So here we are on the other side of the big day. Hopefully you all survived unscathed, and had a fairly jolly time.
We went for a walk on Christmas Eve afternoon, one of my favourite times at Christmas. As the sun sets, lights go on, fires are lit and everything looks wonderfully cosy. It's the perfect time for a wander.
As the sun set we drove home for food and company and the start of Christmas.
The day itself was quiet, and not one of the best ever. The two older boys and I were struck down with a tummy bug in the evening, so there wasn't much sleep had that night, and Boxing Day was a bit of a non-event. Everyone's feeling stronger now, but it appears that a cold may be doing the rounds instead.
The skates were a hit, so much so that the biggest boy wants some too. We took them to the sea front for a test drive (big, wide, flat open space = less stuff to crash into)(although watch that sea wall). The littlest boy was of course a complete maniac, trying to sprint as fast as he could in them and falling over about fifty times. Oh how we laughed. A lot of the people he hurtled past, arms flailing, were laughing too. He was dressed as Batman (Christmas present) which added to the effect. The costume hasn't survived the outing very well, and the cape is a bit of a pain to wear, so I might have a go at making a better one.
Any ideas for next year's present..?
No snow here, so I'm planning on a good walk this afternoon, after an inactive day (visiting relatives) yesterday. The countryside in winter is gorgeous. I really enjoyed reading this article by Alys Fowler. She puts it beautifully, the joy of the cold weather and a freezing winter walk.
I'm already in a bit of a New Year's frame of mind. Lots of lists whirling round in my head (must remember to write them down) and lots of plans and ideas. I try to keep it realistic, but I do like to aim to be more organised and efficient every year. It's a tradition.
How about you? A good Christmas? Any laughs? Any New Years plans, big or small? Any dreams? I'm wishing a very happy year for you all, and I hoping that you follow your dreams. CJ xx
We're planning a walk too :) The sun is shining and I feel the need to blow some more cobwebs away. Hope you have a good one...
ReplyDeleteI'm feeling smug because we were out running first thing in -5 temps :o) About to take the dogs out now too. This probably means I will be asleep by 5 this afternoon :o) Your walk looked lovely- beautiful light- and the boys looked like they were having a great time on the new skates. Christmas was peaceful here and New Year looks set to be the same. Wishing you and the family the same xx
ReplyDeleteI'm glad that the skates were a hit! The buildings are beautiful down your way, what lovely colours. And the golden hour photos at the seaside, just wonderful. I read and bookmarked that article by Alys Fowler too, she got it spot on. I am in whirlwind tidying mode today, the house is such a mess, I need to sort it out! xx
ReplyDeleteYour boys on the skates made me smile. My son and daughter used to tear down the road with me holding my breath and waiting for the wail at the end when they fell. The sea front looked to be pretty busy, what a lovely idea to do this at this time of year. We had snow which inevitably turned to ice - and now I have been ordered to rest after slipping and banging my head and back, mind you it has given me the perfect opportunity to do my review of 2014 and work out what is in store for next year :-) Wishing you and yours a very Happy New Year! xx
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry you were poorly, but glad the skates were a success! Happy new year :)
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry to see that you had colds and tummy bugs and hope you feel better soon.
ReplyDeleteLovely pictures, I like the church ones. The skates look like fun but I don't think that I'd stay upright for long if I tried. Enjoy your walk this afternoon.
I've had a quiet and relaxing time, which is how I like it. Happy New Year to you too, and we should always follow our dreams.
Flighty xx
:)
ReplyDeleteI've just come back from a walk - the ground was still frozen, but the frost mostly gone. The most exciting part was that I managed to get my foot in wellies!!!! The first time since the op. Ok it's hurting now, but a major step forward for me.
ReplyDeleteSorry to hear you've been poorly, bugs so often attack us as soon as we all relax don't they. It seems so unfair.
I love the idea of batman on his skates - brilliant! :)
Not any new years lists here - I need to know which direction life is taking before undertaking that! Have fun. xx
Hope you've made a good recovery and go into the new year feeling happy and healthy!
ReplyDeleteIt seems everyone is sick right now! I had hoped it would skip your side of the Atlantic, but alas you are also sick!. I hope you and yours recover quickly. The skating pictures were a hoot, thank you for posting them. My little was all Christmas impatience and excitement for the first time, and we had a lovey time with wrapping paper flying everywhere. Now we too are sick and sipping tea resting, by the fire and awaiting the New Year. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and your family.
