Saturday in Storlien

This morning we met our friend Petter who had just driven from north of Trondheim over to spend a couple of days with us in Storlien. After a lovely breakfast in the hotel, Petter and I went on a ski tour while Rhods and the kids sorted skis (again). Petter brought his two sweet dogs Pia and Stella and they joyfully raced through the snow off the lead, while we made our way across the open terrain in an uphill direction.

Out in the middle of nowhere waxing skis

It was soooo wonderful to be out tromping on skis in whichever direction we wanted, enjoying the nature, the day itself, and each other's company. I was in heaven.

Around 1pm we skied back down towards the hotel in time to catch Tryfan and Rhiannon coming out to the slope for their ski lesson with Max. In the meantime, they made a couple of friends called Katinka and Karl-Erik.

Tryfan, Karl-Erik, Katinka and Rhiannon in front of the hotel lift and slope

After their lesson finished, we all played on the slope (because it was very small and right next to the hotel, and we didn't need a lift pass to use it!) for a few hours until we were tired. Then we headed to the swimming pool, sauna and showers in the hotel where Tryfs and Rhiannon met up with their little friends again.

We met Petter around 6pm and went for dinner at Flamman, which is quite a special restaurant in Storlien just a short walk from the hotel. Petter knows the owner/ chef Lena, and we went here last time we were in Storlien. They gather local ingredients throughout the year and create amazing menus with them - lingon berries, wild mushroom, elk, moose, reindeer, birch sap. Here is their website: Flamman

We had this amazing beer at Flamman which was made from spruce needles and called "Gran". After the kids went to bed, Petter and Rhodri and I met upstairs in the hotel to hang out in the grand ballroom which was empty except for us.

A cold day in Hell

We flew from Gatwick to Trondheim last night after a bit of a fiasco at the airport!

Turns out Rhiannon's British passport had expired a couple of weeks ago and so we had to call upon our friend Cat to drop everything and race to our house, pick up Rhiannon's American passport, and drive to Gatwick to hand it off to us!

Anyway, we made it on the 8:00 pm flight as scheduled to Trondheim. After getting our bags, we took a quick taxi ride to Scandic Hell hotel and went to sleep.

We had an amazing breakfast in the morning, then we headed off to Storlien!

Tryfs and Rio with the amazing breakfast area behind.

The pool we didn't have a chance to go in

We had an excitable journey over the mountains, all of us eager to get to the snow and the skis. One funny thing was that we heard "Edelwiess" on the radio as we were driving! And it was Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer singing it, same exact version as the Sound of Music soundtrack.

Map showing Storlien relative to Trondheim and borders

Last time we visited Storlien (2 years ago), we stayed in a farm hostel but this time we stayed at this grand old hotel http://www.storlienhogfjallshotell.se/  It really was grand and old, but in an endearing sort of way. We had a room with 2 sets of bunkbeds and our own bathroom, so we were stoked.

Once we settled in and unpacked our bags, we went to the downhill ski slope to rent some skis and boots and all that. Then we went back to the hotel and tried out our cross country skis on a short little trip of about 2 km. It was actually really windy and cold, and so we didn't want to push it too hard on this first day! So we called it and went back inside after about 40 minutes, then relaxed until dinner time.

Long slanting mid-winter light

Today Emma called me and asked if we wanted to go for a walk in the forest with her and the kids, and it was one of those perfect moments when that was exactly what I wanted to do and outside held this perfect golden light.

We went out to the fallen down tree, which is now polished smooth on top after at least 6 years of laying there in the middle of a bracken clearing.

Tryfs, Soph, Rio and Osc

We took the long loop across the heath so that we could call in at the Red Lion for a swifty before the final stretch back home. It was so wonderful to just be out enjoying the afternoon with our friends on a spontaneous outing.

The latest weekend thing

Rhiannon got a voucher for 10 horse riding lessons as a Christmas present, so I've been taking her to Tremaine's riding stables on either Sat or Sun these past few weekends. Here she is on Della:

A Christmasy weekend in January

This weekend Auntie Sions came to visit and somehow brought Christmas with her!
Ok, she did have a carful of presents from North Wales which added to the holiday spirit, but it also happened to be really cold all of a sudden AND then it snowed on Sunday morning!
Happiness all around, and it was so lovely to have Sioned with us.

At the Coach & Horses pub in the garden

On Saturday early afternoon we walked down to the Coach and had a drink there in the play area. We were singing and having fun both ways and my voice turned a bit hoarse after singing "Ooh watch me, watch me, oooh ooh!" (thanks again to Ruby for inflicting this awful song upon our household). Then when we got back home, Cat and Bruno came round and we all had a bit of a dance and singsong. That was really fun because we all took turns looking up songs and music videos on YouTube (although we had some work to do on the censoring side because there is some dodgy stuff out there!), and then singing along and dancing. Super fun.

