Companionship...

In many ways today was more like our Christmas Day - relaxed and full of fun, laughter, good food and drink. For once it was a beautiful sunny morning so Pete, Chris and I went down to Holme Fen with Rosie. It may seem counterintuitive, but the fens are one of the better places to go during times of flood, as they are very well protected by pumped drainage. Despite this, the water levels in the ditches were as high as I've ever seen.

We had a wonderfully restorative walk, and all realised how much we need time out in the natural world to recover from socialising.There weren't many birds about, but we had excellent views of a pair of red kites, possibly prospecting for nest sites, and flushed a woodcock, which is now quite a rarity. I took this image of Pete and Chris next to the mere. Chris was gazing across at the birds and Pete was looking in the shallows for aquatic invertebrates. I love the sense of peaceful companionship - each lost in their own worlds, together.

Back home, it was time for more cooking in preparation for a family meal with Chris's girlfriend, Lizzy. We finally got around to opening all of our presents, and then cracked open a bottle of Prosecco, which got us all in a cheerful mood. Several hours later, and feeling totally stuffed, we retired to the comfy room and had a very prolonged game of Cranium. I'd bought this when the boys were quite young, but it had proved a bit too complicated at the time. But it was excellent for six adults and proved to be a very closely fought battle!! Pete and I finally went to bed at 2am - I'm not even sure what time the younger generation hit the sack!