Month: December 2022

I went to get some shopping while Mal walked Ellie. Later we had Indy for the day while her owner went to a wedding. She’s a very lively Springer, so we took her to the field to play with Ellie and next doors dogs!

A walk over the fields as well, the ground was still quite hard from the frost.

We watched the Portugal v Morocco game. This really is a crazy world cup, Morocco won! Portugal out and Ronaldo in tears.

Meanwhile Indy made himself at home in Ellie’s bed!

Another play in the field for the dogs before the England game. Oh dear!   Tariq was so upset he rang up to chat to us!! Mind you I have France in the family sweepstake and he has Argentina.

Thought for the Day – “When you are enthusiastic about what you do, you feel this positive energy. It’s very simple.” ~ Paulo Coelho

We packed our things up, had breakfast and our coach left at 9am. We have had a really good driver, Gareth and that makes all the difference to your holiday, even if he was telling us that we were going to the Black Forest (it was New Forest!) We had a good journey home, he put his foot down and also managed to avoid all the masses of road works.

Rhys collected us from the coach park in Herne Bay, we just made it in time before he went on his school run. We collected Ellie and back home. We had left the heat on, just as well with the dip in temperature.

We watched the Croatia v Brazil game. A very good game and well done to Croatia but that means Mal is now out of the family sweepstake!

That was followed by an “interesting” game between Argentina and Netherlands. It must be a record for yellow cards in one match.

Ellie liked her Christmas teddy we brought her back.

Thought for the Day – “Keep smiling because life is a beautiful thing and there is so much to smile about.”

Officially New Years Eve in our world!

So, this morning was a trip to Poole. This is where Tariq is based but typical, he is in Cardiff at the moment! Again it was a lovely day, the sun was out but it was cold.

Our coach driver then dropped us off in Bournemouth (or we had the choice of returning to the hotel). We went to the Alpine Market and had a good look around there.

After we had lunch , we were too cold and so we caught the bus back to the hotel.

I am disgusted and appalled that Anne Sacoolas has been given an eight month suspended sentence for killing Harry Dunn and also that she refused to return to the UK for sentencing. That is not justice. An elderly man who confused his pedals and ran someone down was sentenced to 18 months in prison!! So a diplomats wife gets nothing.

“This sentence is perhaps the most inevitable outcome of a deeply complex case. Mrs Justice Chema-Grubb could not give Sacoolas a community order, such as unpaid work because, in her words, “it’s obvious no enforcement can be carried out.” An immediate jail sentence would have needed Sacoolas to surrender to the court. And so the judge said the only real option was a suspended sentence plus a driving ban – in the UK.”

In the evening we had a really good singer, so we danced the night away for NYE. It was quite funny that we had Auld Lang Syn at 10pm! That’s what they do for old folk!! Lol.

Thought for the Day – “Be happy for this moment. This moment is your life.” ~ Omar Khayyam

We had a trip to Dorchester in the morning and went to the huge market there. We saw a beautiful Turkish Christmas wreath but decided we wouldn’t get it home in one piece, such a shame.

There was also a nice town museum and a military museum. It was nice that it was so sunny all day.

We then went into Weymouth (where Mal and I got married 24 years ago!) We had lunch there and a wander around.

We went into the Cancer Research shop and I had to laugh as the volunteer was struggling with the till, I actually empathised as I know what a difficult till it is to use!

In the evening we had a band and danced.

Thought for the Day – “Be somebody who makes everybody feel like a somebody.”

We were down for breakfast at 7 . We then had a day out in the New Forest. Our first stop was Lyndhurst. We had a good look around the Heritage centre first.

We then walked to the Parish Church of St Michael and All Angels. We went to see “Alice’s” grave. Alice Hargreaves (nee Liddell) was the inspiration for Lewis Caroll’s ‘Alice’. She lived in Lyndhurst for 50 years and worshipped at this church. Her simple (as requested) grave is outside the south of the church.

Most people visit the church to see the Renaissance stained glass windows, so we went inside.

The vicar started chatting to us. He used to be a marine at Deal. BUT the talk was all about how much money they needed for the church. Above the altar was a fresco of the Wise and Foolish Virgins painted by Frederic Leighton.

Our next stop was Brockenhurst and what cheeky donkeys live here. They were wandering up and down the High Street and looked as if they wanted to go into Tesco!

From there we went on to Lymington and stayed there for a couple of hours. Back to the hotel for our Christmas dinner as today was “Christmas”. We had turkey and all the trimmings followed by Christmas pud!

We had a singer in the ballroom and more dancing (and drinking!)

Thought for the Day – “Happiness is a choice, a repetitive one.”

We packed as we were going to Bournemouth for a “Turkey and Tinsel”. We dropped Ellie off for her holiday with Rhys and co and then Rhys drove us to the coach park in Herne Bay. The coach was waiting. We had Gareth as our driver, we had him take us to the Isle of Wight and he really is nice. He played early 60’s music throughout the whole journey (for all us oldies!)

It seemed all the pick ups were early which meant we arrived at the hotel about 4.30 with tea and mince pies waiting for us. This officially was “Christmas Eve”.

We had a huge room and so unpacked and then went down for a drink and dinner. The hotel has an offer on during our stay, 2 for 1 drinks from 6pm – 9pm. So, a gin and tonic and whiskey and ginger for £5.50! There was also a singer, who was good and got us all up dancing.

A little too much dancing and drinking maybe!

Thought for the Day ~ “Make yourself a priority once in a while. It’s not selfish, its’ necessary.”

A dry day and so we went to Kearsney. Ellie loves paddling in the stream. We saw a kingfisher but I only just managed to get a snap before he flew away!

We watched France v Poland in the afternoon. France is my last team in the family sweepstake. Thankfully they won 3-1.

Thought for the Day – “It always seems impossible  until it is done.” ~ Nelson Mandella