Hastings - Christmas 2012

This year we were on our own for Christmas as Christopher is still in Afghanistan, Lizzie and Jocelyn went to Cyprus to spend Christmas with Lizzie's parents and Jonathan and Joanna went to Guernsey to Joanna's parents.  We spent a lively and enjoyable Christmas Day with Peter and Jacqui, Lyn, John and Catherine, Stephen and Micky and Stewart.

Bruges - December 2012

Having had a great time last year we decided to go back to Bruges to visit the Christmas Market for a long weekend.  This year we stayed at Hotel De Orangerie a delightful small hotel right in the centre of Bruges.  We ate at Bistro Den Huzaar on the first evening, enjoyed a boat ride on the canals the following morning and visited the Gruuthuse museum and had another extremely enjoyable meal in the evening at Restaurant de Stove.  The weather was damp but plenty of chocolate and beer made that unimportant.  To see some photographs of our trip click here.

Wine Tasting at Berry Bros & Rudd, Basingstoke - December 2012

At the beginning of December we went with Jonathan, Joanna and Rory to Berry Bros & Rudd in Basingstoke for a very pleasant lunch-time tasting of their fortified wines with Alex Ross.  The wines we tasted were:

• Berrys' Dry Olorosso
• Pedro Ximenez, San Emilo, Solera Reserva, Emilo Lustau
• William Pickering 20-year old Tawny
• Crusted Port 2004
• Muscat de Beaumes de Venise, Domaine des Bernadins
• Malvasia 10 year Reserva, Vinhos Barbeito
• Stanton & Killeen Classic Rutherglen Muscat

Needless to say we ended up buying a few bottles!  For some photographs of the event click here.

Battle Abbey - September 2012

Wanting to show Polly and Omar, who had come over from Canada to visit us, a bit of 1066 country, we decided to take them to Battle Abbey, one of our favourite tourist attractions and spent an afternoon wandering round the battlefield with Christopher, Jocelyn and Fletcher.  For some photographs click here.

Wedding Anniversary, Wakehurst Place - August 2012

For our 37th Wedding Anniversary we went to Wakehurst Place, near Ardingly, for the day.  The gardens were splendid and we now know why this is one of the National Trust's most visited places.  Kew's Millennium Seed Bank, which is in the grounds, was also well worth a visit.  For photographs of our visit, click here.

Jubilee River Pageant - June 2012

Despite the miserable weather we decided to join the crowds on the Embankment and try and see the River Pageant.  Photographs of the event can be seen by clicking here.

Steffy & Ben's Wedding - May 2012

On 5 May 2012 we went to my niece Stephanie's wedding in Stoke on Trent.  The wedding took place at Breathe City Church and the reception was held at Consall Gardens, Wetley Rocks.  Photographs of the wedding can be viewed here.

Cortona, Italy - February 2012

We have just returned from an extremely enjoyable few days in Cortona at Fred and Nicki's Wedding.  This was a very scottish affair with a piper and several guests in full highland dress.  The weather was cool but the sun shone and a great time was had by all.  We stayed at the delightful Hotel Italia and had two truly excellent meals at Ristorante La Bucaccia which is without doubt one of the most convivial establishments we have eaten in.  We also managed a trip to Florence and travelled both out and back by train via Paris and Milan, where we also managed a couple of good meals.  More photographs of the wedding can be seen here.