New Year's Eve

In past years we'd go to The Hague for a New Year's Eve together with the cousins of the missus and watch the traditional fireworks. But this year we've had a quiet night at home for a change. 

We watched a famous comedian's sharp review of the year on TV (another Dutch tradition) and some fireworks on the horizon behind the trees (most likely another Dutchman as well).

Having rung relatives to wish them a happy new year, the missus retired to bed. I watched Jools Holland's Hootenanny on the BBC and saw in the new year in Greenwich Mean Time as well. 

Last Sundown of the Year

Sun is down on New Year's Eve. Tomorrow is another year.

Frozen

The old Alfa sported a light covering of ice this morning. But this afternoon it rained so weather's warming up again.

Tea and Cheese

My brother and his missus came round for tea. Or wine. With cake, or cheese, or medlar jam on toast. Or all together. It was good to catch up.

medlar - nèfle - mispel

 

Last of the Leaves

The missus has been raking leaves off and on, enjoying how clean that makes the garden look. With time off from work, she's doing the last few at the front, where I spotted her jacket she forgot while I went off to the shops this morning.

Perusing a Prezzie

The missus was happily surprised to receive a subscription to Gardeners' World magazine for Xmas, with the Xmas edition as a first installment.

Xmas Pt 2

On Xmas Day the wider family congregates at the in-laws' though this year half were absent for various reasons. Prezzies were exchanged and dinner included contributions from everyone. We did the starters (above) with three different kinds of paté on nutty bread toast with pear slices and pomegranate seeds and syrup.

pear - poire - peer
pomegranate - grenade - granaatappel

 

Xmas in Low Key

We're having a quiet Xmas this year. Our youngest had other plans and our oldest could only visit briefly so we're mostly on our own. Empty-nesters indeed. A small modest tree reflects this, with just a short strand of lights - last one left, taken off the display at a DIY shop.

Though small, the little tree has plenty of warmth and charm to make up for its size.

Prezzies were plenty and thoughtful as ever!

Second Frost

After weeks of weather that's too warm for this time of year,  we're having some frost again for a change - second time this year. The old Alfa again warns of possible ice on the street, and the missus has wrapped some blankets round her potted plants. We wonder how long this will last with the fickle weather we're having of late.

More English Cheese

Next to the smoked Cheddar, my brother presented me with three more slices. He hadn't kept note of what they were but a quick email to the shop they came from with the photos here had them identified within a day.
From top to bottom we have a Bath Blue, a Montgomery and a Caerphilly. The Bath Blue tastes like a firmly matured Gorgonzola; the other two I don't have an immediate comparison for. But delicious one and all.

Should you happen to go to Devon then visit Country Cheeses

 

Flimsy

The missus has bought a window sponge/wiper on an extending handle to reach the outside of the living room windows. And promptly broke the plastic knob that keeps it at an angle. She is rather energetic of course, but this is very flimsy quality to say the least. A quick trip to the DIY for a wingnut had it fixed in no time with sparkly clean windows as a result.

Fire & Smoke

It's Sunday evening and we've lit our fire. And savouring a piece of smoked Cheddar which my brother brought back from a week in Devon. Absolutely delicious and crying out for more!

Santa Is Coming

So as little helpers we're getting prepared! (My pile is hidden away in the garage. :)

Breakfast Nook

We have a nice corner in the kitchen for having breakfast. Just large enough for the two of us and with a nice view of the garden. Snug and cosy, and warm when outside is getting colder. Saves carrying everything through the house as well. 

Fast Food

Both of us had a very busy working day, mine lasting well into the evening. So a quick trip to MacDonalds saved cooking and saved time. And you always know what you get there so it's convenient and familiar.

Road Work

Angry farmers had blocked the exits from town so I was stuck in what Waze told me was the shortest traffic jam. At a standstill I opened the work laptop, connected through my iPhone and I got some annoying-but-required stuff done before the police got the farmers to move. This morning they blocked the motorway before my turnoff so there was no rush hour traffic whatsoever. So it all evened out over the day.

