Last ride

At least for 2016. Angie set off with Sultan and Luna, Flash and I did a walk on foot. Lovely sunny day but still very cold. The night and morning fog of the last few days is ´not due tonight, so the fireworks fans should be happy.

Very quiet evening, Angie asking at about 23:00 for a Pimms. I overdid it or rather underdid the lemonade. She was slightly wobbly at 23:55 when she went out to put on lights in the horse stables and give the horses some food to help them get over the following 30 minutes or so of fireworks being shot off in the village.

When the main activity was over, she went to the front gate and waved a torch in to the ditance, whereupon MrB set off his fireworks on the hill about 200 metres from us. Our own private free of charge show which I watched from the warmth of the house.

Thank you Mr B! I'm not a fan of this tradition for many reasons, the main one being the animals. However live and let live. As a footnote, two men set off up a mountain near Garmisch to get a good view of the fireworks, lighting a bonfire to keep warm. The fire got out of control in tib´nder dry conditions we have in the forests, and in the attempts to put it out, one fell and suffered multiple broken bones. The resulting costly rescue mission (no roads) was nothing compared to the seven large helicopters dumping water on the mountain all day log for 3 days. I trust they had good third party liability to pay for the missions and recompense the four different owners of parts of the forest burn down. The press reported a few days later that the bill was a large six figure sum. Bet the guys were pleased when the snow arrived on 3rd January and finally doused the smouldering bits that were deep underground.

On balance, I guess 2016 was the same as every year - some dreadful, tragic events, some amazingly good ones and the bits between filled with average days. However do feel the two big political events are troubling, not necessarily on what happens as a result but because of how they came about - makes me sad. Saying goodbye to 2016 with a bang and a few twinkly lights doesn't help to make the future any better.