The best of 2017

It was a funny old year - I won't lie, it's been more downs than ups. But after seeing other people reflect on their highs and lows of the year, I thought I'd take a look at the highlights of 2017 - because it wasn't all bad you know!

First up - regular readers will know how much I love Smurfs and the wonderful friends I've made through collecting these little blue guys for over 40 years (how long?!?).

In March, we descended upon Bluewater Shopping Centre in Kent for a day of smurfs, laughter and fun.

In June we spent a lovely week in Devon where we revisited old favourites and discovered new ones - I spent far too much time on the dodgems....

I found there were beautiful places on your own doorstep if you look hard enough.

I got to drive a posh new car for a while - which made me realise how short I was every time I got in it and couldn't see out the rear window...

I attended the M&Co AW press day in London and caught up with friends old and new.

Also in London we went to the Star Wars Identities exhibition at the O2 and I found out which Star Wars character I would be (a pink furry Ewok - obviously!).

We decided a break was in order in September so took a week travelling north to visit some of the places we always said we'd go and see 'one day'.

 Bamburgh Castle

 Alnwick Gardens

 Alnwick Castle

 Hartlepool Marina

Middlesborough Transporter Bridge

York - where I discovered I didn't have such a head for heights as I thought...

Luckily the timing of our trip up north coincided with the Curve Fashion Festival in Liverpool which was an amazing day.

In October, France and Belgium beckoned. We've been so many times, it's like revisiting an old friend (and of course, there were more smurfs...)

Blue Paradise Smurf Fair

Falais Castle 

Arromanche

Cherbourg

Cerisy la Foret

So that's my round-up of the year. It's actually been so helpful doing this as it's far too easy to think about only the bad things that happen during the year. And no matter what happens, it's never as bad as you think.

Thanks for reading & a Happy New Year

Cathy

xx

Christmas traditions - new v old

Hello there,

One thing I really enjoy this time of year is seeing photos of other peoples trees and how they decorate their homes and prepare for Christmas. But it started me thinking, how many of you use the same decorations year after year?

As much as I'd love a rose gold themed tree with beautiful white twinkling lights, our tree in reality is a right old hotchpotch of decs from childhood, first homes and holidays.

These have to be the oldest decs on our tree. The Angel is 29 years old (from Woolworths of course!) and the boot was from the other half's childhood, so that's a good 50+ years old.

There's also a selection from holidays and special places. Every year it's become a tradition to buy a new decoration from places we've visited. Previous years it's been America, Bath and this year was a traditional tartan bauble from York.

So although our tree won't win any prizes for coordination or themes, it's full of memories and we wouldn't have it any other way.

Thanks for reading and Happy Christmas!

Cathy
xx