My tree

A field in the middle of Surrey

Laguna Beach last evening before the storm came in this morning.

Beautiful.

This is part of my Christmas tree, the colourful cross-stitched decoration is from JaneMarple - thank you Jane,

Thanks Sue



Our tree, now dressed!

Inside St. Francis Xavier Church in Old Goa

Since I've been going on about map squares, I came across this map today in the middle of nowhere (Arkley) (quite useful as a result) showing the map and each square on it is to be collected by travelling photographers. This was the last one I needed on it as besides a major road you can't stop on this is the only way to get to it on a long footpath from the local road to the south. If you click the photo to the original you can enlarge it and see exactly how I got there.

I think this is the mother and father, and the two children were in the opposite corner of the field looking over another fence.

Here is the new bridleway, I think it was made in 2006 and not sure what was there before, probably private land.

Maynooth, coolcat90 and I have just returned from two weeks in the Malaysian state of Sabah (located on the island of Borneo). This is part of the resort we stayed at in Kota Kinabalu (specifically, it is the ocean-side bar). It was a little bit of paradise on earth.

More from my little walk during the week

My Christmas cards so far and it is only 18th December so I can be confident in saying that there will be more to come. To save you counting, there are 59 at the moment.

Another shot of the resort. This is the swimming pool in the foreground and the ocean in the background. No, they are not connected - it's just an illusion. I have another shot of people walking on the path behind the tree and it looks like they are walking on water (but I can't post it as they might be recognisable).

The M25 motorway in Leatherhead

Our Christmas tree

Trees in Scratchwood in Mill Hill

It clearly is the end of the beach season. We have been very lucky with the weather so far, as during the day we can still be in short sleeves and enjoying a stroll on the beach. Only some very intrepid people are still swimming (maninly Scandinavians!)

Rosehips in the woods

We did a couple of tours with this company and found the staff to be very friendly and helpful. We did have a few anxious moments, however, concerning the brakes on the bus getting too hot as we were coming down the mountain roads, and using a rock for additional support (as shown in photo) didn't inspire confidence.

The same trees at the side

Street market in Kota Kinabalu. I would have loved to have bought one of these fellows but I didn't because I was pretty sure Australian Customs wouldn't let it into the country.

A confection known as White Christmas.
I think it's uniquely Australian, but I stand to be corrected.

What is in it, Auntie?

I found a recipe, Alexandra, White Christmas
Copha seems to be some sort of fat.