Christmas Eve in the Village!

• My elderly neighbour trundles down the footpath on his tractor delivering presents for Christmas.
• As I put return the hens to their coop for the evening I realise the rabbit is hopping round the hen enclosure unperturbed. He jumps happily into his hutch when I place his food there.
• It is brought home to me as I walk round the village delivering cards and chattering just how many people there are for whom Christmas this year will be a sad time full of memories or fear for the future. Peace be with you all!

Carols, Christmas and cleaning!

Winter sun!

• Singing carols by candlelight with the additional aid of a wind up torch which could be heard 'whizzing' between the carols.
• The last of the presents has been wrapped and I can now relax and enjoy Christmas
• Giving the hens and rabbit a spring clean whilst the weather was dry. A tree had blown over in the garden overnight with the strong winds.

Delivering Presents!

• Walking in the mist and semi light towards a warm and cosy cottage whose twinkly Christmas lights shone out across the field.
• Sipping sherry with an elderly neighbour before her Christmas holidays began!
• Delivering home made gifts to neighbours and friends who have made our year so much happier!

The Christmas Holidays begin!

Homemade Chicken nuggets

• My son took part in the school carol service this morning and played the drums in "Fairy tale in New York".
• An afternoon pottering away in the kitchen making quiche, crumble and homemade chicken nuggets.
• The children come home from school at the end of term and my daughter curls up in bed and falls fast asleep!

Skating on thin ice and splashing in large puddles!

• My daughter went ice skating for the first time and didn't fall over!
• The rain is coming down again and the beck is swelling, flooding everywhere
• My son bought clothes for himself ,he's never cared about brands before and thankfully still seems to have a sensible head on his shoulders.He shunned the big brand names for the more reasonable retail stores and got two practical hoodies!

Celebrating Freedom!

• The wren outside my kitchen window looking for 'his' Christmas tree which we have brought into the house
• The jar of homemade pickles on my French Dresser
• Celebrating my friend's decision on joining me in home educating her Autistic child.

A Family Weekend

• Putting up the Christmas tree!
• My twelve year old daughters first solo of Once in Royal David's city!
• Taking the Children to watch 'The Hobbit' at the cinema.

Christmas is coming!

• Children giggling on the sofa as they play electronic card games.We even managed a game  of good old fashioned pick up sticks!
• Tears rolling down our faces at the recitation of Sam's Puddin by Stanley Holloway
• Singing Christmas carols at sheltered accomadation this Sunday afternoon.

Scrooge and spreading snow!

• Making Christmas gifts in a jar. Chocolate brownie mix with fudge and chocolate chips.
• Singing 'Ebenezer Scrooge was a mean old man' in preparation for our Christmas concerts.
• The snow is spreading over the lower fells.

Cheese and Onion,Crafts and Concerts

Making cheese and onion plait

My daughter's handiwork

• Cheese and onion plait for tea.
• Relaxing with chocolate cake and coffee at a Christmas Craft Fayre on an icy afternoon.
• Planning ahead for a week full of concerts.

Break downs,Break the ice and Birthdays

The water trough this morning!

• I put my foot in the hens water trough to break the ice and cold water gushes into my welly! I forgot I had a hole in it!
• My friends birthday. Have a very Happy one!
• The gears break down on my car but we all get home safely!

Icy morning full of sunshine!

Robin watched on

Puddles in the field

• I love how the ice cracks under my feet as I walk through the field.
• The fields are full of water which is now covered by a film of ice.
• Robin sits cheekily waiting for me to go before he swoops down to steal the hen pellets.

The Queen's transport!

• As I climb the back steps to collect the milk I find a pair of knickers I had dropped on my way on with the washing!Wonder what the milkman thought!
• My friend sends me a video of our local Dickensian weekend.Queen Victoria is riding a mobility scooter!
• My son's 16th birthday tomorrow.

Christmas shopping in Chester!

• Christmas shopping in Chester at the Christmas market
• Spending the day with some special friends
• Crawling into a snuggley duvet after a long and tiring day.

Sunsets,Scraps and Storms

Sun setting over the windfarm

• A beautiful day in the aftermath of the flooding
• A tea of leftovers after an exhausting week.
• Watching the sun as it set over the estuary.

Chalk and cheese,comfy and curled up and Cooking

Flooding in Kirkby this afternoon!

• Soft, sleek and calm, Scruffy wiry and chaotic - that's my dogs!
• My son curled up on the sofa sleeping whilst the wind howls outside the window and the rain drums against the window panes
• Making potato wedges with my daughter- a practice run before her assessment in cookery class on Friday.

Crafts, Chocolate Brownie and Christmas Cakes!

• Lovely conversation at a Michelmas Craft Fayre with a lady selling handmade signs with mottos on them. I buy two, they will make great Christmas presents
• Admiring the jars filled with fudge, chocolate chunks, brown sugar and flour! Chocolate brownie cookie mix yum, yum
• Eating my first mince pie of the year whilst talking to an old lady who lives in a farm on the moors and makes twenty Christmas cakes each year!

Melted cheese, mango and maple leaves!

• Granary cheese melt. salad and mango chutney with a cup of coffee all on my lonesome! Lovely........
• The pattern of yellow maple leaves under my feet on the pavement as I walk into town
• Sitting in the car with a good book waiting for my daughter to come out of choir.

One man and his two Dogs!

