The Village on New Year's Day

Libby, Matthew and Gareth spoke to me on the 'phone at just after their midnight - one o'clock in the morning here - of 1 January 2012, to wish me a Happy New Year.  They all sounded as if they were having a great party so a good start to the New Year.  It was a mild night and I turned off the storage heater in my room which I had put on in the third week of December.  During the day it had been 12°C on the SuperU display.

I weighed, although my usual day for weighing is Tuesday, because I wanted to know what I would begin the year at.  I was 105kg/231.5lbs/16stone7½lbs, which means I have lost 38.1kg/84lbs/6 stone since my mini gastric bypass on 18 July, in nearly 24 weeks.  I am a very happy bunny!

Woke up to a grey and drizzly day.  I walked up the lane, next three photos, to the field to do the animals - without a fleece just in a short sleeved t-shirt and carrying my camera, accompanied by Bobby, one of my neighbour's dogs. 

 I fed and waterered the hens, ducks and goats.  The bags of bread I bought just after Christmas are still very fresh - some of the price tags carry a date of 30 December.   They all enjoy the spongy inside of the loaves and the outside crusts with a bit of bread attached go into a galvanised container filled with water to soften it up.   Then I walked on up to the corner of my field and up the lane to my neighbour's abandoned orchard.  There were apples all over the ground and on the roof of a shed too.

After that I walked back, stopping to take more photographs.   Here is my own field and the field I rent from my neighbour and then different bits and pieces on the verges next to my field.

The gorse is such a wonderfully bright yellow lifting the grey day.

And finally back home again, the buildings on the left, to be greeted by Bobby again.

I don't often buy pre-packaged convenience food, but when I was shopping yesterday there were frozen prawn two-bite party bits and I succumbed.   These are eleven of the twenty-one delicious morsels.

They were really lovely, just popped into a very hot oven with no extra oil, and made a super New Year's Eve supper with their piquant sweet and sour chilli dip.  I wish supermarkets did these little nibbles all year round, as they are a good quick and tasty snack.  I have another two boxes in my freezer - just in case!

The rain set in properly for the rest of the day and underfoot it is extremely soggy, but still mild.

Three things I like:

1.   This afternoon's snooze in front of the woodburner.

2.   Seeing my daughter admitting to her relationship with Gareth on Facebook.

3.   Reading through old magazines so I can pass them on.