Blimey - where did December go?

Whoosh!

That was the sound of December rushing by!

And, dear reader, I neglected you!

It was all full steam ahead, what with the Workshop Sale etc. and then I blinked and somehow December had become January!

It is very possible that this had something to do with it!

But what can I say? (by the way, gin was bit of a theme this Christmas!)

So, what has been happening since we last had a chat?

Well, not so much on the creative front, but I did climb Glastonbury Tor on the shortest day of the year.  That was a rather magical experience - and the rain cleared briefly so we saw the Tor with a blue sky as a backdrop.

It was late in the afternoon, but we did not stay until sunset - being somewhat unprepared without torches!  But nevertheless, magical.

In fact Glastonbury was altogether rather lovely. It must be hell when the festival is on, but out of season it is a nice little town - with more witches and druids than you can shake a stick at! The shops were, for the most part, all about crystals. Now, I'm not sure crystals really float my boat and I do wonder how they make it pay, but nevertheless a change from the normal high street fare.

And we did find this rather wonderful shop stocked to the gunnels with indian textiles and other lovely things.  We had the hound with us, so the ability to explore was limited but you can have a little meander around their website if India is your thing.

If you were following me before the Christmas festivities you may know that I got a bit sidetracked into Jewellery. Well, one lovely place in Glastonbury is the Glastonbury Wire Studio.  What I marvelled at was the unique way they wrapped larger cabochons to make the most wonderful and unusual pendants. Now, I would say go look at the pictures, but I cannot find any on the site, so you will have to take my word for it.

And then we were into Chrimbo and all it's excesses.

We kept it fairly low key - the main treat being Christmas Day breakfast at the achingly cool Hoi Poloi!  Actually, the best scrambled eggs I have had in a long time and possibly the best knitted nativity too!

Someone had tried to liberate the Donkey in the run up to Christmas, but they were captured on CCTV and were staying at the hotel! Not the sharpest knives in the box, though I see why they were tempted.

And possibly the best selection of gin ever - but this was breakfast and a girl has to be sensible.

In our house, Christmas is all about the spoilt dogs!

with Whippet X assuming his role as present protector! 

 and making sure everything was fairly distributed!

and properly opened!

And finally, I found these old classics on the shelf at Son No 1's flat! I think he borrowed them from me at some point.  (sorry their on the squiff - blame the gin!)

And who remembers that Mr Marks and Mr Spencer used to publish books?

Well, thats it!  Farewell 2015 - you've been a blast - and welcome 2016!

And also, this is my 400th Blogpost! Can you believe it? If you have been with me since the start - well done!  If you are new - I hope I amuse in the cluttered world wide web.

Happy creative new year to one and all.