The Rest of 2021...

In the last update I wrapped up with Dan's Retirement. Not much else to say on that score, but I have to add that visiting the coffee shop at 10am that first Monday when everyone else was back at work was really great. Definintely an experience I encourage you all to try. The other thing that happened is a copy of weeks after I retired I received a beautiful watch from my former employer, completely unexpected and I thought a really kind gesture.

My birthday followed soon after that, we went to Bernard's and had a pleasant enough meal, though being stuck in the corridor was a bit of a drag.

Once it cooled down a little, we took up our first new hobby - shooting! Which has been a lot of fun.

Then all the usual festive events came along; Halloween, Hanukavent, with our friends Judika and Sandy and of course Christmas, when we visited the Lights on the lake display in Pawling and the Holiday on the Hill train layout at Lasdon.

Suprisingly I didn't get much done with the railway, in fact I took a break from the main layout to create a snow scene.

Inspired by the farm laborers cottage on a narrow country lane in Yawl, Devon where my mum grew up (it's still there if you want to see it https://tinyurl.com/30acres). When we were kids she would tell us how she walked miles every day to get down to the village school and back again in the evening, in the winter, in the snow, in the darkness.

In the model I tried to capture different times of the same day. "Morning Hack" shows a young lady braving the roads with her pony getting some morning air. Later in the day "Clearing Up" sees the home owner out with the snow shovel trying to clear their front driveway, perhaps they are expecting visitors? "Last Post" captures the local postman, doing the 4pm pickup from the post box, a last chance to get the Christmas cards out. Once the sun sets "After Dark" shows the cozy cottage by night complete with the decorated tree in the garden. All this was wrapped up in our Christmas Card Video.

Retirement

Dan's Birthday

Target Shooting

Halloween

Hanukavent

Christmas