Happy New Year!

I hope you had a happy Christmas. We had a lovely time. I've discovered the secret is to delegate. That way everyone does something and nobody feels put-upon. This year I delegated so efficiently that I had very little to do; I conveniently missed all the put-upon vibes from everyone else! There were 13 of us for Christmas dinner, so we split into two tables:

Our nephew, Lawrence, took these photos of Christmas Day, including one of some stags which he saw when he went for a walk after lunch.

Both my New Year's resolutions (to lose weight and write my Lundy story) lasted as long as the dry weather ie 48 hours. George's surprise homecoming for a week's holiday just after New Year provided an excellent excuse to fill the kitchen cupboards with all sorts of goodies and cook huge roast dinners. Then Sarah fell ill with flu, which turned into the sort of tonsillitis which doesn't cooperate with antibiotics. Luckily, she's on the mend now. While she was ill, she lost a stone on my behalf. Does that count? Novelty hot water bottle covers are so realistic nowadays
On the farming front, we weaned the cows and calves about a week ago, just before this bout of heavy rain started. One cow looks pretty close to calving, so I'll let you know when that happens. In the meantime, I'd better chew on a lettuce leaf and write a story....