Having Fun!

Lots of fun was had today, which seems very suitable as it was my 71st birthday. It was also my sister's 60th birthday so in normal circumstances we'd have been in London celebrating with her, but for various reasons (Covid being the main one) that didn't work out.
We had our usual gang of friends round and since the weather was good offered them a chance to try out snowshoes. It went well and everyone had fun as we walked around a circuit that included the top of the hill. Note the hats knitted by Jan! Ruth found a hole in the snow and overbalanced, but Rusty was quick to offer help, as you can see in one of the extras.
Rusty thought it great fun but was a bit puzzled by the depth of snow every time he left the track (see extra). If he stayed behind the leader (me!) everything worked fine but when he is off the lead staying behind someone is not his natural place. The snow is about 90 cm deep and Rusty is about 70cm tall so you see the problem!
A few other photos of this glorious sunny birthday weekend can be found on flickr.
Once we'd had our fill of fresh air we gathered around the wood burner and had a drink before we headed into the kitchen for a slap up meal created by Jan. Two curries, spicy chick peas and rice, plus a lot of chutneys and trimmings. It was delicious! And then cake and cream and ice-cream...
It was the largest gathering in our house in the last two years, as we slowly move into our post-pandemic lives. I hope that's not unduly optimistic!
One final extra picture, sent by my sister, taken around 58 years ago, and showing me approx age 13, with my two sisters, Caroline (2) and Kathryn (4). What a skinny lad I was!
(Backblip - today's real blip is here.)