In the spirit ...

I must confess that this year it has taken me a long time to warm up to the idea of Christmas, feeling somewhat tepid about the whole occasion, until yesterday, when finally a bit of the old Christmas spirit kicked in with the arrival of the Christmas tree. The annual trip to the attic to search for the boxes of baubles and all things sparkly, was just what I needed to thaw out the humbug I was in danger of becoming.

At the beginning of the month I had attended the beautiful carol concert at my son's end of term service in Bath Abbey. This did stir some of the sense of occasion.. especially when the magnificent school Chamber Choir.. sang from Handel's Messiah.Guaranteed to bring a tear to my eye and more so when sung by bright shiny cheeked young lads and lasses with heavenly voices... Then there was the arrival of the snow..

It certainly makes the world seem a better place .. in many subtle ways. For all the folk that managed to slip and slide into town last Saturday, there was sense of camaraderie amongst some of the shoppers (not sadly .. the tight lipped, gritted teeth of the trolley pushers in Waitrose) but certainly the folk we met in Patisserie Valerie for our traditional Saturday coffee and Almond croissant. Striking up some bonhomie with strangers always warms my heart. Town looked particularly beautiful on this morning.. before the Christmas frenzy of shoppers arrived .. we soaked up the silvery light and snowy landscapes of the parks and Pulteney Weir...

This angel looked as though she was ready to join in the snowball fun in the park..


I had to admire this artist for his heroic efforts to paint in sub zero temperatures .. His poor digits looked frozen ..

Local transport had ground to a halt..

Since the weekend we have had another blanket of snow placed on top of the landscape making it impossibly beautiful.. and as today is the Winter Solstice.. it seemed fitting to go for a walk and embrace the occasion.. however chilly the prospect.
We managed to drive up onto the northern hills of Bath to our favourite walk.. the beginning of the Cotswold Way path...


Here we had the world to ourselves.. acres of white pristine snow and silence.. that beautiful muffled silence that snow brings...


Feet scrunched and crunched the virgin snow..

Hips and berries shone like jewels ...


This gateway reminded me so much of Winnie the Pooh .. where he walks through the snow with Piglet..


Despite a frozen face.. I even managed to crack a smile...


The prospect of a warm welcoming inn was enough to spur me on ...

Festive decor and a roaring fire greeted us within ...

Here I really got into the Christmas spirit with a half pint of favoured tipple ..

So I raise my glass to the Christmas season and all of you good people and friends..
Happy Winter Solstice!