Not dead but nearly drowned.

There have been complaints about a lack of news. Well, here is the news - it has been raining. Almost constantly. So because the ground is waterlogged there has been no mowing, weeding or hedge trimming. The puddles appear and drain away fairly quickly but it means no gardening. 

We went to Birmingham for Christmas and had a great time doing Christmassy things. The German Christmas market, ice skating and even a pantomime. 

Ice skating video - http://youtu.be/DOHoBYWn9jU

I was bought a Christmas jumper so that I fitted in with the crowd - I felt very inconspicuous. 

You may be able to tell that the tree lit up!

We had a splendid Christmas lunch cooked by Steve. 

There were various get togthers at Helen and Steve's and also in Gloucester with the whole family - over 60 people attended. 

The ongoing rain situation has meant that no gardening has been done but progress has been made on the layout. This has mainly been with scenic items and has included a barn, a tower, a stone circle, a station and an observatory named Peake Observatory in honour of our intrepid British spaceman.

Today I have even managed to get the electrics working so that I can run trains on it - video tomorrow. 

The rainfall has meant that the River Tywi is very high which means the kingfisher has been a regular visitor to the pond. 

The newt population has taken a hammering - see this video. http://youtu.be/ty1uW8rWvQg

I will endeavour to be more regular in my blogging but I suspect it will mainly be trains because of the rains.