ReplyDeleteSorry to hear you were unwell over Christmas and hope all is well now? Lovely post and I adored the article by Alys - so true and I will save that for future reading and pass it on to a friend. Loved your photos and as always the written part too. Have a Happy and healthy New Year and here's to more lovely posts from Above the River.
ReplyDeleteI hope you are all feeling better now! I love the photos of your children on the skates, I forgot how much fun these are. I have a pair on the attic somewhere, unused in all the years I have moved here, too many potholes. My oldest has a thing called a rip stick, which is somewhere in between a skateboard and roller skates. I have not mastered it but it looks like something your boys might enjoy for next year, or for Birthdays. We have been on a walk earlier, lots of ice in the woods but no snow. It was nice to be outside. Happy New Year to you and yours CJ. x
ReplyDeleteHow lovely to see children being allowed to be children. In skating as in life, we all must fall down occasionally.
ReplyDeleteWent out a bit yesterday (tax day in Rutherford County, TN.). It felt great to be in the crisp, cold air. It was a good bit damp, though. Praying for a good new year for you and yours, Really love to see all your great photos. Thank you for all the good visits in 2014.
Ditto with the tummy bug over Christmas, bad timing isn't it but we're feeling better now the sun has been out. Glad you are all recovered and I hope New Year puts a spring in your step, it really is the best time for a traditional 'spring' clean. I'll look forward to hearing more of your exploits and seeing how your lovely garden develops over the seasons. You are great inspiration! Antonia x
ReplyDeleteSorry to hear that bugs have been doing the rounds at your house but glad to hear that the skates were a big success. It was very cold when we took our Boxing Day walk so I wasn't surprised that we had some snow in the evening and it's been very cold all week. Wishing you and yours all the very best for 2015.
ReplyDeleteI am just so sorry that you had that bug and the cold virus is visiting. Not fair! Your boys look like they're having such fun wit their new skates! Maybe a gift for next year would be elbow and knee pads? LOL! I loved seeing snaps of those gorgeous English homes.. so storybookish and you wonder about the lives of the people who live in them. I hope they appreciate them. My goal is to stop eating goodies so I can slim down. I have a trip to New Orleans in April. ((hugs)), Teresa :-)
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*H*A*P*P*Y* *N*E*W* *Y*E*A*R*!*
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Oh my life, those houses, that church! Could you find anything more fabulously, beautifully, quintessentially English.
ReplyDelete*Packs bag to go and squat in houses immediately*
Have a wonderful NYE and sending lots of happiness for 2015 your way.
Sabrina xxxx
Your walk on Christmas Eve looks so lovely and shows the best of England! I'm glad the skates were such a success after all the ups and downs you had with them! Wishing you and your family a very Happy New Year too. Sarah x
ReplyDeleteThere are some truly beautiful houses in those photographs. With all the best for 2015 CJ, I've so enjoyed reading your blog!
ReplyDeleteI can't get over how beautiful all the homes and buildings are where you live!!!!!
ReplyDeleteSounds like you're all prepared for the New Year CJ, not long to go now! Sorry to hear you were unwell on the Day, what a shame. I've enjoyed seeing all the wonderful houses, buildings, and the seaside near where you live, and here's wishing you and yours a very Happy New Year!
ReplyDeleteGill xx
Wishing you all that too CJ!!! I hope that all of your lists and dreams and come true for you!! And your walk around is just fantastic! Sorry you all were down with a bug....going around here too. But boy....those shots of your sweetie on skates is perfect! Here is to a great New Year!! Nicole xoxo
ReplyDeleteBeautiful pics and I'm so sorry to hear that you were struck down over Christmas... hope you're all well on the way to recovery now. Love the skating pics (and I'm impressed by the early flair and balance shown after just a few hours!!). Happy New Year CJ, and please keep on sharing so magically in 2015 x
ReplyDeleteSound like you had the sort of Christmas we usually have, Glad the boys enjoyed the skates after the Santa Claus moment! I thought the first parachute photo was a spider,
ReplyDeleteLove all your pictues. I think Christmas Eve is probably my favourite day over the Christmas period. Hope you have a very Happy New Year.
ReplyDeleteSuch a lovely post, what gorgeous pictures. I'd love to live closer to the beach. And I did chuckle at the image of batman skating along like a maniac, I bet he brought lots of smiles to peoples' faces :) A very happy new year, I'm having a quiet night in the with hubbie but looking forward to the year ahead and whatever it may contain....
ReplyDeleteI'm glad that the skates were so popular! I hope that you had a great Christmas and that your New Year will be wonderful too! Best wishes for all good things in 2015 to you and yours! xx
ReplyDeleteI do like Alys Fowler. I have a book of hers, it's an inspiring read.
