New Year

I won't bore you with a list of reasons as to why I have not written anything since September as none of them are very interesting and it would just read like a list of excuses! The only comment I will make is that I am well, all is well and life continues. Progress has occurred on the house in that one room has been finished, but there is still much more to do.. the dog continues to be a work in progress, the cat is still alive and we are still enjoying things and so far have not regretted our decision.

We managed a week away in the Alps over the New Year but how times change, as we decided that we were not fit enough to ski and such a decision would invariably lead to injury and thus even more delay with the house. Instead, we went walking with the dog and had a go at snow shoeing, or raquettes as it is called here. That was all going well except for the fact that the very day we needed the snow shoes we didn't have them, and ended up trying to walk thorough snow thigh deep in places. One kilometre has never seemed so long as it did on that day!

I do love the mountains even though I find the air a bit 'brutal'. At the end of the 5 days we were just ready for another week to really enjoy our improved fitness.. except it was time to go home! Here are some pictures taken from the balcony of my brother's chalet.

watching the skiers come home

morning on the mountain

After the snow (for sepia friends)

Snow is snow: Sepia Saturday 163

This picture is taken from the begining (or end) of the South Downs overlooking Eastbourne. It was a Sunday afternoon and it shows kids and their parents playing in the snow.

It isn't that old! (You can see the original here). I have just been playing around with it to make it look old, because the truth is, I am not sure that the scene would have been that different 50 years ago. Maybe the town wouldn't have looked quite so big in the background; maybe the jackets and clothes would have looked a bit different, but essentially when the snow comes to Eastbourne everyone goes out to play. They grab whatever they have to hand to use as a sledge and get out there! There's a footpath that goes from the golf course to the base of the downs and after a few people have been down on their sleds it becomes like the cresta run! Walking is more dangerous than sliding!

It doesn't snow very often on the South coast and when it does it makes the news. This was an old postcard I found here. It shows Eastbourne after 'the Great Blizzard of 1908'. The seafront looked much the same after the snow of 2010!