Post Christmas

So, how was your Christmas?  I hope that everything went to plan, the turkey wasn't dry and everyone was suitably grateful for all your hard work.  For us it was a quieter affair than usual which was very welcome.  Christmas day itself went by in a flash of tin foil, turkey, brussel sprouts (oh I do love them but my children call them 'the devil's grapes'!) and a tonne of crinkled wrapping paper ready to be recycled.  Christmas dinner always makes me proud of us 'dinner makers', the concentration, preparation, timing and being able to serve up something that our loved ones thoroughly enjoy.  Also I have discovered a new addition to future Christmas dinners...disposable foil trays!!  This saved the laborious scrubbing of the roasting tins.  Wonderful!!

Boxing Day was pretty similar with our usual 'pick tea' which is a mega buffet of all sorts of delicious treats that we pick at during the day and evening.  However, this year as it was a quieter Christmas, we continued the 'pick tea' yesterday too!  I am determined to be rid of the remainder of the turkey...and this cheese!!  Wow this was strong!!

I hadn't ventured outside since Monday (where had the week gone?), so decided to make my daughter get up early and drive down to my parents in the next village.  I had heard that the weather was pretty bad outside and it was really dark and dismal but hadn't seen the real effects on the deeply dug ditches surrounding the Lincolnshire fens.  I have never seen them so high!

The ditches (or dykes as they call them around here) are in place to stop flooding so it is always comforting to see them only half full.  Today some of them have overfilled and started running onto the roads and we have some awful weather coming.

The fields are sodden with water too which is a danger as these soak into the ditches which will add to the problem.

The planes at the Fenland Airfield have been grounded as its airstrip is a grass field, so they wouldn't get too far in this mud.

It feels unusually warm for the depths of winter, which as my daughter said, 'it doesn't feel like Christmas time'.  Well, the good thing about all this water is that we won't get a hose pipe ban next year!!

We took a detour to see the sails on Moulton Windmill that have finally been restored but I very much doubt they will have these turning when the wind starts to blow through later today and Saturday.  I took this picture while visiting the Moulton fish and chip shop...which was closed!!

Here is a better picture taken in the Autumn (when the chip shop was open!).

I REALLY needed to taste normal food again.  So we took a detour into Holbeach and found a shop open.  Lovely and hot, salt and vinegar and eaten straight out of the paper.  Good, honest food - how I have missed you!!

So, back home again, our mini adventure over and back to our gadgets once more.  Now what shall I cook for tea??!...and what's more what hooky project shall I do next???!

I hope you have all had a good week so far.  xxx