As the title above suggests, it was - for both. And the same goes for belated wishes for yours.
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With the remains of the snow in London attempting to stay about for Xmas Eve, it was an early finish to the working day to meet Shar at Liverpool St station for the ride out of London to the village of Melton, Suffolk. A relatively uneventful journey, despite having to arrive into Ipswich the long way round, saw us greeted in Melton by plenty of snow. The snow in England was still there for all to see everywhere except London...
We were soon collected by Steve n Eileen before heading to the a nearby pub to catch up and spend a quality evening. The small parking lot at the pub was awash with both snow and ice making the short trip from car to pub entrance rather interesting. Once inside with the warmth of old low ceilings and log fires, it was time to remove outer layers and settle in for the evening. Suffolk’s own Adnams ales, along with some great local cheeses and fresh gammon or turkey sarni’s were the main fair of the evening. There certainly is something to be said for the local country pubs in 
England for a great atmosphere, especially on a frosty night as this.
Later it was back to Steve n Ei’s, but not before Shar instigated a snowball fight in the car park - somehow I don’t think she expected Steve to get involved as you can see here! Any time over the rest of the weekend when either I or Steve picked up a handful of snow we were quickly told to “No!” or “Drop it!”
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Xmas morning was a relaxed affair before we set off to Farnlingham and the castle there. During the previous evening, Shar had revealed a penchant for castles, so Steve decided to show us some of the ones nearby. A short drive from Melton through 
the snow patched countryside and we were there. Only to discover that it was (naturally) closed, and despite both Steve’s and my efforts we were unable to get in. It was then back to the other side of Melton to the restaurant where Xmas dinner was planned (you’ll work out while this was the case soon enough). We met friends of Steve n Ei’s there and discovered that they had spent about ten years living in the suburbs of Melbourne some time ago. To show that the world is even smaller, their time in one particular suburb actually overlapped some of Shar’s childhood in the same suburb!!
So after a good feed, quite a few drinks and an entertaining afternoon it was back ‘home’ for presents, but via a quick drive through tour of nearby Woodbridge for Shar’s benefit.
The evening rounded out with the usual English xmas tv specials before, Shar and I gave Ei a hand in the kitchen to prepare the Boxing day feast.
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Boxing day arrived to a relatively (no pun intended) slow start with a full English breakfast. It was then time for Steve and Ei to take us for a morning cruise to Orford Quay and Orford Castle. Quite a picturesque journey past some very old thatched cottages and homesteads - not to mention the countryside.
After a quick look around the village and castle in Orford, we headed to Rendlesham forest to walk off our breakfast. While Steve showed Shar the famous UFO landing site (google it), I again vowed that I would come back here with the mountain bike...
A short drive back to Woodbridge saw us in a hokey little pub for a quick ale before Steve’s son, Mark, arrived with wife, Jo, and 9 month old son, Findlay. Greetings and catch ups were had before then settling in for a late afternoon xmas dinner. Full traditional English fair, and as tradition would have it, we stuffed ourselves “good n proper”. I won’t mention Shar’s claiming of 4 Yorkshire puddings, but even then, there was plenty left over for a fantastic “fry-up” of bubble n squeak the next morning!
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The next morning had me up early and heading out for a run. There is something to be said for running through the quiet country lanes of England on a frosty morning with some snow still about. Passing a dog running the length of its yard with me as I passed by. The sun dragging itself above the horizon to reveal the colours of the world and the mist across the land...
After being thought mad by Shar, we began a cruisey morning that culminated in that feast of bubble n squeak plus other reheated or cold leftovers.
Not long after this, Mark, Jo and Findlay left, so the rest of us had an evening ale in another nearby pub, that we discovered had been refurbished. While nice, it had lost all of its character, so after one drink we headed home for a relaxed evening.
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An early start for us as Shar and I needed to be on a 9am train back to Ipswich, then Ingastone before a coach took us back to London and work the next day...
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Another early finish for New Year’s Eve, saw my housemate Paul and I head into Charring Cross to a pub 
(the Green Man) where we met Marty n Karyn. A quick trip across the road to St Martin’s Spice for a curry, and we were feeling very warm and ready to face the cold night.
Heading down past Trafalgar Square and the gathering crowds, we continued along Whitehall towards Westminster, Big Ben and the London Eye fireworks to ring in the new year. It didn’t take long to discover that around Big Ben it was packed full of people. Funnily enough, not too many seemed to be speaking English either - a sure sign of what the locals thought of this idea! We decided to head back up Whitehall to a spot where there was a rather wide lane that gave us a
good view of the London Eye. The lane was fenced off, as much of the lanes around these government and military buildings are, so with a good spot right up by the fence, meant it was time to bring out the thermos of hot gulwhein and some other goodies. Meanwhile the bottle of champagne was chilling quite well in the -1C weather...
We enjoyed ourselves with those around us, as you do in these sorts of things, and counted in the New Year. Fireworks, champagne, friends and even dancing a new year's jig - great stuff. And to top it off, the snow began to fall shortly after the fireworks display finished...
Bring on 2010 - an ever improving new job, a wonderful new person in my life and things are looking pretty damn good for the year. Hope you have a good one too.
Having recently seen the movie, Ice Age 3D, and considering the weather here in the first two and a half weeks of 2010 it appears that life is imitating art. The maximum daytime temperature has yet to be over 0C, and it really wouldn’t surprise me if I did see a woolly mammoth appear. 
(tyre, exhaust & engine, and shear numbers) does clear the roads of the snow and ice. Note that I use the word ‘road’ and not street, because the side streets are something akin to being halfway between the footpaths and main roads - they’re a lottery as to their iceyness. All good fun, but I’ve stuck to using the main roads and the more commonly used side streets for survival. Plenty of others have not paid so much attention to what’s in front of them with some rather comical results, and this includes the footpaths.
