Sat in the conservatory....

....because we can!   It's just been too darned cold to open the door, never mind go in there and sit.  But the snow has gone and it is almost tropical in Birmingham...6 degrees.   Before it melted my poor plants simply froze up, not many of them are going to recover in spring.

        We bought a salmon on Christmas Eve. and we are still eating it many days later....and Selina got new shoes for Christmas!

Waiting for Santa.....

 ...I know he's out there somewhere.....

                             ........but there's a limit to how long I'm prepared to stand here....
                    ....give me a shout if you see anything Good.

 Went for a walk yesterday with my new camera stuck in my pocket [yes Charlotte I know, it's far too expensive to stick in my pocket]  But just look at the Holly we found.

HAPPY CHRISTMAS
LOVE TO EVERYONE.
XXX

Playing with the camera....

...the zoom is really powerful, this snap is from our bedroom window, and it is the tree outside Anne's house!

Managed to get back before the bad weather really set in....

....and Charlotte got to see several properties she liked the look of.  Now they just have to agree to the price dad thinks they are worth.  There was so much ice still hanging around in Newcastle, but it wasn't horribly cold.  But Darsh was really under the weather, so once we had seen the properties we came home and spent a couple of days in the warm for him to recover.
     Sara and John got here OK but then had a job getting away again, the flight was delayed by hours and hours.  Selina and Pete came over as well, and they are still here, working from home rather than facing all that snow in a smart car.  We had Christmas dinner on Sunday and opened lots of presents.  S and J bought us a Wii, the girls think we will never use it, I want to have a go, but haven't got there as yet.  Darsh gave me a camera he brought back from Malaysia, it was wrapped up in a bag with a packet of sugar!  Why does he do it?  Why can't he just give out a nicely wrapped present, without a "how silly am I" factor?  Remember the gold braclet with a box of tampax, and a pretty silver bracelet in an empty crisp packet he found on the floor.
     Got into Birmingham yesterday and was surprised to find it all so busy, done all my shopping, so just had a good wander round Selfridges.  Lots of the lovely things I fancied have all gone, so I don't think the shops have had a too bad a christmas.  Attempted the German market, but it was just too slippery to enjoy it.
'Am going to have a go at downloading some of my pics from my new camera, but I don't really now how, John was going to give me a lesson but the weekend flew by so fast that we never got round to it.

Feeling back to normal....

....but I was a bit rough for a couple of days.  Darsh is still not too good, started a 2nd course of antibiotics and coughing and spluttering all over the place.  Charlotte has had to look after us both, and been really good at it too.  Darsh is really miffed because she has been well and he has not.  He got her antiboitics ready and keeps giving her anadin extra just in case!  She has escaped to Leeds today to see Matt at his graduation, we are going to Newcastle tomorrow to view the properties Charlotte is interested in.  That's if Darsh feels like driving all that way.  Joe is going to a friend of Darsh's for a couple of days, and we are staying in a travel-lodge overnight.  It was £30 for me and him to stay, and £20 for the dog, hence the dog staying here!
 
     Darsh has changed my phone contract, so I can now ring Sara, FREE, for 60 mins a month.Spoke to her on Saturday and she seems to think that there are some christmas presents here for her.  I am looking forward to her and John coming over for an early Christmas day on Friday.  Selina and Pete are also coming at the weekend so I am busy trying to get the last few jobs done and last few trimmings up.

It just got too cold in the conservatory......

This poor thing had died overnight...

 

Some plants dont seem to mind as much, 

   

 This is as far as I intend to go today....hanging out of the bedroom window with wth camera in my hand.

 So pleased I had got a zoom, I haven't even been to the bin today because Darsh has very nicely given me his chest infection he has been suffering with over the last couple of days.  I'm nothing like as bad as him, he really didn't think he was going to survive the night.  I've got a cough and a wheeze, but nothing a few days in the warm won't cure...
..so I started wrapping someone's presents..

...and putting up the christmas tree.

Slipped over on the ice...

...good job I didn't have my camera in my pocket, otherwise it would have been more than the flash that was broken.  Was walking back from the horses, where I had stood and watched a large fox sniffing lazily along the river bank in the bright morning sunshine.  He was not bothered by been out in daylight and ambled across the ice in full view for about 10 minutes.  Happily Joe did not spot him, he was quite happy sniffing in the lane and came home wet and muddy.
 My wrist is a little blue and bruised, so I have put off doing the ironing and present wrapping, which were supposed to have been my tasks to be done this afternoon.  Instead Darsh dropped me off at Bescot market, and I looked round there while he went to the temple.  I hung about for an hour and then went it to have a McDonalds in the warm.
  Charlotte is on her way back tonight, but is keen to go back up to Newcastle later in the week to show us a flat she has seen

Walked up to the horses this morning.....

