Christmas Day

Of course, technically, the previous blog ran into Christmas Day but we will overlook that nicety and pretend that 8 am was soon enough to start the official celebrations! As it happened we both awoke in good time - hence we could do more to the Christmas Dinner - especially veg prep - in a laid back manner.

It was a brilliant day, cloudless and once the sun had been up for a while, the temperature was much milder.

Andrew arrived just before noon and after catching up on news we had a slight lunch before going out for a walk. We had planned to walk around the grounds of the nearby Hanbury Hall even though we knew the house would be closed today. However, when we arrived there (it is only a few minutes rive from the marina) the gates were firmly locked so we continued on the Hanbury Church,

Set on a distinct hill, the church has great views of the surrounding plain and across to the Malverns and the Cotswolds, both readily visible today.

Andrew had recently bought a mini drone (the sort that are just under the weight limit for registration) He gave us (and some other visitors in the churchyard) a demonstration, flying high above the roof of the church and taking in the surrounding countryside. Fortunately it has an autonomous 'return to base' functionality as it is easy to loose track of it ion a bright sunny sky.

The church has recently had a bequest that is enabling it to do some internal improvements. They now have refreshments on a self service basis and it seems that this is becoming popular with visitors.

Once we had finished at the church we attempted to walk across the fields on the public footpath to Hanbury Hall but even the fields that, at a distance, looked good enough for walking, soon revealed that just below the surface the ground is very waterlogged.

Andrew gave his drone another flight - almost losing it behind the trees but giving a chance for the autonomous functions to show their capability.