This blog is pretty unusual for one of mine, as not only does it straddle two years, but it also contains several photos of actual people, plus a couple of arty outdoor ones.

On Christmas Day, which seems a while ago now, Sam was the designated photographer. and I am sure you will soon agree that he captured the atmosphere beautifully.
Si rang in the morning, and we exchanged Christmas greetings, and also had the
'thanks for the wonderful.......' conversations.
Si reminded me that Dad would not say 'Merry Christmas', preferring to use 'Happy Christmas'.  The word 'merry' implied that too much alcohol had been taken, not a situation that Dad was in favour of.
However, I think Si was all prepared for a Merry Christmas, and at The Gables, after our pre-dinner pints and our turkey accompaniments (red, white, or both) it was both a Merry and a Happy Christmas.
Sam did not think it was funny that Mr Cooper had to stick a cracker onto his ear.....

.........and definitely didn't find it funny that I stuck crackers on both ears. I did, however.

But luckily, Sam regained his good humour when he spied the Christmas ham, adorned only with cloves, not crackers.  And very good it was too.  And it remained very good for many days.

Going back in time briefly, when me and Mr Cooper enjoyed the delights of Corfu in October, we dined several times at the Blue Dolphin Taverna, enjoying both the food produced by, and the company of, Nikki and Nicos.
When it was our last meal there, not only were many hugs exchanged, but we were also given a bottle of Corfian red wine which we said we would save, to drink with our Christmas dinner.
We decided to open the bottle to go with our second Christmas dinner, when we would be joined by Rachael, Ben and young Henry.

Here are me and Mr Cooper behaving far more sensibly, enjoying the red wine without wearing crackers, Rachael now being the designated photographer.
We will send a copy of this to Nikki and Nicos.

Much more exciting than a bottle of wine, here is young Henry, enjoying his first Christmas.  Being 7 months old, a table mat holds as much fascination as a real toy.  Being 64 years old, Mr Cooper remains fascinated by the camera!

Christmas comes and goes all too quickly.  All that time spent planning and preparing is over in a flash.  I always think that Christmas Day should be spread over 2 days, as Boxing Day is always a little bit of a sad day for me.  In fact, so festive did I feel this Boxing Day that I did some dressmaking, then started my yearly accounts.  What fun I had!
Then back to work for a couple of days, before preparing to enjoy the New Year celebrations.
The time between Christmas and New Year can be very busy at The Greyhound.  When I first got to work on Wednesday, it was initially quite good to have a change of scene, but as the day got more and more hectic, I began to wish I was actually there to eat lunch, not clear away after it!
When I returned to work at 6pm, Jay made me a very delicious salad, festively garnished with violas.  Nothing like smoked salmon and flowers to lift the spirits, I always find.

After a couple of days at work, it was time to continue with  the festivities, and Friday saw us heading clockwise round the M25, on our way to Suffolk.  Well, it didn't see us very clearly, as it was a foggy morning.  We were off to stay with Susie and Werner, for New Year.
Luckily the fog had lifted the following day, and we headed to Orford, for a coastal walk.
What better place to be than by the sea?

Unexpectedly, after a mile or two of walking, the sun appeared, the skies became blue, and it was a even more of a joy to be out and about in the Suffolk countryside.  This year I have signed up again to do the annual South Downs walk, this time for 9 not 7 consecutive days.  Let's hope I am still using words like 'joy' to describe walking in the countryside, on day 5.

We spent New Years Eve in Kettleburgh, having been invited there by friends of Susie (from the tennis club). We met 3 couples we didn't know, and spent a very convivial evening.  At 10pm, we left the dining table (rather sadly, in my case as I had tried to eat as much braised fennel as it was polite to.  Well, I mean as much braised fennel as I possibly could.)
 'Let's play Pictionary' said our host.  Great idea, thought I.
They certainly take their board games seriously in Suffolk......instead of us gathering round a table, and drawing on a small pad, Dennis carried a large flip chart into the room.  It was rather like giving a lecture in silence.  I do love Pictionary, and red wine.  It is best to focus on just one of them at a time as, at 11pm, my brain could visualise the image I intended to add to the paper, but my hands made it look a little different.  But it was still a success, I think we were all in the same boat.  Plus, none of our 'friends for the evening' knew that I was an artist, so there were no great expectations.

Sadly, back to reality, and a return to work.  On the day we left, the rain had ceased, the sun was shining, and Jack Frost had visited.
Here is Mr Cooper looking at the roof of his car, this photo capturing two wonders of nature.

Here is a close up of one of them again, but a transient one.

I get to return to West Sussex with the other natural wonder, who though is perhaps not quite as decorative, is really a lot more useful, and very lovable too.

In 2016 I spent a lot of time sorting out my possessions, and getting rid of those that were not decorative, functional or very much loved. 
Hard to start, but it certainly became easier as the year went on.

I hope you have a happy year ahead of you which contains things which are decorative, useful and lovable.  Not necessarily all together, but a good sprinkling of the three of them throughout.
I wish you all a very Happy New Year, perhaps even a 'merry' one at times, and I look forward to seeing you often in the weeks and months to come.