Wet walk

We have had a lot of rain over the last few days.  Today was supposed to be relatively fine, so we had decided that we would have a local walk - driving anywhere seemed foolish, as the roads are still very wet, and in some places impassable, and there are decent local walks.

We set off in drizzle, but it did clear up for a while.  The paths were very muddy, and in fact shortly before this photo we had had to abandon our planned walk as the path was so muddy we didn't see any point in carrying on.  Especially as, by that time, it was drizzling again.

The disturbed sand and gravel on the left here was where a local farmer had just filled in a foot deep trench created by water running off the fields on the opposite side of the road.  We are predicted more rain due to storm Bella on 26th.

We walked home, and got out the Christmas cake.  As we have fed it a couple of times, it was lovely and moist, and rather alcoholic!  We opened a bottle of desert wine to drink with it.  And settled down to enjoy a Zoom catch up with some extended family spread around the world - in the extra, Edinburgh, Illinois, Market Harborough and Sweden.

When we ate later, the only nod to a traditional Xmas dinner were the cranberries in the Mushroom and Cranberry Wellington - bought last year and found in the freezer during a recent sort out - and the "pigs in blankets" on my plate.