R's rue

I did indeed sleep most of Christmas Eve. Dorothy attached herself to me like a limpet and watched me snore for the longest of times with wide worried eyes.  Since Winifred died, she has never left my side and her increased neediness has proven difficult as her relations with Mary are now more strained and increasingly volatile.  Of course this will eventually settle down But her increased sadness is worrying. Like I said we slept most of Christmas Eve. It was odd not to be organising food, wrapping gifts, listening to the ever depressing Carol’s from Kings or delivering last minute gifts. And by the time afternoon came there was a little shrine of gifts dotted around the kitchen wall, back door and front door knob. A cheerful bag with goodies in the the affable despot family. Mince Pies from Hattie, two bespoke scotch eggs wrapped beautifully by the Camerons, books from Wendy & Alun  and an unsigned rubber chicken from Aldi with a label which said ...

24th of December. Christmas Eve.  With the prospect of a dry day with sunshine I headed east of the city, hoping for another long walk with my camera in hand. It has been quite wet recently so I expected some puddles and mud out there but I guessed that if I mostly stuck to the lanes I would probably be okay. I parked Clint in Carlton-in-Lindrick not far from the village pond. After a hundred yards, in spite of the day's positive weather forecast,  rain began to fall. Not fat tropical rain but thin grey English rain - seeping down from a low hanging sky. I looked up to the firmament and thought to myself - it's  going to be a miserable walk. It was still raining when I reached Hodsock Priory. This is one of the best locations in the land to see snowdrops in the early springtime. I blogged about a previous visit there in this blogpost from 2012. Hodsock Priory and gatehouse Today, f I had waited for half an hour, the priory and its sixteenth century gatehouse w...