Bright and beautiful

It was another bright and frosty morning, and we enjoyed getting out for a walk in a different area today. There were many dog walkers, runners and cyclists out and we met another Vizsla puppy that was exactly the same age as Xena - they looked so alike and their mannerisms were so similar, I suppose they are a very long established breed so that is to be expected that they are so alike (they were well established as a breed in the 1800's although some say they date back to the 9th century)

Gavin then went off to Kingston to buy my Christmas present as it was on a Black Friday discount - he said the shops were heaving with people, I am so pleased I was not there! We had lunch in the village and then popped into Waitrose to buy some Christmas food treats for Gavin to take with him to South Africa as he leaves tomorrow to go see his mother.

It was already dark by the time we came out of Waitrose but we decided to go to Garsons Farm to order the Christmas tree as Gavin is away all of this week and then is home for a day before leaving to go to the USA for the week after that. Last year I struggled to fit the tree into the car on my own so I wanted Gavin to help me with it before he left. They do deliver but their delivery slots were all fully booked for the next 2 weeks so it was a good thing he was there to help putt it in the car. We had Xena with us and she enjoyed sniffing around the trees and helping us choose one! They have the best selection of Christmas decorations I have seen, with sections dedicated to themes and colours - for example all red decorations in one section, or Cinderella themed decorations in another etc. I will try to go back this week to buy one or two decorations for the tree as we ran out of time today as we got there just before they closed.

With Gavin away I thought it would be a quiet week for me but it looks like it will be rather busy - I have all the Christmas cards to write (so time consuming), presents to wrap, I have to take the car to the car dealer to get the Satnav updated and various other errands that need to be done. I am also going to Cambridge to fetch Thomas for the end of term and to help him pack up his room. It's a nuisance he has to clear his room every term but the university uses the rooms for conferences etc. during the holidays.