Rural life in North Nottinghamshire has provided us with many opportunities. I think we have embraced them all. Not least our latest and most productive hobby: sausage-making!
We have been given quantities of game birds from local shoots and so it has become necessary to be inventive. Roast pheasant, roast partridge, game casserole, pheasant bolognese…
Recipes coming soon
I can share the recipes and methods with you in the New Year, perhaps you would like to see them?
A very merry Christmas
In the meantime here is a picture of our Christmas wreath. Created from feathers and a biodegradable OASIS https://www.oasisfloral.co.uk/ base. It hangs on my front door. A seasonal image to wish you a very merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
The beginning of a new year is a time of resolutions and fresh starts. Dark, winter days can make staying positive very difficult. But for now, we have hope.
‘Once you choose hope, anything’s possible’.
Actor Christopher Reeve
Dark days
Written in 1908 a poem was brought to the attention of King George VI in 1939, when the days were very dark indeed. He included it in his radio broadcast to the empire. Who knows what the New Year holds for us? It is so full of uncertainty. Here is that poem, a message of hope for us all.
The Gate of the Year
by Minnie Louise Haskins
And I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year:
“Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown.”
And he replied:
“Go out into the darkness and put your hand into the Hand of God.
That shall be to you better than light and safer than a known way.”
So I went forth, and finding the Hand of God, trod gladly into the night.
And He led me towards the hills and the breaking of day in the lone East.
Happy New Year…
and as the comedian Dave Allen, popular in the 1970s famously said: ‘May your god go with you’.
That was the year that I started my blog. I visited places, made things, shared experiences with the grandchildren and blogged about them. It was an amazing summer. I loved it.
I did some guest blogging on a couple of other sites like https://thegrandparenthub.com/ this is a site that shares ideas and things to do with the grandkids and is full of inspiration. And then there’s my local ‘What’s In and What’s On’ website for my region https://www.innorthnotts.co.uk/ which is full of things to do and places to visit.
Travel
Travel played a big part in my life during 2018. South coast of England, east coast of the USA , west coast of the USA and Scotland. There is an old saying ‘travel broadens the mind’ so perhaps there should be a bit more of it.
The New Year is just around the cirner
2019 is already beckoning and it would be good to get to know my own country better. Perhaps an extended tour of the UK in a motor home? https://www.justgo.uk.com/ All suggestions gratefully received.
Get active
There should be more exercise. I could sign up for a ‘long walk’ or train for a half marathon. Again, all suggestions considered. I do need a challenge.
New skills
And then of course there is ‘sausage making’. I recently purchased a sausage maker. That is a story/blog, for another day.
It’s the best policy
I have to be honest and admit that I don’t like the turn of the year. The ticking of the clock. The anticlimax. The resolutions. The stepping into the unknown. But it is just another day with a different number when all is said and done… isn’t it?
Hello 2019
So, with some trepidation I will welcome in 2019. It boils down to two things: being healthy and happy. That is all I wish for my family, friends and of course you and me.
Happy New Year dear reader, I hope it will be kind to us.