...Took my camera and my dog with me, it was sunny still and vey bright.  Joe was keen to stay at home and watch the day from the warm side of the glass, but once he got out of the door and past the dreaded car he was well away. 

Down in the dyke sniffing around, I am pleased it was so well frozen, otherwise he was in for a bath.

    

Wondering where all the water went

 

 When he suddenly realised he was getting a bit cold, he turned round and headed for home.

Wandered round the German market...

Just looking!

...eating German sausages, watching the crowds waiting for the World Cup news and getting snowed on. 
   We dropped Charlotte off for her mega bus, it was only an hour late, and then walked up to the market as it was starting to get dark.  We called in at the Jamie Oliver restaurant to book a table for when Sara and John come to stay before Xmas.  But they do not take bookings for less than a table of 8.  Apparently Jamie wants to feed the world, and so everyone has to wait for a table.  The girl doesn't think we will have to wait for more than an hour[!] and we can always wait at the bar in the mean time.  I got the feeling Jamie was more interested in bumping up the bar bill than feeding the world and we don't really want to hang around waiting, with no definate idea of what time we will get to eat, so, as nice as it would have been to take everyone there, I think we will think of somewhere were we are sure of a table rather than just a maybe.
    It took as quite a while to drive home, as it snowed all the way back, but it was only as we came into Streetly that it showed signs of settling.

"All three of us is on the internet..."

...Charlotte has just stuck her head round the door to inform me.  I am sat in the conservatory, so close to the fire it is burning my arm, Darsh is at the dining room table, using Charlotte's old lap top, and  Charlotte is in her room with her new laptop, eating cereals because although it is 5pm to us grown ups, she has only been up a short while, and is missing Matt!

     The snow has finally arrived but it is a bit feeble, pretty, but not deep enough to really be exciting.  Took Joe for a walk round the block all wrapped up in my layers.  I stayed upright, but surprisingly it was him who slipped off a pavement and rolled over in it. 

  Been reading my camera book, it is definately the camera at fault and not me catching the wrong setting.  I wonder if it is possible for the flash bulb to have 'gone', I plan to try and get it fixed if  it is not too dear, as the pics I get from the old camera in daylight are absolutely fine.  Darsh reckons he is going to try and fix it for me...NO... we already have a mountain of unfinished tries in the family room, and my camera is not going to join it!

What else is there to do except hibernate...

  

Joe spends his days curled up on the sofa.....

....While dad spends hours laid on the bed, hard to tell them apart, but Joe doesn't shout so loudly on the phone.  I have been making presents and trimmings and Charlotte has had Matt to keep her company for a few days.  As yet we haven't any snow but it is certainly VERY cold.

We have finally got Wifi, it is dad's christmas present from Charlotte, and Matt connected it up for us yesterday.  So we can now use the internet without freezing in the conservatory.  But problems, problems my camera is playing up, the flash seems to be broken....

I won a prize....

...in a Boots promotion, they rang me yesterday and asked me to collect it from New Oscott.  So over we went, Charlotte and I, and spent a pleasant couple of hours wandering round the shops there.  The prize, only just fitted into my largest shopping bag, and has been squirreled away into someone's present box! 
      Got into M and S just as they were putting out the bargains, Ch was a tad overexcited as most bits were only 50 pence.  So we had soup for supper, followed by chilli marinaded prawns with tomatoes and clotted cream rice pudding.  It's sausages and soup for lunch tomorrow, with a big bag of oranges, as well as more prawns stashed in the freezer for another time.  As it was so cold yesterday we ate in front of the TV, cooking our supper on the little Raclette machine Irene gave me last year.
     It was such beautiful sunshine this morning we nipped out for a couple of pics...

      .....I swept up and put everything ready for Christmas[and winter]the other day....

     Brought everything in, out of the greenhouse with all this cold that is expected over the next couple of weeks.   My Christmas cacti is just about to flower and is packed with buds, that has had to come and live in the conservatory until spring.  Cleaned up after Ch's fire basket evening and put it all ready in case she decides to do it all over again.  We need to look out for a few bits of wood and fir cones when we go out for our walks, but Joe is quite happy to snooze on the sofa, only nipping out for a quick wee, and then yapping to come straight back into the warm again.

Messing around with my camera settings.......

......and took this pic of my flowers, was rather pleased with it too!

Christmas is coming.......

            ...and Joey just cannot wait....

                 

...his Christmas suit has been hanging by his bed since Halloween.........

......I have been making Christmas trees with all the felt that Irene gave me.....

....and Charlotte got into my craft room last night to make someone's present...the mess she left was unbelievable!

The girls have gone home.....

