November Snow

We woke to a good covering of snow this morning. The chickens were very confused, as they've not seen it before. They have been making a lot more use of their perching points today, though, and soon got the hang of hopping onto the bale of straw that we picked up for them today.

This afternoon we took the sledge and went in search of likely looking slopes in Burton Lazars. Not really enough for a good run, but there is more on the way apparently.

There are a couple of videos in the album -so you will need to click through to see them.

Ragdale Hall

Elaine finally managed to drag me to Ragdale Hall today, kicking and squealing, for my birthday treat and I loved it! It was actually a freebie for me, which helped, as Elaine entered me for a competition in the Melton Times for Father's Day earlier in the year and I won it!

We pottered around the spa area to start with, relaxing in the various pools and rooms. The Volcano was my favourite. I did a bit of exercise in the gym and some swimming (Elaine did her regular half a mile in the pool). Lunch was pretty fab, although teetotal!

We had treatments in the afternoon called "Refresh and Revive". I started off with a back massage and then a facial (including my shoulders and head!). It was great - really relaxing. I ended up smelling very nice and looking about 25 (well alright, feeling about 25).

All in all a very nice day. Not sure I would want to pay full whack for it though!

Cousins

Just realised that I had this one on my phone. What a great picture - better late than never!

44th Birthday

Mum and Dad were here over the weekend for my birthday celebrations. We went to see the new Harry Potter on Saturday, which I thought was pretty good but left Mum and Dad (who hadn't seen the latest films) a bit confused! I cooked a Wagamama dish in my new wok (pressie from Mum and Dad) on Saturday night, which went down well.

My birthday was on Sunday and I had a very enjoyable present opening session in bed. Lots of lovely pressies and a wonderful album from Mum and Dad of photos of me over the years, from a baby right up to my repping days and beyond!

Sunday lunch was at the Black Horse at Grimston - lovely setting but the food has gone downhill a bit. Later on after Mum and Dad left we had a marathon session of catching up on the last two episodes of Pillars of the Earth - fab!

Bonfire Party

We had a great bonfire party last night with the Effingpots, the Litts and a couple of Luke's friends.

The homemade guy didn't last long thanks to a good application of petrol. The fireworks were spectacular. The bonfire less so until Tim, the engineer, got to work on it. The food and drink were pretty good too.

Working Hard

Here's Luke giving his all at Judo last night:

Joe's a Yellow Belt!

Joe was graded the other week and went up a level, which means that he has now swapped his red belt for a yellow one. He is doing really well and is taking part in a competition in a couple of weeks.