A Pre-Christmas Visit

We managed to fit in a visit to Parkham before Christmas around family birthdays and weddings in other parts of the country.  It was a just a short visit to refresh us before the Christmas festivities begin in earnest although we arrived in time for the annual carol singing in The Bell.  It is not surprising that it has taken a few months for the pub to get back that atmosphere of comfort, homeliness and companionship associated with the 'Old Bell'.  However, Christmas has done just that helped by the amazing decorations throughout the building.  The carol singing was enjoyed by all as were the mince pies and mulled wine kindly supplied by Rachel and Mike.

Not anticipating good weather we had come prepared with a load of Christmas Cards to write and get into the post.  It was much easier buying stamps and sending letters abroad from the small post office in Bucks Cross with no long queues.  We did however have a couple of lovely days when the sun came out and we only got completely drenched on one occasion when walking the dog.

We had several walks around the village and the youngest of the 4 village donkeys (born earlier this year) was getting very brave and wanting to get as close as possible to the dog.

We tried to ensure that we saw all our village friends whilst we were at The Granary to wish them a Merry Christmas and enjoyed being the first visitors for tea at our close friends new cottage at Northway, even before they have moved in themselves.

Packing the car in the rain was not fun and the rain continued unabated for our journey homeward  where we also unpacked in the rain.  We now look forward to our visits in 2019!