so that the wood underneath is exposed. Oh and the RAIN.

It has constantly RAINED.

Still making Christmas  presents - becoming quiet flustered, so I've simplified my ideas to save as much time as possible. Will have to make an effort to clean and tidy the house on Christmas Eve, as Chris and I are having Mum, Dad, Michael, Bozena, Bertie and Morgan over for a pressie swapping session and dinner on Boxing Day Night.

I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas and best wishes for the New Year, lets hope 2012 will be a happier year, and perhaps not such a wet year too!