Week Two, the one when it rained for 99.9% of the time (or so it seemed)

 Last weekend we had a post-festive season family get-together, which you can read about here.

A fun time was enjoyed by all.

My New Year's declutter project, in which one object per day is decluttered, got off to a good start, the first seven items went to the charity shop, as well as a book that was sold and posted, a box of bubble-wrap donated to next-door neighbours who'll be moving soon, and some Flamingo envelopes sold to a nearby trader. Here's the first charity shop donation.

It certainly seems as if it's been raining for most of the week, roads out from the Marsh towards Holt and Bradford on Avon are currently closed due to flooding, but we did enjoy a couple of colourful sunsets, this being one of them.

We're considering replacing our TV set with a larger one, and in order to facilitate that, Green Man has purchased a new TV stand to replace this one.

The hyacinths didn't make it into flower in time for the festivities, but they're out now, one nearly over, one just right, and one still to open fully - they smell divine.

I've finished the knitting part of the hooped sweater, just need to complete the laborious task of stitching it together now.

Raindrops on the Yarden room window

After our family get-together I stayed overnight with Ginger One, this was my early morning view

I'm making another batch of my own sugar-free version of baked beans. This is the first step, boiling up the dried beans, the full recipe can be read here

My step count for the week

 

Our Annual Family Festive meet-up

 . . . . eventually took place last weekend. The last time we all met up together was the summer of 2021, and prior to that it was pre-lurgy in the summer of 2019! Hopefully now that all that nonsense is behind us, it'll become re-established as an annual event, or even possibly a bi-annual event. 

Please excuse the photo quality, these are all phone photos with varying degrees of success, however I think we've managed to capture the spirit of the day. 

As we're quite well spread across the south of England, in South London, Kent, Surrey and Wiltshire, finding a central venue with easy motorway access is paramount, this time GO found one in Reading, just off the M4. (DiL EGS appears briefly in the mirror).

It's not easy to get 6 granddaughters (aged between 12 and 2) to sit still in one place, and this is the best we could manage

A few random shots of sons, Dils, GDs and GS

And, of course, the family group photo. This is usually GM's job, but he was unable to make it this time, so DiL ST stood in for him

A very enjoyable day was had by all, despite the horrendous weather and driving conditions, with thanks to the weather fairies for giving us a dry 30 minutes outside for the kids (all 16 of them) to burn off some excess energy before the drive home. Huge thanks go to all my family for being such a lovely bunch.