Update

Since Christmas I’ve mostly been avoiding the rain, but we have had some good outings to Clumber Park and Bradgate Park, chosen as they were less muddy than any agricultural land was likely to be. Soggy and sloppy, OK, footballs of mud round each boot definitely not OK.  More than ankle deep mud mixed with cow poo also not OK.

We had our number three son’s puppy to stay and he’s only bearable if decently exercised, so the parks were great places to go. The only problem is that they are both a drive away (Clumber is quite a long drive actually), so the dog would go to sleep in the car on the way back, and by the time we arrived home he was as bouncy as ever. He is a really nice fun little dog, but there’s not a lot of peace with him around. It’s partly our own fault – he behaves better for his master, and clearly has us down as a pair of softies, which, in all honesty, we are.

Bradgate has the ruins of Lady Jane Grey’s home and some amazing ancient oaks, which must be contemporary with Lady Jane. It fascinates me that an oak can be completely hollow and have many dead branches and still be producing new, live, healthy looking branches. I don’t know what can make them finally give up and die. Technically that sort of oak is called a “stag’s horn”, because there are dead branches sticking up above the healthy growth, looking like stag’s horns.

Here's some of them:

We took the grandsons to Clumber and the fallen trees were very interesting, what with insects, woodpecker holes, and fungi. We counted eleven different sorts of fungi on one log, including a purple variety and one that looked as though bits of liver were growing out of the trunk. It felt like liver, too, only drier – no blood obviously.

Two views of Clumber Park - worth the drive, I think you'll agree.

We have had a trip to London, to use our Christmas present from the children, which was tea at the Savoy. This is the second time they have bought us tea at a posh hotel. Last time, it was the Ritz. I think the cakes were better at the Ritz, but the room, service and ambience were slightly better at the Savoy. We’re becoming connoisseurs.

We also went to the theatre twice, to see The Weir and Fortune’s Fool. They turned out to be not entirely dissimilar, in the sense that they both dealt with tragedy and blighted lives, but one found oneself laughing rather a lot. Both plays also involved several men and one woman, and both actresses were terrific. Dervla Kirwan in The Weir was horribly moving. Her story involved the death of a child, and frankly if I’d known I wouldn’t have gone. I do my best to stick my head in the sand and avoid this topic. But don’t let me put you off – they were both excellent plays, excellently played.