Christmas Eve.

It was stormy last night with lots of rain that luckily did not carry on through to the day. The strong winds did continue to blow all day and brought a real chill with them. Most of my day has been spent preparing food. Some for our traditional Christmas Eve meal and I've also baked a Christmas cake and prepared everything for the beef stew which I will start off later on tonight. 

I did take the time to have a walk. Marching around town and shops is not quite the same thing and who knows when we will have another dry spell. I wrapped up against the wind and set off up the hill. At first it was a bit of a slog but half-way up the hill my muscles loosened up and my spirits lifted until I was almost striding along. I thought the sheep in the field looked rather sweet with their floppy left ears until it dawned on me that those are the ears with the tag in them. Maybe they had been done harshly and damaged the ears which is not such a nice thought.  

At the top of the drive I turned right and walked against the wind to Bowden Corner. On my return journey the wind at my back helped me along nicely. For the last bit of the walk down the hill I was sheltered by the high hedge.

Apart from cooking I've been cleaning the place so I can take a break for a couple of days.