Lunch, Mur de Bretagne and the village

Today the Writers’ Group had their Christmas lunch – a little late but none the worse for that.  We went to La Lanterne Rouge, a Chinese restaurant at Pontivy.  We had a round table for eight and it worked well.  I was concerned that an all you can eat lunch was probably not going to work for me with my reduced stomach, but I was able to leave a gap between platefuls and it was fine.  I particularly like the duck which had the most wonderful crispy skin. 

Before I went off to Pontivy I wandered around Mur de Bretagne and took a few photos of a church and a florists outside display.  I also bought some bacon and leek quiches from the lovely boulangerie there which I freeze and take with me for lunch on Bowls days. Do remember you can double click on photos to enlarge them.

I drove out to see the barrage on the Lac de Guerledan and on the way found a tree loaded down with mistletoe really low to the ground.

The sun was bright, something I haven't been used to over the last months.

The village is changing.  A neighbour from the far end of the lane seems to have been gradually taking over all the fields bordering the long lane and fencing them off into sections for his horses.  They have finally reached the field next to the calvaire and there are now four horses in there.  I think I am the only non-horse field in the lane now and I'm not sure I like the changes.  

It's not that I dislike horses, I just dislike change I suppose.

Just slotting this one in which I took this morning of the horses nearest to my house in the tiny bit of snow we had last night.

I've also been noticing the buds emerging in the mild weather we are experiencing at the moment.

I'm not sure what the top one is, but the one on the right is horse chestnut.

Here we have gorse and a celandine in the lane. Why is it that spring flowers are usually yellow?

One of the streams I passed while driving.  Usually a peaceful, slowish stretch of water, but now turned into a white water torrent with the incredible amount of rain that has fallen.

The sky this morning when I went up to do the animals.  It looked so pretty and was a welcome sight after all the black clouds and grey skies.

Lastly, Claude on the rock by the rabbit run.  He likes to follow me when I let them out in the morning and watches intently in case he has a chance of catching one.

Three things I like:

1.   Meeting up with friends for lunch.
2.   Using my slow cooker to make a lovely chicken dish.
3.   The evenings getting lighter - I don't put the hens to bed until 18.10hrs now.