On Sunday morning we woke up to a very thin covering of snow, which was Very Exciting!

We built a nice roaring fire and had a cozy day inside/ outside playing in the snow. All too soon the weekend was over and Sions had to get back to Cardiff while we had to get back to school and work. It was fun while it lasted though!

Happy New Year 2016

Happy New Year!

Today was our last full day together and we celebrated by taking a family walk in the Ashdown forest nearest to our house. It was a soggy and grey old day, but we had fun together.
The house will be really quiet once everyone goes.

New Year's Eve

We had a low key day today, and in the afternoon Molly and Rhiannon went for a private riding lesson at nearby Tremaine's Riding Stable.

They had half an hour in the covered arena, with Molly riding Spencer and Rhiannon on Gemini.

In the evening, we all headed over to Lucy and Mac's house down the road for a New Year's Eve party. The party itself was pretty mellow - adults standing around talking and kids running around the house - and a contingent of our group came home early. But that was all fine because it was only a short walk and there was an exciting episode of Sherlock that was on telly this night, so that was the main draw.

My favorite part of the whole day and night was definitely the late afternoon and early evening before we went to the party. We were all just hanging out in the living room/ kitchen and putting together a music compilation, searching for various songs on iTunes that we could put on the playlist.  Many thanks (NOT!) to Ruby for planting the earworm of "Nae Nae"!

Anyway, Happy New Year everyone!

Pooh Sticks Bridge and other local highlights

Today after some  members of the household did their running and refueling, we went into the Ashdown forest to tour some of the Pooh places.
The kids and G-Buck and I first found the Heffalump Pit, close to where we went on another day but we hadn't actually seen this particular spot so we made sure to find it.

In the Heffalump Pit

Then we met up with the other carload of family, and walked down to Pooh Sticks Bridge.

Mid-Pooh Sticks game, Phil climbing down to break up the stick jam

Molly, Libby, Ruby, Phil and Grandma Bucky

Self-take at Pooh Sticks

 After we made it back up to the top of the hill where the cars were parked, we treated ourselves to a swift trip to The Hatch Inn pub nearby. It was so cozy and nice, and we all loved the fairy lights interspersed with branches hanging from the ceiling.

It was a great outing and I'm really glad that we were able to make it out of the house on a walk altogether.

A day at the Races!

We had a fantastic day today at the Newbury Racecourse!
We were lucky with the weather and it was a stunning day, though on the chilly side.

Cris, Val, Gabs, Tryfs, G-Buck, Rio, Nia and Rhods "tail-gating" English style

We met up with Auntie Nia, Uncle Cris and cousins Gabs and Valentin because Newbury happens to be halfway between our house and theirs. It took us each just under a couple of hours to get here, but well worth the journey. As it turned out, we also were able to meet up with Phil, Libby, Ruby, Molly and the family that they had been visiting in Oxford during our intermission of the holiday period. So it was a grand reunion on a gorgeous day and it was SO FUN!

The gates opened at 11 and the first race was at 12:15.

The way the racecourse is laid out, there is a lot of different places to sit or stand and watch the action. There were 7 races this day, and by race 3 or 4, we had sussed out the best places to go to watch the horses and jockeys.

Pretty soon the herd of cousins was running from the spot on the side of the homestretch to the warm-up arena where another batch of horses were getting ready to run. Rhiannon decided she wanted to get the autograph of one of the jockeys, and soon all 4 of the cousins were lined up along the walkway between the weigh-in room and the warm-up arena asking for autographs.

Proud display of autograph, with the warm-up arena behind

Gabs, Rio, T-bone and Val

We also had a spell of standing in the bleachers, which does provide a better view of the racecourse than down on the grass below.

Our gang of 18 dispersed through the crowd

There were a few small bets made, and we came out marginally ahead which was good news. But the main reason it was a great day was because it was so different and beautiful and full of energy. It was fantastic to see Nia, Cris and the cousins but the day was over all too quickly. Hopefully we'll see them again soon.

Parting ways for a couple of days

Yesterday morning, Grandma Bucky and I got into Lil Jimmy the Green car and headed north to Barton-upon-Humber to see Grandma's long lost friend Ursula while Phil, Libby, Ruby and Molly ventured up to Oxford to see their friend Lena. Rhodri and the kids stayed here at the house and regrouped. This little interlude actually worked really well for all parties!

