Open water swim

Brother in law had done a charity swim on Christmas day down in Dorset, so in support Boxing day saw us down on the windy, shingle beach at Salterns, near Lee on Solent, at high water wondering if it was such a good idea.

There were about a dozen or so regular swimmers all women, who turned up and were very encouraging and giving helpful tips.

 Despite a 3mm wet suit, cloves and keeping my woolly hat on (the dot in the sea below is me), I only managed about 80 maybe 100 meters of crawl. It was quite hard going as can be seen the sea was a bit lumpy when there's only your head sticking out above the water. I couldn't make much headway doing breast stroke and I tired out really quickly with the crawl.

I must admit after getting out and changed I did feel really well and alive, but I also had an afternoon snooze later on to recover. Don't think I'm going to become a regular somehow.

Winter wildlife

With the recent freeze the wildlife food bank went into overdrive with fat balls and seeds.

The happy recipients are just outside the window of the new garden room which makes it a really nice place to be if a little distracting for work.

 

New Forest Winter

Winter in the New Forest really doesn't get much better than this.

Up early for breakfast in Lyndhurst, the ground white with frost and clear blue skies, positively lifts the soul.

 Shame that we've had rain pretty much every day sine these pics were taken.
 

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas

The lobster pot Christmas tree, on the town quay Emsworth looking splendid as usual.
 

He's making a list

 And checking it twice

Gonna find out who's "nauti" and nice

Christmas Tree Festival

Local church St John's at Locks Heath held a Christmas tree festival, local schools and club were invited to decorate trees with a theme. I didn't count how many trees there were but the church and the church hall alongside were full of wonderfully decorated trees. To add to the event local musicians were on hand and refreshments were being served on a cold and dark Saturday afternoon.

Suitably decorated in musical theme The Joy of Singing by the Sheppard Singers.

Probably a good reminder as we go into Christmas and the all too usual over indulgence, St John's Slimming World tree, probably will pick up a few new members in the new year :O)

 Celebrations vs Heroes by the Churchwardens, bit of a play on words as both are chocolates,  a good way to celebrate our heroes

This was really lovely, you could write a dedication or memory to someone on a paper star and hang it on the tree which was very popular as can be seen.

Local Beaver troop (where Joseph got started with Scouts) - you can't help but smile.

 

 

Those were just a few of my favorites, thanks to everyone who put in so much time and effort. 

 

Merry Christmas

Local warming

 The cold spell that has been around for almost two weeks is coming to an end. With the wind swinging around from the north to the south replacing the cold with warm air from the Mediterranean and north Africa temperatures were set to rise from all day sub 0 degrees C rising over the weekend to reach as high as 12 degrees C today.

Unless we have another cold spell this might be the last we see of the cold landscape for a while. 

Above the ponds at Holly Hill, in the foreground presumably the constant motion of the water has kept the surface clear while the upper pond is solid.

Ice capped mud on the little creek by Brooklands.