On The Very Cusp Of A New Year

So, here we all find ourselves on the very last day of 2025 - in less than 12 hours time we'll be leaping into 2026!

Today/tonight we are once more hosting our annual New Years Sleepover with our much beloved niece and nephew.

Last year they were "booked" elsewhere and though it absolutely broke our hearts, we fully intend to make up for it this year in buckets and spades!

Iris is desperate to stay up late to watch the New Year fireworks over Evesham for the very first time,  which we will do overlooking the river .........

.........so that we'll get double the magic reflected in the water and Bertie, if he can stay up long enough, plans to capture it all on his new tablet.

With the little ones arrival imminent and a very busy today and New Years Day ahead  ...... 

....... we thought we'd simply share a few pictures from the past year to celebrate the multitude of glorious moments we were privy to .......

........ and then, hopefully, catch up with you tomorrow ........

........ but pictures of this special evening will probably be posted on 2nd January to allow us and our behind the scenes team a bit time to recover  ......

........ such will be the robustness of our busy-ness ......... 

........ until then, have a wonderful last day/ last evening of 2025 .......

WISHING YOU A VERY, VERY, VERY 

HAPPY NEW YEAR FROM ALL OF US ..... 

....... TO ALL OF YOU 

It's Twirly!!!!! - It's Too Early!!!

OMG, even though we haven't had the tiniest whiff of a cheeky auld lang syne yet ......

....... look what Darrell and I are now up against after we visited Poole.......

....... yes, flipping Easter Eggs are on the shop shelves already, while Christmas paper, tags, cards and the odd bauble are still very much in evidence, though drastically reduced!

We didn't even have chance to shield the little fella eyes, let alone divert his attention ........

....... he was instantly agog .......

...... and the pondering and musings begun, as to which he'd like the Easter Bunny to drop off at the Towers in just thirteen weeks and five days time, before we've even as much as finished any of our selection boxes!

There was only one thing to do and that was beat a very hasty retreat to Sandbanks, our very favouritist beach of choice whenever we are in Dorset climes.

Sad to say it was absolutely bitter and it's been a long time since we've been quite so cold ......

...... despite a flask of hot chocolate and a pack of deluxe mince pies to help buoy our spirits .......

...... the cold took no prisoners!

However, the compulsion to look for a holey stone or one with a face was still beating strong in amongst Erics psyche......

...... and his tenacity under such challenging temperature conditions paid off .......

...... in the guise of a two in one combo, a creepy, wizened, old man face with a bonus two very definite (all the way through) eyes!

With that, we all decided that we'd really given the beach and sea our very best, and now the warmth of our Travel Lodge was beckoning, with the promise of a final evening meal at The Ship to celebrate a wonderful few days away.......

  ....... leaving the mystery or story behind the flowers Eric also found on the beach to someone else's curiosity!

Deja Vu, Aha .....

Yesterday, being a Sunday, what better way to start the day but in holy climes, to wit Christchurch Priory, something we again missed out on last year......

..... and even this year we only just managed it by sneaking in right at the end of the 10 o'clock service.......

 ...... but it was so worth the wait, it was BEAUTIFUL, in capital letters, with so many interesting nooks and crannies and a very impressive organ!

There might not have been any candles to light (health and safety, perhaps as they were in the process of locking up shop) ........

...... but, for the same suggested donation of 20p, Eric found an equally magical way to remember all the important people in our lives who are no longer able to share in our holiday adventures ......

What is he like?

He also mused that when the time came for him to meet his maker he wouldn't be averse to being memorialised in tomb effigy form, immortalised for almost forever, after all he wouldn't take up all that much room and we wouldn't need that much marble!

Then, still, very much deep in thought, we moved on for a little more year end refection to Priory Quay, where Eric, ever eagle eyed, spotted a boat called Odyssey and if ever there was an omen for the coming New Year, it was in that name!!!!  Greece, after a year away, was very obviously calling! 

Also calling yesterday was most definitely Mudeford Quay and beach ........

...... where, despite the bitter bite in the air, the great British tripper was still more than happy to brave the cold chill to dine al fresco sur les sands ........

...... and Eric and Alice went in search of a holey stone ........

....... tick ....... can you see it? .........

....... and a stone with a face, tick!

It was all rather wonderful ........ the Christmas and Boxing Day cobwebs well and truly blown away with gusto.

It might also have been lovely to have done a cheeky bit of crabbing, but we feared our fingers may never recover from the freezing briny waters, so we admitted  defeat, as frost bite is never a good look, especially on Alice's neatly manicured fingers .........

....... much better suited to being wrapped round a tall peach schnapps and lemonade on the rocks  at  The Captains Club ........

...... the perfect end, to a perfect day ............ chin, chin, bottoms up and a very large arrivederci Roma!

Deja Vu - Aha .........

We got to Highcliffe, just outside Christchurch (Dorset) in record time, leaving Evesham at around 8.20am, we only had one wee stop, which is also something of a record, especially as we were only forty minutes away from the sea at the time .......

Our first glimpse of the sea was absolutely glorious, the sun was shining, the sea was a deep, glistening blue and there was a bitter, winter bite in the air that made us glow and feel tangibly and palpably alive, what more could we have possibly wanted  .........

..... save for one of Darrell's most excellent almond mince pies and a hot chocolate from our flask ......

..... while sat sitting on a bench, embracing every single second, counting all our many, many blessings of a Hello Magazine type nature at the end of a wonderful year.

Then, it was off to Christchurch for book into our bargain Travel Lodge, the same as last year, sometimes we can be great creatures of habit.

Once unpacked and settled, well, it would have been rude not to have a little mooch round Christchurch ....... and, if you remember, last year our first night was a little compromised as the restaurant we'd booked our first evening at had closed down and was totally abandoned, without as much as a curtesy e-mail, so a Chinese takeaway was, in the end,  the order of the evening ........

...... however, it now seems that The Ship is in new hands and this year, it was meant to be, with a table for four duly booked for Monday night .........

...... where we have all agreed to try the speciality de la maison, "frickles", to wit deep fried pickles!!

What are we like, if not comestibly curious when  in foreign climes!

There was only one, very small regret during the day and that was Darrell being a little tight of pocket when he spotted and seriously perused this Mexican Evening Hosting Kit, it was only £2.50 but he ummed and ahhhed, as to whether we actually had anything to play the CDs that came with it on ......

....... it would/might have been nice to hold an end of year Mr D Tribute Night, but the CD's confused things.  Darrell said he'd do his research and go back if it indeed seemed a go-er. He didn't think there would a rush on such an unusual party item, but, just in case, he'd moved it up onto a higher shelf, should we return!