2013

On the blog-front, 2013 hasn't been particularly successful. I have only managed to post a grand total of five times, which somewhat belies the year we have actually had. Whilst not all of these events made it onto these pages, 2013 will always be the year when:

• We cycled through poppy-dotted cornfields in the Loire Valley
• Wonderful friends visited from across the ocean
• I learned to swim with my head under water
• The boy turned 30 dressed in Lederhosen
• I learned how to make a hand-tied bouquet and to ice a wedding cake
• We had a snowy long-weekend in Paris
• My Dad made me a rocking chair
• I survived the hardest job I've ever done
• We watched precious friends get married
• I fell in love with the North Norfolk Coast
• The boy got the job of his dreams
• I helped deliver lots of lovely babies
• My hometown flooded on Christmas Eve
• Best of all, I got engaged to my boy by the banks of a dusky reservoir.  

It hardly seems a moment since last Christmas, but here we are. We have just come in from watching the International Space Station (Father Christmas) sweeping across the sky and are cosied-up in front of the fire, watching Carols from King's. All the presents are wrapped and under the tree and the goose has survived the unfortunately-timed fridge breakdown. There is a lot of flooding around our little town, so we might not make it to midnight mass, but we're going to try. My boy is with us for Christmas for the first time ever, which is just a little bit brilliant. 

There is a grey/parisian theme to my Christmas cards this year. This little guy posed for me beautifully on the edge of a frozen fountain in the Jardin des Tuileries and now he is wishing you the very merriest of Christmases and I am too!