• I walk into the utility room to find Rusty our border terrier pup, sitting on the table, smiling at me and wagging his tail! Yesterday he took two bread rolls out the cupboard, one for him and one for Benny the Labrador. I suppose I should be glad he knows how to share!
• When I come back from talking to the postman he is sitting on a dining chair reading my emails.Does he know he's a dog?
• Fantastic Rock concert at school the other night .So proud of the drummer! Not such a little boy any more but just as popular judging by the amount of teenage girls  hugging him. Never thought I'd see the day when my son wore nail varnish!

Eats,shoots and leaves!

• The car headlights pick out the silhouettes of two harvest mice seeking somewhere dry to sleep. They scarper as soon as they are in full glare of the head lamps!
• As I take a scoop of hen pellets from the food bin in the garage a robin swoops down from the ceiling and out through the door into the garden.
• It's mild in the garden this  morning and the leaves are dropping gently like yellow tissues onto the ground

Cormorants, cakes and cameras!

• A huge black bird launches itself clumsily from the beck when it hears us pass by and hits the bridge as it fails to climb into the air in time. It sits winded for a few seconds giving me a better chance to study it . I think it's a cormorant!
• The excitement in our little market town of watching a film crew filming for a television programme later in the year.
• Yummy rock cakes made by my daughter!

Chicken Licken sees a Fox!

• The dogs chase a fox which is staring straight into my friend's hen enclosure in broad daylight!
• Thinking and praying for a dear friend in hospital today.
• My husband assures me he really isn't going to spend a trip at the Pleasure beach when he goes to Blackpool  today!

Spiders webs and sponge cakes

• Rain drops hang from the spiders webs outside the kitchen window
• Sponge cake made from the last of our hens eggs. For the first time this year I have had to buy half a dozen in the supermarket and they just don't compare!
• Muddy wellingtons as I splash through the puddles down the lane.

Whiffy dogs in the Dog House!

• Rainbow over the estuary and I'm kicking myself that I didn't take the camera.
• Two very smelly dogs who have been rolling in cow pats having a bath and shampoo!
• Sitting in a warm bubbly bath whilst the rain lashes against the window pane.

Haircuts for Hedges!

Trimmed hedges

Starlings in Kirkby

• The hedges have had a haircut in time for winter!
• I watch enthralled as the starlings dip and swoop like synchronised swimmers
• The mist has crept down the fells today and the roads are grey and muddy.

Indian tee pees in the English Lakes!

Oh what a beautiful mornin'!

Tee pees in cumbria!

• Bonfire parties and overnight stays in a Tee pee!
• Shire horses gamboling in the sunshine!
• Getting back to reality as Half term draws to a close!

Snow sprinkles and Robin thief!

• Snow on the Lakeland fells in the sunshine!
• A robin comes to sit on the pear tree as I feed the hens, then swoops down to join them as they feed.
• Sitting in the car ,sharing chicken nuggets and fries, before we set off on a Christmas shopping spree!

After Halloween

Werewolf of Kirkby!

Chocolate apples

• Am I the only person with a friend who brushes a shrew off the patio so the cat doesn't catch it?
• Steaming coffee and gooey cakes in my friends kitchen as the autumn sun streams through the French windows, Good conversation too!
• A bag of Halloween goodies hangs through the letter box. A Good witch or wizard must have delivered them yesterday evening!

Trick or treat!

• Making toffee and chocolate covered apples in the kitchen on a rainy afternoon.
• Making costumes and painting faces in anticipation of halloween
• Excited children set off round the village and return home with bags full of sweets and lollipops!

Autumn Glory!

• Overnight the leaves have covered the ground and the trees are bare. autumn is truly here!
• A trip to Chill Factor for my son who is going tubing and climbing with a wonderful charity young Carers!
• Watching the hedge trimming machine as it rips the branches as it cuts.It always surprises me how they shoot back undamaged in spring!

Let them eat cake!

• The dogs found the remnants of my Victoria sponge on the side and demolished it for breakfast
• The clocks have been turned back so we spent the evening huddled up on the sofa watching Hugo
• My daughter got back from scout camp and her first words were" I'll let you know how I got on later but first I'm going to bed!"

Love and Friendship!

• Planting daffodils where the ground has been cleared for a spring show
• A little bit of kindness from a complete stranger 
• A hug of Friendship which makes me cry!

'Cooped up' in the back of the car!

• You know when you live in the country when you meet a friend who has just been to Morrisons with a cockerel in the back of the car.
• We have a mink or a weasel on the loose in the village.
• The pink crocosmia I bought in the summer are in flower.

An Afternoon on the Fells!

• Watching the dogs jump in and over the water in the sunshine and a cyclist as he cycled over the boggy ground on the moor.
• Enjoying the views and regretting that I don't take advantage of our beautiful area more often
• The feeling of exhiliration after puffing our way up the hill side to the summit

Life has its ups and downs!

• A long lie in after a very long week!
• A sick little boy recovering , wrapped up in a duvet and reading his enclyclopedia!
• Watching my daughter spend her own pocket money on a present for her friend who is having a hard time

Outages, puddles and runaway dogs!

•  Water rushing down the public footpath at the end of the drive. The field at the top has been saturated with all the rain.
• A day without electricity, reading history books, discussing politics and eating take aways!
• The dog rushes into my next door neighbours front door as I'm talking, sniffs round her kitchen then trots out!