ReplyDeleteSorry to hear about some of you being ill over Christmas. Joe has an ear infection so that's been hard work but the antibiotics seem to be working.
Your sea front outing looks fun and I love the light in your photos. And the village ones are beautiful too, especially those of the churchyard.
Wishing you a wonderful 2015.
Sarah x
Oh CJ, that Batman costume and the skates is too much! :) And those first photos look like quintessential England, at least what I imagine it to look like. You captured some beautiful light in those last couple photos. Happy New Year!
ReplyDeleteLovely pictures, such gorgeous glowing light in the last few. Sorry to hear you were unwell at Christmas, I hope your all better now.
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year CJ, wishing you a wonderful 2015! Xxx
I love the Batman costume, oh to be a little boy! Gorgeous photos of a wonderful family day. Hope your family has not come down with a cold.
ReplyDeleteHugs to you and Happy New Year.
Meredith
I'm hoping we'll make it out for a walk tomorrow to blow the Christmas cobwebs away, I hope we get as lovely weather as you - isn't that golden winter afternoon light gorgeous? Happy New Year to you all CJ, hope it's a good you for you x
ReplyDeletewishing you a happy and healthy new year, please send any spare organizing and efficiency plans this way............ xxx
ReplyDeleteHey Claire,
ReplyDeleteYou make W-S-M look so beautiful. I loved going there as a child, but it was rather shabby in the 70s. So sorry to hear about the lurgy. And yes Christmas Eve walks are a favourite here too.
Happy (healthy) New Year to you and your lovely gaggle of rollerskating boys. Have you never thought of buying a pair for yourself?
Leanne xx
We've been walking every day too, up here in the Highlands, despite being struck down by horrible colds. It's so good to get out of the house!
ReplyDeleteI've enjoyed discovering your blog in the last few days of 2014 and will look forward to your posts in 2015. Happy New Year!
Happy New Year CJ, I've so enjoyed your blog this year and look forward to lots more adventures in 2015, Kate xx
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year, CJ!!! It seems someone always gets sick over the holidays, so I hope you all are feeling better now. I'm just waiting for it to hit our house:) Looks like the boys are having so much fun with their skates! I've been laying low and telling myself it's ok to do so. This is the time to rejuvenate, right? Hope you're having a wonderful day and can't wait to hear all about your ideas for 2015!
ReplyDeleteIt's so lovely to see that you all managed to get out and have some fun over the holidays. That bug sounds miserable and what timing! One of my daughters was ill from Christmas eve onwards. She spent most of it upstairs in bed so we hardly saw her. (Last year it was my turn to be ill!) It's that time of year though isn't it? A bit of a lottery as to who'll be hit next. :)
ReplyDeleteI love Weston out of season, I used to go to college there and I really feel that it's at it's best in the winter sun.
A very happy new year to you and your family, may it bring everything you hope for and more!
Jess xx
Loved the photo of the boys 'throwing' themselves into skating! Sorry to hear you were ill but hopefully you are all recovering nicely now.
ReplyDeleteI don't tend to make lots of plans for the new year but I have a couple in the back of my mind.
Wishing you a Happy New year too CJ
Best wishes
Caz xx
I finally managed to get my lot out and about yesterday. Oh what a struggle it was, angry words, me, tears, my eldest, sulks, my youngest, boy oh boy! However once on the windswept Northumberland coast line the positive effect on us all was immediate despite all the angst. :) I read your blog often but don't comment. This new year I am giving my self permission to indulge more in my love of blogs. Thank you for sharing yours.
ReplyDeleteI shouldn't but I love the pic of the littlest boy come a cropper ... it takes me right back to my lot learning to skate ... my littlest never did master the skill.
ReplyDeleteSorry to read you were unwell. Christmas day here was marred by a family member (not one of my crew) speaking her misguided mind to the gathered clan. It rather took the fun out of the day and will take a while to put behind us all I think.
Your boys are so brave and fearless! My two would be paralysed by the fear of falling over. The seafront looks like a cracking place to skate, and very beautiful in the setting sun too. Sorry you were ill. What a pain. It's always rubbish being poorly but seems extra unfair at Christmas. x
ReplyDeleteThe littlest seems to be flying on those skates even in this still photo! I'm sorry to hear about the tummy bug and illness, but it sounds like a nice holiday all the same. The pictures of the kite at the beach are beautiful! I'm glad to experience that moment through your pictures.
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