Happy New Year..

Happy New year to you.I hope 2018 is a good one for you.My OH and I sat down this afternoon and talked about 2017.We concluded it had been good.Certain health problems in the family seem to be settling and both OH andI have been well and we decided that was the main thing.We have had some lovely holidays,managed to get the family together three times(no mean feat) and generally enjoyed life.I have made contributions to some new charities(Lend with Care and Share Aid).
I intend to learn how to put photos on here more easily and to blog more.We start 2018 with a. Visit for the day from our daughter,son in law ,two granddaughters and of course Kodi the dog.Lots of love and laughter.

I would love it if you just gave me a "hi" to show you have read this.I know a lot of you do but I don't know who you are.LOL Barbarax

Happy Christmas!

We are spending Christmas with our daughter and family.We see our son one year and daughter the next.Sarah only lives 45 minutes away so that is good.Matt is spending Christmas with his wife's family in Sclotland.Jude has three sisters so they rent a different property each year big enough to accommodate everyone.So this year they were travelling from Cambridge to Scotland,about seven hours or even eight.We are about half way so they split the journey and spent Thursday night here.They arrived early afternoon in time for us to have a walk.Then early evening Sarah and family came over and the eleven of us went out for a meal. (with one gluten free and one vegetarian a much easier option).Also I wanted to spend time with them and not in the kitchen.Getting the whole family together is really special for me and we had a lovely time.So off to Northwich tomorrow for two nights and then back home and a quiet few days..

    HAPPY CHRISTMAS AND ALLTHE BEST FOR 2018.

Are you ready for Christmas or .......

Well ,the snow has gone and it actually quite mild today and it looks as though the weather is going to be OK over Christmas.We are going to our daughter's on Christmas Eve and staying two nights so no catering for me.Having done Xmas for so many years it is quite nice not to have the responsibility for it.
At the weekend we had Ruby and Emily to stay.Ruby had had a tummy bug so I was a bit nervous we might catch it but we seem to be OK.On Saturday afternoon we went to the pantomime at Theatr Clwyd.Sleeping Beauty this year.There was a cast of 11 and it seemed like a cast of 30 as they all played different parts and different instruments.So much talent and they probably get paid next to nothing.Then in the evening it was the final of Strictly Come Dancing and Joe won.Hurray!!
This morning it was our Art Appreciation Group(U3A).The speaker's topic was Art you can see inAmsterdam which was a reminder to us of the wonderful art in this city and made us want to visit again soon.

Does anybody else feel a touch of sadness at this time of the year for people who are lonely,hungry ,homeless etc.I was talking to a chap this morning who has lost his wife and his two daughters.He will be on his own this Christmas.If we were at home I would have invited him here.I did drop hints to various people so hopefully someone will offer him some company.This year I have given my fuel allowance to be divided between a charity that supports refugees and also the homeless in Chester and the rest I shall give to the Foodbank after Christmas when I expect donations will dry up.

Back soon but still no photos.I must learn how to transfer photos from my phone(android) on to this blog.Any help would be appreciated.

SNow,snow and more snow.

I can't load photos at the moment but we have had loads of snow.It started on Friday,a bit on Saturday  and today it had never stopped.It is my OH's birthday tomorrow and I had booked two nights in a hotel in Kendal in the Lake District going today.We planned to have lunch with Sarah and family and then go off from there.The forecast was dire so we decided not to go today and hopefully will go in the morning.It is about two hours drive from here so we can include a drive round the Lake District and go the hotel late afternoon.I have booked a table at a French Bistro in Kendal for tomorrow night so fingers crossed we get there.A snow plough/gritters has just been down our road but it seems to have piled snow up across the drive.Tonight it is going to go down to -7 degrees!!! whether we can get the car out tomorrow is another question!!!!