Daybreak Drama

A cloudy sky provided this colourful sky at dawn, seen from the bathroom after enjoying the view while having a shower.

Spring Sensation

On the roof I found small branches blown off our birches by a recent gale. All of which had catkins on them. With the very mild weather we're having (5-10°C if not higher) I do believe the trees feel its Springtime already. The small birches growing in the paint pot don't have catkins but are showing fresh buds.

I collected a few branches and put them in an antique mineral water bottle (a souvenir from the Lake District). They provide a nice seasonal touch on the dining table.

birch - bouleau - berk

 

Roof Raking

With virtually all leaves gone from the trees, I got up on the roof to remove them from there so they don't block up the drain (which hasn't happened yet since the roof was finished). Though I use a broom more often than a rake, where the trick is to use it on its side to move wet leaves stuck to a wet surface. (And brush parallel to the strips on the roof instead of bumping against them to avoid wear and tear). There actually weren't that many leaves altogether - I filled three ikea bags while listening to music on my old iPhone and that was that, job done.

Hellebores

The hellebores I saw last week were open when I passed them today so here's a few more pictures to show their beauty.

The missus keeps fallen leaves around them (and other plants) to keep them warm during winter. There's no snow around them but imagine what that would look like!

hellebore - hellébore - helleborus / nieskruid

 

Muddy Feet

The missus has been busy in the garden, raking a bit and potting a rose she got for her birthday. And then she always leaves tracks through the house from dirt caked underneath her wellies. :) 

Future Fires

We had two steres of firewood delivered today. Man we buy it from has a tractor that can climb our hill and deposit the wood in front of the garage, which is extremely handy. All other suppliers come with a truck and dump their wood at the bottom of the hill which then takes a serious effort to move. Having stacked the lot we're good for the coming cold months.

Salmon

I was having my hair cut and chatting about Xmas plans with the Persian barber in Tervuren when an Englishman walked in to deliver half a salmon which he'd smoked himself as I gathered from the conversation. He mentioned having a kilo left, so I said I was intrigued and could I buy that. I could and I was welcome to come pick it up straight after my haircut so that's what I did.
Charming man, who showed me how he smoked fish and meat and also some very impressive furniture he made and was making, basically starting with vertically cut wooden trunks and taking it from there.
I went straight home to get the frozen salmon into our freezer and I'm very curious to taste it!

Warm Inside

It's the end of a weekend filled with little chores and shopping and nothing special. Rubbish still needs sorting though, and put out in the street for collection on Monday morning. Where I was rewarded with the nice view above, seen from the shed.

With the rubbish done, it's good to sit down by the fire while it's now really dark outside.

Winter Flower

These Hellebores are flowering at this time of year. They do open late and close early but do provide a touch of white amongst what's left of the greenery in their corner.

hellebore - hellébore - helleborus / nieskruid

False Start

Looking out the bathroom window after a shower I noticed the hazelnut bush is definitely growing more catkins. With the warmer weather of late (around 10°C) it really seems to feel it's springtime already...

hazelnut - noisette - hazelnoot

Busy Day

Having finally finished a long working day, I saw the tea mug I completely forgot about in the afternoon. A very busy day indeed...

Busy Morning

We see the occasional blackbird in our garden and this morning I managed to snap one of a pair at the rear, the other hidden behind the picnic table.

Both blackbirds got scared away by a squirrel galloping through the garden in their direction. Which then jumped the fence into our front lawn where it ran around and stopped at various spots to dig in the ground. I imagine it was either inspecting caches of food or pretending to do so to fool other squirrels that might be watching (as explained by a documentary on TV I once saw).

Apparently there was indeed another squirrel watching, because the one I was following disappeared into the trees where I next saw two squirrels chasing each other. After all that commotion I went back to work.

blackbird - merle - merel
squirrel - écureuil - eekhoorn

 

Runaround

This morning I saw this squirrel, running and jumping back and forth for half an hour amongst the trees. It did make the occasional stop to inspect something or other but mostly ran around the same branches again and again. Strange.

squirrel - écureuil - eekhoorn