Today we took Harvey and Oscar out for a walk. No! They’re not my dogs… they are CW’s Dad’s Old English Sheep Dogs but they’ve recently been shaved. Here are some photos of our walk around Salford’s old Racecourse and the Irwell River. (Salford is the area in Manchester where all of CW’s family is from).

Oscar (with tail) and Harvey.

Oscar with CW

Play fighting

Oscar & Harvey on the riverbank

The puddle-parts of the riverbank were frozen.

View from the bridge across the Irwell River.

On Wednesday CW and I headed to London Euston station to catch a Virgin Train home to Manchester. We won’t be back to the house in Potters Bar until after New Years. Christmas is a busy time with CW’s family, they always have lots of gatherings.

• Christmas Day Present-giving at Aunt’s & cousin’s house (it’s always at the house with the youngest kids)
• Christmas Day meal with maternal Grandparents, mom, aunts, uncles, cousins. (Last year CW ate two dinners, this one and another with his dad and girlfriend’s family.)
• Boxing Day meal with paternal Grandparents
• Grandad M’s birthday dinner (December 29th)
• New Year’s Day meal

Quite the amount of get-togethers! So far we’ve been mostly just visiting and catching up with CW’s family. CW bought me a phone for Christmas… he let me choose and I picked the Samsung J600. It’s absolutely gorgeous and I’m on the O2 Network. It comes in blue and pink, of course I chose blue. My phone from Canada was supposed to be Tri-Band and work anywhere in the world, but it didn’t. Now my J600 is Tri-Band so if I want to bring it home, I suppose it will work in Canada.

Before we left on Wednesday, I finished the Hot Water Bottle Cosy. It’s made with Blue Sky Alpacas (yum my fave!) Dyed Cotton in “Caribbean”.

Speaking of Blue Sky Alpaca… Sharon is having her Blogoversary Contest. Go wish her a happy one and tell her I sent you! Her contest got me thinking, when is my Blogoversary? I started uploading and importing all my old blog posts, but some are lost completely. I believe I began somewhere in 2001.

Also, on the topic of Contests. I’m upset that next to no one has “Pimped the Swap” for the UK Swap. The contest is open to anyone, not just people in the UK. I already have the prize and only two people have entered. I know that Christmas is a busy time, but every time I go online I am disappointed to see no one has entered.

Tomorrow we’re headed out reeeeally early to go to Bury (there is an Open-Air market). Tonight we’re just relaxing, having fish & chips, and watching Ugly Betty.