Link to Jan and Paul in Spain 2024 Blog

 

We have started a new blog for 2024 and you can find it by clicking on the link below

Jan and Paul in Spain 2024 (leniston2024.blogspot.com)

Christmas 2023 in Rothbury

Thropton Nativity Walk on Christmas Eve

The rain stopped just as the walk through Thropton started

Started at Chloe’s primary school

Ended with coffee and mince pies in the Thropton community hall

Jack, Georgia and Chloe not too old to leave a snack for Santa and his reindeers

Chloe loves soft and cuddly toys

Jack has very expensive tastes in footwear

Georgia has developed an interest in music

We were very happy with the latest bag decorated with hand drawn faces of Chloe’s class

Most days we walk along the river Coquet from Rothbury to Lady Bridge

Jack’s latest hobby is kickboxing

At his club Christmas meal he was presented with the “student of the year” award

After a lot of very wet days, New Years Eve was bright and sunny

The whole family went to Seaton Sluice to exercise Storm and Pod

This was our favourite walk when Stuart and Michelle lived at Bedlington

The area is very popular with dog walkers, and today was no exception

Storm is recovering from a minor operation, and has to take it easy

He loves to swim, but Stuart had to keep him on a lead

Jan has been taking a lot of photos on her phone

Stuart suggested we use Drop box to transfer them to our PC

One last photo on the beach

Then back home to prepare for 2024

15 December 2023 – Walking Group Christmas Meal

For quite a few years we have been organising three meals each year

So you would think by now that it would be pretty stress free

However each one has its own problems

We like to arrange a set cost for a choice of meals, to avoid problem paying the bill

But that involves visiting a two or three restaurants to determine cost and availability

This year we settled on Pepe in Alcalali, same as last year

They accepted the same arrangements as last year, with only a very small increase in cost due to inflation

Unlike last year everything went extremely problem free this year

Good service, great food and no surprises when the bill arrived

It is a lot of work, but it is well worth the effort

14 December 2023 – Lliber River Walk

 

Lovely sunny morning for our last group walk of 2023

We had a good turnout of 14, despite festive commitments

This included Sally, for her first walk with the group

Despite the warm sun, the wind was quite cold

Our usual banana stop on the river was in the shade and too cold

So we found an alternative, and sunny, spot along the track

Despite the sun, most of us (including me) kept their jackets on

What a pleasant way to spend our 55^th wedding anniversary

Thanks to Pierre for this photo

Half way through the walk we crossed the dry river

And returned on the opposite side

When we reached our usual banana stop it was now in full sunshine

We stopped for a short break

And Electra distributed our second sweet ration of the walk

The return walk was now in full sunshine

Though some kept their jackets on

The pace increased as we neared the bar in Lliber

It was surprisingly quiet in the square

Where we had coffee rather than a cold beer

Lovely walk to end our first year of valley walking.

Temperature – 10 to 14c

Time taken – 3 hours

Distance – 9 km