Wednesday.

It is  a fact that  when exploring  some of the  earlier buildings around our town centre, it is worth  seeing
if a back view of the building can be obtained.   This one  is  a prime example. The front of the building is quite superb. It is Tudor and blends very well into the rest of our High Street.  But the back view of  this building, can really only be seen from one point - and the exploration is well  worth  making, as you can see. The glimpse of the   clock on the Church Steeple is the  giveaway as to location. 
We wish you happy exploration. 

Tuesday.

Our local  churchyard throws a few early 'dog violets' most years. This  year they were, if  anything, even earlier than usual. Took the above  snapshot last Saturday morning - dog violet dead centre of photo. It was, incidentally, our 56th wedding anniversary- very obliging of it !

Friday.

Yesterday we put Freja into a taxi  , who took her to the airfield , who eventually took her to an airfield in Sweden, and eventually home. It was a lovely long  visit here, and she more  than pulled her weight. It was lovely having here here, and made it a Christmas we shall long remember!  Life seems very quiet here in comparision. 

Wednesday.

 Yesterday our eldest daughter, Sarah, accompanied by her second daughter Amelia, and her daughter, Astrid, drove over from Milton Keynes, and spent the day with us. Astrid, who is a friendly little soul, struck up an immediate relationship with her cousin Freja, who instantly reciprocated her  overtures of friendship. It was lovely to see a four year old and an eighteen/nineteen pair of cousins forming an immediate and close relationship, which I think will turn into  an immediate and long lasting family relationship. Always good to see four generations getting on together.

 

Above shows same position and cast of characters.  Must just say that I was very impressed by great grandaughter  Astrid's sheer bredth of  vocabulary.

Tuesday.

Yesterday Lizzie drove me over to Kesgrave, where, at Saint Michael's Church, we attended the funeral of an old friend of mine. He and I sang in the same male voice choir for  thirty five years or so. He was a second tenor and I was a second base. We got there with fifteen minutes or so to spare. The Chairman of  the choir very cordially invited me to sing with them once again, but as I felt I didn't really know the piece the choir would be singing I declined;  but when we got to the hymns in the  service I was able to let rip with them.

After the service we met up for refreshments at  the nearby Seckford Hall, where again I was able to renew a good many old aquaintance. Took the above photo outside Seckford Hall. Been there once before (about forty years or so ago). It's a lovely Tudor brick place, and hasn't been altered much inside or out.
As funerals go, it was a very good one; and it's always good to meet old friends.

Must take Ann to lunch at Seckford, soon. She remembers going there in the sixties, but as a hotel, I think it's altered and improved a good deal.

Tuesday.

Sunday.

Been a fairly uneventful day. Church this morning. Liz drove us us to Church. I think we shall now be thoroughly  relieved when one of us (probably Ann) gets permission to drive again. We both enjoy living in the country; but in mid winter, transport is really needed. And anyway, we don't  live in the country but in the middle of that roaring metropolis Highdale  (not really its name), but it's a small Suffolk Market town. Our only transport at the moment is by 'bus, and although we both hold a 'bus pass................ well, as I said, I think we'll both be glad to have a driving licence again. Being called upstairs to tea. More later perhaps.

Saturday.

Couple of snaps taken in the garden.  It is easy to see why the flower in the upper picture used to be known as 'the Christmas rose'. It is of course the Hellebore, and comes in half a dozen different colours, from white to a dark red. This one was well in bud by Christmas Morning.

Nice little grouping of early spring flowers round a tree in the garden. We've also got a few yellow  crocii in flower.  It's always nice, even at this time of year, watching the early garden flowers marking the steady turning of the year.