Author: Maggie Daniel

Our first visit was to Quarr Abbey, Ellie likes the piglets there.

We have been painting memory stones for Torin and so found a lovely place to put one in the Abbey grounds.

We then drove into Ryde to the magical Christmas Imaginarium. It was so lovely and peaceful and if you stood next to the wooden door you could hear the elves busy working. The lady in there told us all about Russell Ince, who was in the building , all the books he has written and illustrated and Christmas designs he had made. Of course we bought quite a few things in there.

Our next visit was to the Distillery where they make Mermaid Gin.

It is only a small distillery and so there are no tours and we discovered it is a tiny shop in the pub and it is cheaper to buy the gin online than from the distillery! But I have to say the pink gin is really tasty, not so much their Winter gin.

 

Torrential rain overnight which woke me up…Mal didn’t hear it!  This is our lodge behind Mal, hidden in the woods. Good practice for Ellie as there are quite a few steps down.

We walked through the wood and to the beach. As you see Portsmouth in the distance, it makes you wonder WHY the ferry is so expensive! Maybe we could try swimming it.

And on to the beach, the tide was in.

They had a Christmas craft fair on in the clubhouse and so we went along. They had some lovely Isle of Wight crafts and that’s another 2 Christmas presents!

We then drove to Freshwater along the Military road, stunning views.

We had lunch at the Vine Inn, highly recommend. We  thought it would be fully booked but they had a couple of people didn’t turn up, so we were lucky and had a Sunday roast there, very reasonable and lovely friendly staff.

Off on our holidays to a lodge in the Isle of Wight. We stopped at Ripley for some lunch and while we were there, around 1pm they phoned from Woodside Bay to say the lodge was ready! A bit of traffic chaos on the route to Portsmouth. We boarded the ferry  and my car wouldn’t lock, then had to do it with the key! A good start.

We had to take Ellie up in the lift only to discover the lift stopped at floor 2 and the dog area was on floor 3…Mal had to carry her up the flight of stairs. Crazy when you pay £100 for the short crossing. Well done Wightlink.

Woodside Bay is a very short distance from the ferry terminal. We had Lodge 84 which we have had before and is really amongst the woodland. A lovely lodge.

So nice they like dogs here.

AND they have their own pack, with a toy and drinking bowl .

We had pizza while watching Spurs lose, followed by a catch up with Strictly. Katya and Lewis’s dance was amazing.

The sun was out so we took Ellie for her first time on Minnis Bay beach since her op. We had to use the slopes rather than the stairs but she loved it.

A busy day at work.

Penny and I had such a late night…talking into the early hours that we didn’t get back until lunchtime and it was Mal’s and my wedding anniversary too! Lol.

What a good time we had.

Penny asked me to join her going to see Strictly Come Dancing, of course I jumped at the chance. Penny drove and we booked into a hotel very close to the studio.

We had to be there for 3 and it went on until 11 pm. A very  long day but well worth it.