A Winter Wonderland

Today was a beautiful crisp winter's day, just the type that is perfect for a walk in the fresh air so we went to Wisley gardens. No matter how many times we go there we always see things that we've never noticed before - I love it there (apart from the fact that lots of families had the same idea so there were lots of screaming kiddies).

Dotted all around the gardens are sculptures and statues - depending on the season is how well you see these due to plant foliage so winter is quite a good time for spotting new creations.

Birds having a natter on a wall

Not sure what this is meant to be - maybe a glass cactus?

Eros or Cupid?

What was really nice around the gardens was the Christmas decorations - all it needed was a dusting of snow to make it even more magical.

The bauble above was really big with fairy lights which reflected in the pond - lovely

My beloved looking particularly gorgeous under some tinsel and baubles in the tree.

In one of the ponds in the glass house they had what looked like huge woks full of plants which is a really good idea and looked really nice.

My favourite area in the glass house is where the cacti are - they're fabulous and I wish I had room for some really big ones like these.

When we were in the glass house we sat down near the waterfall for a bit of a snuggle, as we do. Ken told me I had to close my eyes and imagine we were somewhere exotic - when I said it was hard to do with the noise of screaming kiddies my beloved told me I was mistaken, what I could actually hear was chattering monkeys and screeching parrots. So with that image in my head I rested against my favourite shoulder pillow and in my head we went to Borneo.

In the warmth of the glass house were lots of unusual plants, including chillies and mandarins or satsumas (I'm not sure which).

We didn't want to leave the glass house as it was so warm inside, but leave we did as there was so much more to see. Now I wanted to take a picture that would show how cold it was but I'm not sure if you can see what I wanted in the picture below - the water is full of ice.

Since we last visited these gates have been put in to commemorate 100 years of the Chelsea Flower Show - the metal plants are really lovely.

In one of the small greenhouses there were lots of chillies hanging up to dry - they'd make beautiful natural Christmas garlands.

The buildings in the gardens are lovely old ones which are now used for offices - I hope that the people who are lucky enough to work there appreciate the beauty around them, both man-made and natures creations.

By the time we went to leave it was starting to get dark which made all the fairy lights show up and is really keeping the magic of Christmas alive.

It was a great day out, these gardens always help restore my soul a bit as it's so nice to be surrounded by nature whatever the season - in fact whenever we go nature's magic always has something new to show.

Until next time, stay safe, enjoy life, and take a walk to appreciate nature.

Pamela and Ken

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P.S: The Wisley Christmas tree.

Christmas day

Christmas day has been and gone - Santa is having a deserved rest and the reindeer are having an extra helping of moss for a job well done.

We had a quiet day with our lovely furbies who make our lives a constant day of fun. Bertie wasn't phased by the excitement and spent most of the day asleep as most old men do, especially after lunch.

The cats were the exact opposite - trying to get into everything. Muffin is looking under the tree for her present.

Once we started opening our presents from Santa the two brats wanted to help us just in case we missed one of theirs.

 One of my gifts from Santa was a lucky black cat - can you see the similarities between the lucky one and the curvy one?

Poor old Bertie, he was trying to sleep amongst the wrapping paper but if he so much as twitched the brats would pounce - it wasn't long til he retreated to the safety of his chair.

Another great present from Santa was a pair of gloves that are compatible with smart phones - means I can keep my gloves on at the bus stop - very lovely colour, just me.

We were very blessed with some lovely presents from family and friends, and just wanted to share a couple with you. Firstly is the beautiful quilt my mum made for us - the picture doesn't do it justice, as the colours are really bright.

Secondly, a beautiful fleecey poncho from Jean & Brian (the outlaws in Scotland) - it's so warm and lovely. (Sorry the picture isn't the best, I forgot about the window).

One of our Christmas traditions is that Ken does lunch - it's very nice having my beloved sorting the food out whilst I watch dodgy Christmas tv.

We had a perfectly lovely peaceful day and we hope yours was as you would want it to be.

Thank you to Santa for being so good to us, and thank you to my beloved for a fantastic meal. Until next time, be good, enjoy life, and take care of each other.

Pamela and Ken

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P.S: Final picture of Bertie, still asleep at the end of the day with his party hat on.

Twas the madness before Christmas...

Today we went to Westfield London - no, we're not crazy, I wanted to see the Christmas decorations - we weren't one of the many frazzled looking people who still aren't ready for the big day. I don't think they're going to find the spirit of Christmas among the shops!

On the way into London I noticed a great pair of shoes on another commuter, though I'm not sure how she can walk in them.

When we arrived at the shopping centre I was a little disappointed as we couldn't see very many lights, but then when we got into the main part the magic appeared.

It was so beautiful - what you can't see in the picture is that the lights were twinkling.

Now before we could have a proper look round we needed to make sure that we had enough energy for the day, so that meant coffee and cake- any excuse. The place we chose was called the Chocolate Cafe - here you can see the delights we had to eat, mine is the cute little snowman cupcake.

In the middle of the shops was an ice skating rink, with a live band entertaining the skaters.  It was lovely watching the fun and the falls.

I love wandering around and looking at all the lovely window displays especially in the posh shops.

Outside the centre was a Santa's grotto but unfortunately Santa is sold out!! So I didn't get a chance to sit on Santa's knee and tell him what I want for Christmas. In case you were wondering, I would like a teleporter (like on Star Trek) so that I could see all my favourite people at Christmas time.

There was a gelato bar in between the shops and I really loved the seats they had for their customers. They're the back ends of scooters.

There is a part of the centre that is dedicated to the posh designer shops and it feels really opulent - beautiful chandeliers overhead.

All of these shops have lots of security staff and probably none more so than Tiffany's - the jewellery shop famous for its little blue boxes.

My beloved treated me to a glass of champagne at the champagne bar in the posh area - do you think we look posh enough?

When we headed home we shared the tube with this very gorgeous puppy dog - such a cutey and very friendly.

It was a lovely day out people watching and window shopping - the best sort of shopping.

Now as this is my last post before Christmas we want to wish everyone a happy and peaceful Christmas spent with people you love - don't eat to much, I hope Santa is good to you, and take time to remember the real meaning of Christmas.

Pamela and Ken
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