Happy New Year!

Blimey - so here we go again.... Hmmmm, 2011 looks like it might be a bit of a strange one for me - for starters I will be turning 40 in March and then if all goes to plan, Ivan (Mr Bicknell) and I are going to be taking our first steps towards growing one of those baby things, well, all being well of course - the shock of turning 40 might be enough to send me over the edge before that happens though! Funny, I don't feel like I am about to be 40 - after all, I got a Glee annual for Christmas, alongside some Xfactor tour tickets and a Take That album - not many of my similarly aged friends would have found those in their stockings! But, hey, I feel absolutely no desire to grow up, so why should I? Life is short enough already and if you can't get stuck in without worrying what people think, then what's the point? I hope each and everyone of you enjoy and make the most of your year ahead - remember - it is going to be what you make of it, so all you students out there, by all means play hard, but work hard too - the benefits of the product of this are worth it. So, happy New Year. xxxx

Ours started, as it always seems to, with a splash - there is a tradition in the Bicknell household which involves some icy cold water, a luminous white body, an ageing Labrador, a flask of tea, some good dark chocolate and a fluffy towel! Needless to say I am the one holding the flask, the chocolate and the towel! You might remember the summer version - well here is the winter version!

Not a particularly flattering photo I grant you - and of course it is all artificial padding (!), but an example of just how cold it was on new Year's day in Worldham - this is the ice I chipped off the horse trough in the field next to the infamous spinny.......

The luminous body prepares to join the enthusiastic Labrador for the first dip of the year....

And he's in.....

And he's racing to the edge....

And he's out!

What a nutter!