Brrrr!

It is certainly getting chilly up north now - I even spotted the odd fleck of something white amongst the raindrops this afternoon. Is the snow on its way? Fred and I are busy wrapping up warm to go and see the Alnwick Christmas lights being switched on then off to Newcastle tomorrow for the continental market and Fenwick's Christmas windows. Hats, scarves, roaring fires, chestnuts and all that ... Alnwick is starting to feel very festive ... and cold!

Six months in Alnwick

Today we have lived in Alnwick for six months. And we have absolutely no regrets about moving (despite the stress in the early days). We are so settled. We have met so many lovely people, Fred is really happy and we live in an amazing house in a wonderful location ... what more could we ask for? We left many great friends behind in Sheffield but it really doesn't feel like that as so many people have visited us up here (we've had 47 friends and family visit so far!) and we are still in touch with most people (thank goodness for Facebook!).

So, what will the next six months bring? Snow, no doubt!

Just disturbed a greater spotted woodpecker on the bird feeders

Brilliant! Saw a flash of black and white and wondered if it was a magpie, but we don't see many magpies up here. Then saw it sat on a branch in one of our trees. Definitely not a magpie!

The wind is getting up ...

... just enough to bring the stink from the sewage treatment works!

Tony gets carried away

We went to our first ever auction today - at the Firewood Fair. All the lots were wood of one sort or another - bags of logs ranging from small sacks to huge bags that have to be picked up by machine, trailer loads, kindling, small logs and massive tree trunks.

Fred and I left Tony alone for 5 minutes to scope it out and, by the time we caught up with him, he had bid on a load of logs, with no idea whether he had got a good deal or not and without realising that there was VAT and commission on top! But we had a lovely day, Lovejoy was on his best behaviour (except for trying to wee on all the lots), we saw 2 red deer (or blue deer according to Fred!) and lots of buzzards, and came home with a car load of wood. We now have a very impressive log store on the patio and (according to the internet) only paid about 2/3 what they would normally cost. Phew!

The fence is up!

It's not the most beautiful thing in the world but it's high so will hopefully keep dog and chickens in their correct territories and, more importantly, out of each others'. Just a couple of bits for us to sort out over the next few days and then we can let Lovejoy loose in the garden ... it's been a long 5 months of keeping him tied up all the time.

A very rare sight in our garden this morning ...

... a fencer, actually making a fence! Wowsers!