Happy New Year!

Mike, Sally-Ann and Hamish would like to wish all family, friends and visitors a very Happy New Year.

Artists in the Family

Our Christmas present from Pam this year was a lovely painting that she'd done of St Benet's Abbey in Norfolk ...

We received a Christmas email from Ken and Annette Lucas who live in Australia with this picture as an attachment ...

It was painted by Annette.

I found Ken by using Genes Reunited - we are third cousins. We met up with them in October 2005 when they came to the UK for a holiday and have kept in touch ever since. I know they drop in on my blog every now and again so 'Hi guys! Hope you don't mind me putting your lovely picture on here'.

Boxing Day Meet

On Boxing Day every year the Four Burrow Hunt meet at Carn Brea Castle and this year it was a cold but lovely dry morning. We went over to Jo and Paul's so that we could all go together and after parking the car we walked up the track to the Castle ...

We tried to find a bit of shelter from the wind. Some hope - it was freezing!

The area slowly filled with horses, hounds and spectators and it was a fabulous sight ...

We even saw a reindeer amongst them!

Hamish and Fred made friends with several of the hounds ...

They are beautiful animals ...

After the Master had said a few words they all moved off through the crowds ...

and we saw them passing along below us ...

It was then time to walk back down ...

thawing out in the process and return to Jo's for a coffee.

Christmas Day with Hamish

Christmas Day for Hamish began as usual with him choosing which biscuits he'd like for breks ...

He is not a greedy dog and will just choose and eat a couple and then wander off to look out of the window from his perch on the arm of the sofa.

It was then present opening time and he got very excited! He needed a bit of help to get going on his first one ...

but had certainly got the hang of it when the second one appeared ...

Once opened they were taken into his cage bed which lives in the sitting room and he proceeded to 'examine' them very carefully by trying to eat them!

Apart from a variety of packets of chews he also received a red bow tie to wear on this special day ...

Jo and Paul popped down for a present swap and so we could take the boys for a romp on the beach. They were both wearing their Christmas bow ties and had a good time on the sand.

Hamish ...

Leaving their mark on the rocks!

Fred ...

In Hamish's eyes I think it was a very successful Christmas and Santa brought him all he could want!

Merry Christmas!

Mike, Sally-Ann and Hamish wish all visitors to our blog

a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Carol Singing

Tonight was the annual carol singing event which is held outside the Portreath Arms in the village.

Jo and Paul came down to join in and Hamish came along too ...

Illogan Sparnon Silver Band provided the music and Portreath Improvements Committee provided the mulled wine and mince pies. It was great.

I'm feeling really festive now!

It's Christmas Time!

The tree is up ...

the decorations have been dug out of their box ...

and we've gone a bit overboard on the outside lights ...

The upstairs window has little robins which light up the computer room for me. Unfortunately I don't take good photos outside in the dark!

New Fire

We've been looking for a new fire for a while now and then an email from Screwfix dropped into Mike's inbox showing some Sale items. There it was - just what we wanted and £40 cheaper than we'd seen anywhere in the shops! We didn't order it immediately thank goodness because a day or two later another email came from Screwfix offering a discount of £10 if you spent over £100 and our fire was priced at £102.76. We very quickly put in an order and the next morning our fire arrived for £92.76!! Bargain or what?

MX-5 Christmas Dinner

Yesterday afternoon we loaded the car with all our things for a night away and Hamish had his rucksack and bed as he was going to stay with Fred for a sleep-over. After delivering him to Jo and Paul's we set off to meet our fellow fivers at Fraddon before driving on up to Trethorne Golf Club at Launceston.

We checked in and found our room which was very nice and in a Lodge close to the main building.

Everyone gathered by the bar at 6.30pm for a pre-meal drink and then it was time to start the important part of the evening - the food! It was scrumptious!

After dinner the Disco got going and we managed to work off some of the calories we'd consumed! In between dances we sat and chatted ...

By the time we left to walk back to the Lodge it was already very frosty and gave us an idea of what we'd be finding this morning when we looked out of our window.

On our way up for breakfast I took these photos of our poor little car which normally leads such a sheltered life with a cosy garage for a home but had to endure freezing temperatures and was covered in a very heavy frost ...

The rest of the members were going on a short drive today but we wanted to get back and collect Hamish. We'd heard from Jo that Paul had spent the night on the sofa as our little monster wouldn't stop barking. Check out Jo's blog - Cornish Beach Brummie - for photos of the boys.

A big thank you to both of them for having him to stay.

Hamish and Buster

I only have to mention the name 'Buster' and Hamish appears from wherever he is hiding in the house to sit in front of the TV and look at his idol!

Tech Day or Shopping? What Do You Think!

Mike and I went our separate ways today!

It was a Tech Day at Collins of Probus and definitely not my scene or Jo's so we hit the shops of Truro while Mike and Paul did their 'thing' at the garage ...

gleaning loads of useful info on the cars, eating fish and chips (naughty, naughty!) and generally chatting all day about engines and all those parts that mean nothing at all to us but are to do with an MX-5!

Jo parked at the Park and Ride and I got to use my new bus pass - great - a free trip into town. There are certainly some perks when you get older. She had a list of presents that she needed to buy and I only had a couple of things that I wanted but it was good to have a mooch around and not be feeling guilty that I was dragging Mike along where he didn't want to be. We had lunch in our favourite haunt - The Lounge - and then it was back on the shopping trail before getting the bus back to the car.

It was Redruth's turn to have their Christmas lights turned on tonight and so Mike brought Hamish over to Jo and Paul's and we all walked into town. We just missed the actual turning on but we had a wander around and Jo took these photos ...

our local radio Pirate FM were in attendance ...

and the boys met some new friends ...

MOT Day for the MX-5

We all went over to the garage this morning to take the MX-5 in for its MOT. Hamish came with us ...

so that we could take him for a walk while the test was being done. It wasn't the greatest of roads for walking along but we made our way to where the road splits. This is the way to Bodmin ...

and then returned to the garage - Collins of Probus - to find the 5 on the ramp ...

It's a bit of a hike over here but the owners are all 5 enthusiasts and know the cars inside out. We wouldn't trust anyone else with our pride and joy - except Paul of course!

She passed - thank goodness. Hamish was put back in the car ...

and we set off for home a few pounds lighter but legal for another year!

Ducks Galore!

For some reason all the village ducks were at the head of the harbour this morning. They were hoping for food but I didn't have any - only my camera ...

They were still around when we got back from Hamish's morning walk and they were holding up the traffic as they waddled across the road. I wasn't quite quick enough to catch them on the road but caught them as they were making their way into the parking area of the flats ...

As the tide came in they were back on the harbour wall and waiting ...

and then they took off ready to go fishing for food ...