We're not doing presents this year

Let's be really painfully honest here - there are times when my husband drives me absolutely nuts.  In fairness I know there are also times when he feels the same about me, but we're both adults and capable of sufficient self-restraint that the irritation passes soon enough :-}   However, there are also times when he is an absolute gold-plated little star, much as it pains me to admit it!  Christmas Day morning was one of those times.

As per usual, this year we did not buy each other presents.  He's just had a mumble-zero birthday which provided a big iOptron SkyTracker with a telescope still to come, and I am the proud parent of an iPad Pro, so be honest, what more could we possibly buy?  However, we did have a couple of gifts from friends and I placed them on the kitchen table at breakfast time, after which the conversation went:

M:  We're not doing gifts this year, are we?

J:  Not to the best of my knowledge

M:  So is this it then?  (looking at the kitchen table)

J:  Yep, I haven't done anything sneaky

at which point he rushes out of the kitchen, and re-appears with one arm behind his back.
and he's grinning . . . 
at which point I knew he'd done something sneaky. . .

And the story of that sneakiness is that one afternoon in early December he was working at home and I was conveniently out of the house, probably walking Daisy.  A chap came to the door doing the "unsolicited selling" thing.  Management thought about it, found some cash, and handed over what was probably an exorbitant amount (I've forbidden him to tell me what he spent), and then had the exceptionally bright idea of hiding the evidence until Christmas Day.

Which has netted him a zillion brownie points.  He's a bluddy clever chap, but then we knew that - after all, he chose me!

To stay I am stunned and delighted is a massive under-statement.  On the rare occasions I have been able to get a higher view of the garden (when the roof was done, and when we were rebuilding the log pile) I have absolutely loved it but this is really beyond any dream or expectation.  Every time I look at the picture I am blown away;  I have never before seen the evidence of all our work laid out in its entirety.



Scanning the image at very high resolution in TIFF has given me a 65MB sized file and the amount of detail I can see in it is mind-blowing.

For the time being, everyone else will have to make do with this one, a mere 3.5MB.  In time I will update the "Finding your way around Bag End" page - I guess there is no longer a need for my out-of-date cartoon attempt :-}



Management is now researching drone-cameras in case I want a monthly "Aerial View From".

I'm encouraging him!