...both Kate and Emma are back at work tomorrow.  Charlotte has spent a peaceful, snoozy afternoon curled up in her chair recovering from FRIDAY night, she is obviously way too old to stand the pace. 
     Took the girls into town to catch their buses this morning and had a couple of hours to wander round town, didn't need anything just had a wander, it wasn't particulaly busy but there was so many lovely presents and trimmings around.  Went into Debenhams and although there was some nice things for sale it was obvious that the shop hadn't been cleaned from the previous day!  The floors were dirty, lots of rubbish and fluff rolling around and discarded cans, coffee cups and papers discarded on the display stands!  Down to Selfridges and the difference was very obvious, it was all clean and tidy as well as been bright and cheerful to look around. I wished I could buy my own Christmas presents this year, there was so many things I liked.
     Spent the afternoon sorting papers in the family room, the filing cabinet is overflowing onto the floor.  We now have 3 bags of shreded paper ready to go to recycle, so we have made a good start.

Busy few days, with lots of visitors...

coming and going for Charlotte's birthday..Matt came to stay, and Sel and Pete, Chi joined us for a rather cold BBQ and Kate and Emma have also stayed for most of the week.  Now dad is back, looking rather chubby to say the least!

It has been really cold and then really wet so we have been out and about between downpours.  Met up with Selina after her conference and went to the new Jamie Oliver restaurant for supper on the 2nd day open, it is really big with 300 seats and dozens of staff.   It doesn't have an instore deli, despite it's size, it was a delicous evening and we were well and truly looked after.

Charlotte has been doing a bit if driving and getting used to her new car, she drove into town, Lichfield and upto Tesco in Brownhills and Oscott a couple of times.  All she needs is a bit of confidence and possibly power steering!

Made a good start on our Christmas shopping and Selina has taken a tree and some trimmings for her house, I want to get all the trimmings out for a good sorting and throw all those old lights away, if they don't work whats the point of keeping them all, just in case we get chance to mend them-we are talking about a very large crate, not just acouple of strings kicking about. 

Planning  to go to New LIfe this afternoon and then to Caldmore for our supper, looks like fatty daddy is here for a few more days yet then.

I had my hair cut....

...so has he.
His was a lot more expensive than mine.
He came back in looking very pleased with his new look.

He was in the kitchen tonight, just willing me to drop that spagetti bolognaise into his mouth.......funny how he totally ignores me when he gets what he wants!

Charlotte having a go at driving the camper van.

Darsh has gone on his holiday, it is so peaceful around here, no constant background of shouting and endless mobile phones ringing. I can actually hear Joe slurping in his dish. Funny how I didn't hear Charlotte yelling and banging when she locked herself in the conservatory, I thought it was a combination of fireworks and "trick or treaters" I never realised it was a desperate trainee solicitor, missing the start of X Factor!

Charlotte is busy painting...

...the bathroom ceiling and sorting out all sorts of rubbish...Selina and Pete are coming over later to celebrate Charlotte getting a training contract and to eat birthday roast lamb.  We went shopping last night and Ch. thought I was buying fresh apricots in Tesco..."Yuk" she squealed, holding up the pack in disgust,"who's going to eat them?"  "I don't know" I said, "it's not my trolley".  She put them back mighty quickly and apologised profusely to the trolley's 'owner' who was stood behind her shaking his head!  The shock was so great she bought an 8 pack of Snickers ice cream and scoffed 3 by the time we got from the shop to the car...."don't want them to melt" was her excuse....yeah right.

It was a very wet bonfire night so we sat in front of the telly with the curtains open, scoffing enchilladas [and Snickers for pudding.]  Decided on a walk in the rain, taking Joe, who surprisingly, was well and truly up for it.  He was pulling ahead at the end of his long lead when a rocket went up right in front of him, he watched it for a few seconds then firmly turned round and headed straight past us back to the front door.  When we got back later-dripping-he was sat on the top stair waiting for us.  That was obviously his new favourite spot, dry warm and well away from any sudden surprises.


    Charlotte was keen to open the champagne....

          
         ......Selina preffered to watch the X Factor...

Kylie was on

HMV in the 21st century!

I think it was the cuddle as much as the music, but his face says "turn it down".

Charlotte sat in the hall in a sunny spot to read the paper, she wasn't to know that was someone else's favourite spot and the newspaper on the floor was an additional favourite......and if there was a free cuddle thrown in...bring it on! Silly dog

Sal and Dave here....

for the weekend, they are hoping to head to France on Thursday.  Charlotte set up a blog so we can eventually keep up with their progress, but not for a few months as they are not taking the computer with them in this load as they have nowhere to put it and no phone or internet. 

I've got a whole tree full of these....

....waiting to be put in the freezer.

Chopped down the fennel ready to plant bulbs, it smelt wonderful and I laid it on the path, where I walk on it every time I go through the back gate.

Autumn is definately here.