Bucky and Ursula

The Humber Bridge in all her glory when i was out on a morning walk

It was a decent drive, but rather enjoyable because how often do I get to go on a road trip with my Grandma Bucky?!!! I should have been wearing the STOKED hat. So we drove up to Ursula's house, hung out with her and her friends Dave and Rebecca, and then had dinner in the evening. Ursula wasn't feeling 100% but I think she was genuinely happy to see Grandma Bucky and talk about mutual friends and stories.

This morning I went on a walk to the water's edge (of the Humber river, that is) and then bought some groceries on the walk back which proved useful for breakfast foods.

Around midday I headed over the bridge to Hull and managed to have a quick lunch with our old friend Hiatt.

 She recently started a mobile burrito business in Hull! It was great to see her, though a bit too short of a visit. Better than nothing, though!

We were on the road around 2:30pm and got back to Chalfonts just before 7pm, so it was pretty good going. Fun to have a little change of scene and be on the road with my fav G-Buck!

Boxing Day outing to the beach

It was a lovely day today and we ventured out to Cuckmere Haven to go for a walk along the estuary out to the sea and then along the base of the cliffs. Once we got to the water's edge, G-Buck parked herself on a crate and sat enjoying the sunshine in Wheeler's "STOKED" hat that Phil brought on the trip, while the rest of us headed to the white cliffs to look at them up close.

It was a stunning day with gorgeous slanting light and a receding tide.

Once we were all thoroughly windswept and interesting, we walked back to the cars and then convoyed to the Griffin Inn pub in Fletching for a post-outing bevvie. A very satisfying day.

Christmas Day 2015

We had a lovely Christmas Day!
Kids up early and excited about their stockings, adults up later, house smelling of freshly brewed coffee, a very animated present-opening period, then a late breakfast. The day itself was fairly uninspiring weather wise - mild, windy, and rainy. We had a cozy fire going in the fireplace and it was wonderful to have a good sized crowd in the house.

Rhiannon, Molly and Ruby

Nerf shooters Tryfan, Rhiannon and Molly

 The main part of the day was spent preparing food for dinner, various people going for walks and runs at different times, and then the Queen's speech at 3pm. Tryfs, Rhiannon and Molly expended quite a bit of energy chasing each other round the house shooting Nerf pellets at each other (Thanks Eric and Kristin!) and it was generally a jolly, festive household!

Watching the Queen's speech

 The Queen said some carefully worded and warm things about Christ Jesus and his message of sharing love and gratitude... Here is a little excerpt from her speech (I found the full transcript and video of at this link):
"Despite being displaced and persecuted throughout his short life, Christ's unchanging message was not one of revenge or violence but simply that we should love one another.  Although it is not an easy message to follow, we shouldn't be discouraged; rather, it inspires us to try harder: to be thankful for the people who bring love and happiness into our own lives, and to look for ways of spreading that love to others, whenever and wherever we can."

We had several calls and text messages with the Welsh contingent who were all together up in North Wales, In the late afternoon and evening we had FaceTime calls with Judy, Joe, Annie, Jody and their respective broods in Montana, then also with Will, Eric and Mom in Seattle, and finally with Egan and Wheeler (oh wait, i think that was last night on Christmas Eve...). Didn't manage to connect with Heidi today but we will tomorrow hopefully. Merry Christmas everyone!

Christmas Eve

We are all gearing up for the big day tomorrow, and we made a few little trips to the grocery store to stock up on ingredients for our various menu items. And of course all the runners needed to run. I think I went out on a run this day also, which was nice.

At 4:45pm we headed over to Tablehurst Farm for the annual "Caroling to the Cows" that started at 5pm. This is the 2nd year in a row we've gone, and I think actually it might be our last; the novelty has worn off. And as the Farmer himself announced at the start of the evening, the carols are not for our benefit but for the animals. So the carols he had selected aren't necessarily the most enjoyable or wonderful to sing, (e.g. Anyone know the carol called "In the bleak mid-winter"? Thought not.)

At the 3rd and final stop on the Farm caroling tour

 The 3rd and final stop was in the sheep barn. The sheep at least showed genuine interest and possibly appreciation for the singing, so that was nice. The Farmer told a story about how animals came to Earth from Heaven and how mankind should appreciate their generosity, and then some volunteers served free mince pies and warm drinks (Result!), and then we headed home.

Rhiannon, Molly and Tryfan ready to sing

 When we got home, we had a lovely Mexican feast prepared by Phil and Libby, then the kids got the plate of treats ready for Santa and his elves and reindeer.

Then we read The Night Before Christmas and eventually everyone went to sleep.