Prickly and pretty

It was hubs birthday yesterday, we had lunch out, he was treated to some nice gifts from family :-)

We have decided not to venture down south this morning either :-( instead we walked to our local post office to send the family's cards from this end to our neice and sis/BiL.....(they are not even sure if they will make it across into Southampton city centre for the planned meal this evening).

Afterwards, we called in for a coffee at the cafe, just to warm up ;-) before walking home.
Hubs knee is really giving him grief :-/

We have spent most of today waiting around for news of youngest. A bit of a scare yesterday, he had been experiencing pain in his lower abdomen, to cut a long story short, he was admitted for obs, either appendicitus or kidney stones. After an overnight stay and a scan this morning, he is currently being discharged with medication for kidney stones.. seems to be ok, they might even make the concert tomorrow night, having managed to get tickets to see Elbow, fingers crossed!

Ours and youngests' boilers didn't come on this morning, but hub sorted it, so all ok now, think it was frozen pipes, so after some hot water on them, they relit. Thursday saw daughter and other Dil have the same problem too, but with their washing machines outlet pipes too, both had floods to mop up!

I defrosted the bird bath and water tray in the garden again this afternoon and put out some fresh sunflower seeds, didnt see any birds though, but the seeds have gone! Spent a chilly 15 mins in the garden, looking for my blip, only colour just now is the buds of this berberis and some little white bells appearing on the Pieris. These orange buds stood out best against the darker background.
We dont have any snow now, just windy and cold, but not so bad as it has been.

Roasted chicken thighs, sliced potatoes with rosemary and garlic, sliced green beans tossed with fried cherry tomatoes for dinner.

Hope the circumstances affecting you up and down the country are improving!!