Christmas arrives at the Old School

Another huge gap between updates; it's a shame and in the future I'll regret these gaps as it is so nice to have the record over the previous 790 updates (yes, this is update number 791 on this blog!) and see what we were doing two or three years ago to the day. With how busy I remain, work-wise, more regular updates just are not a possibility.

Having said that here comes an update covering the past two and a bit weeks.

Christmas

Yes, it's very nearly Christmas and even for bah humbugs like us this does intrude. The tree is up (both of them - one downstairs and one upstairs) and the presents are wrapped and waiting under the tree.

That's good enough, right?

With present wrapping comes rolls of wrapping paper and the puppies absolutely love tearing that stuff to pieces and spreading it everywhere. Of course I do not approve at all and don't laugh while they are destroying things. I helped some with the trees, assembling them and then doing the lights - I even went out and bought new lights for the downstairs tree so it looked how we wanted. A did the most of the work however and made them look beautiful I am looking forward to taking Christmas Day and Boxing Day off entirely from work, not even turning the laptop on. I could do with having six months off.

Onto the top bank

It's been a while but A has taken the puppies up onto the top bank a couple of times recently to throw the ball.

Thelma brings the ring back

Throwing, while Rambo doesn't stay

I've been able to get up there for a few minutes as well, mainly to get pictures but also to feel the fresh air on my face. Louise has recently become more interested in playing with her ball and has learned to return it so we'll throw it again. Rambo remains the same huge clumsy lump who doesn't know how big or old he is but he loves us being outside and its hard to deny him his involvement, though he does tread on the puppies every now and then.

A lovely trip out

Last weekend the weather improved enough so we could get out and about for a drive on the Sunday afternoon. 

A view across the valley to The Old School

Rambo having a great time on our walk

Such a beautiful, isolated, view

Now THAT is a place to buy

A WW2 bunker

Inside the bunker

Really thick walls

Such a commanding view

It was breezy and fresh but we had a lovely drive along a slightly different route. This time we took Rambo with us, now the back is on Thomas, and he had a great time. We found a few beautiful spots, had a walk and almost lost the car, and then stopped off on the way back to look at a WW2 bunker that dominated the valley; the road there is the old main road to Greece and you would not being able to approach along it at all without being under great threat from whoever held that strong-point. It was totally dry inside as well; I wish the same could be said for our balcony; we're still getting some water coming through despite the work Bekir and Sally did. Not good.

Skies

I have been better at getting out with the camera to capture the beauty that surrounds us; even today with low cloud around and snow threatened it's still beautiful here.

Such a wonderful start to the day

Something is casting a long shadow as the sun goes down

Sun bright over a very foggy valley

Very thick fog above our local town

A front goes over

Late afternoon sun turns the hills red

A shouted me out to get a picture of this dramatic cloud

An early morning with the moon a slight sliver in the sky

We've had some beautiful sunrises, some amazing cloud displays, a beautiful evening or two and also lots and lots of rain and horrible days. There has been no snow at all and only the other day it was about 15 degrees and warm outside. The forecast keeps threatening snow but none comes. Right now it is saying we will have a White Christmas but who knows.

Sassy, Thelma, Louise and Rambo

Just a quick picture, one of each, because I can.

Sassy on top of her hutch

Thelma getting a back scratch and loving it

Louise doing her cute thing

Rambo found a pond so he jumped in it

Rambo came in for a little bit

Louise got an epic shitty neck

OK, more than one of each... sue me...

Hobby Time

I have been very busy again however I've also been determined to be more sensible than during the last bout of crazy work so I've been making an effort to get hobby time in anyway.

My desk, crammed with work and hobby

About to get a game in on the new board

Some hobby time approches

The new board is looking a lot better now

Some more minis I glued together last night

I've built a new board for us to play on, using some tricks I've seen online, and it is working out very well. We got to play on it when it was just plain polystyrene but since then I've been working to get it painted and flocked so it looks a little nicer. There is just one more process to do before it'll be usable again and then I'm going to make another with a different type of terrain on it. I've also been painting a bit and assembling miniatures and it has really helped to be able to get that break into my working days.

Breakfast

And so we come to this morning, and the final section of this blog post.

Happy group at breakfast

Their attempt at a Full English

By the Christmas decorations

We met up with Nik and Emma for breakfast in town as Nik is back for Christmas. It was a lovely time, lots of laughter and I even managed to not stress about being away from my desk until RIGHT at the end. We went for a short walk through the park after we'd eaten as well to admire the little Christmas display there and then it was hugs and back to my desk. It's lovely having friends like these, and SandS, so close and to get to see them for things like this. A lovely morning indeed.

So there you go; I'll be back again when I get round to it and can justify a couple of hours typing purely for my own pleasure. Thanks for reading.