New Years Day

ooh Betty! Not a very scary Tiger!

Tiiiii - gerrrrrs. Tiiiii - gerrrrrs. Richard, Tom, Ian & I went to Welford Road to see Leicester Tigers V Sale Sharks. We had a very enjoyable game, a not so enjoyable, pork & stuffing roll (more stuffing & roll than Pork) and a great view. The seats however were not so comfortable being benches rather than seats. We all suffered from compression of the spine afterwards, however we did not feel any cold as well packed in together, sardine like.

The Tigers won - just. It was quite exciting despite the Tigers not playing at their best. There were a few minutes of worry when one of the Sale players had a head collision and was clearly concussed as he could not stand up and had to be taken off. Then Toby Flood was knocked down & lay motionless on the pitch for a good few minutes, then got up & continued playing. I am not so sure I want Tom to play this game if he stands a chance of getting hurt like that.

Good job he is fast and can keep away from people. We have had a great start to 2012.

Happy New year everyone!

New Years Eve

New Years Eve with the Winnings in Halam. I cannot remember the last time that Richard & I saw a New Year in together but I am pretty sure we were both teenagers!

We had a great time. Eleanor made a plumtious chicken pie, the pastry was so light and melt in the mouth, a special method so I am told. We started off the evening with smoked salmon, then haluomi cheese a la Delia a favorite of us all, then the aforementioned pie, accompanied by vegetables from the local farm.  There were only food feet, not miles in most of the meal! Then we had a choice of Lemon Souffle which Richard had made or New York Cheese cake which Eleanor had made, both delicious. It was all hand to the deck with Chris doing the veg, Ian helping Eleanor with the sauce, me laying the table.Tom was also helping out and made a real roaring fire for us all. Champagne some good wine and great food & company saw us through till 1am when we had to admit defeat & take to our beds. What a lovely start to the year.

and .....

Ooh I forgot about the fireworks, indoor ones, but it was too windy for the chinese lanterns (sigh of relief from me)

Christmas Peasenhall Suffolk

Friday 23rd December 7am. The car is packed full of presents, food & booze. We kiss the cat goodbye, wish him a Merry Christmas & set off to our cottage in a lovely village in Suffolk. An excellent journey and we arrive to a chilly but lovely White sheep cottage.

The cottage is very old and has a lot of quirky features but we love it already. Our bedroom floor is so uneven you struggle to stand up sometimes. The photo’s tell a better story than me.

There are a few hick ups ie we end up with no Christmas tree, then we have a tree but no decorations. Some improvisation and the first night we have some resemblance of a decorated tree, we are all quite impressed with our resourcefulness.

We collect our turkey from the amazing local butcher’s shop, have  a quick walk around the village, had to drag Ian out of the butchers first. Managed to avoid going into the award winning deli, a delight saved for tomorrow.

Our first night we are treated to a gorgeous beef & wine casserole courtesy of Joyce. It was absolutely delicious and we managed to sup a few glasses of wine before bed! The cottage has 3 bedrooms 2 en suite so not too much disturbance due to night time loo visits.

The Lollipop fairy

Edible dec's

The Cottage

The cottage is right next to the Church and the church clock strikes on the hour EVERY hour. It is strange but sometimes you hear it & sometimes you dont.

A very old door

Nice shadow

The bedroom floor

Who's been sleeping in Annes bed?

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve.  After scrounging some tinsel from the local shop we lunch at the White Horse Sibton. What can I say but it was fabulous. Proper pub with Adnams ale and a proper chef. The food was really good, local produce. Joyce & I had pigs cheeks, braised with Apsalls cider & miniature apples and local kale scrumptious. Anne had a pork chop (local again) with the most amazing rich creamy sauce. Ian had Venison pie (he had pigeon breast for starters), I had chicken liver Bruschetta, A & J had Salmon roulade ( I think). Puds were just as delicious. A great start to the festivities.

Christmas day - PRESENTS!

Christmas day - had a bit of a lie in did not wake up until someone brought a cup of tea at 8am. Santa had been very good to us all as usual. The turkey was the star of the day, a rolled breast, no bones no waste & a perfect flavour! 10/10. Bootiful. Oh yes & I got an ipad.

Just Ian's presents - honest!

Boxing day

Boxing day found us catching the sea air in Southwold and another Adnams for Mr F, well it is Christmas & the home of his best ale!

Joyce Ian & I went to the RSPB reserve at Minsmere we had a very enjoyable day, saw a Water Vole up close & dangerous (well it was running towards us) some Red Deer and a Bittern, these were the highlights. Not much else about as too mild, a bit different from last year when the cold took your breath away after it had taken you face off.