Blue skies on Christmas Day

This was our view on the 25th December!

Christmas Day in our house was on 20th December! My eldest daughter and family spent a whole week with us before going to spend the actual holidays with her husband's parents. Last time they did it the other way around, and were with us on the real Christmas Day.

It was quite comforting to know that if you ran out of any vital commodity you could pop to the shops to get it - rather than have to wait for several days.

The weather has been very cold and icy (though not the snow that the rest of the country is having) but it was through this time and with a toddler in the house, that the heating oil ran out. Well we thought it had run out, and (having no woodburning fire right now as the chimney is under repair) we had a chilly weekend just using three electric fan heaters to heat the whole house. I was not a happy bunny.

However, our local supplier who has always managed to help us in the past when we ran out unexpectedly, turned up as soon as they could. We have two small fuel tanks that feed into one line, and it was discovered that on the last delivery, a valve was not reopened after filling the tanks. So we actually had one tank empty - but one tank full ! How annoying was that?

Anyway, youngest daughter and her fiancé could be together and spend Christmas Day with his family (having spend our early Christmas Day with us). So that left the two of us - I was happy to treat the day as a lazy Sunday, but the Man of the House wanted to spend the day at his favourite place - Lyme Regis - even though everything would be shut.

We rustled up a picnic, put our warm coats on and headed for Lyme Regis, only 45 minutes drive away.

It was a beautiful sunny day, more like summer. Difficult to believe that a lot of the country still has snow lying on the ground! No clouds in the sky, and the town and seafront were protected from the wind. The view is looking east back along the Dorset coastline (now known as the Jurassic Coast, a World Heritage site)

The lamp standards are custom built for Lyme Regis and depict a fossil. These two gulls were using it as a vantage point - I really out to straighten the photo a bit!

This is the view back towards the Regency town, favoured by Jane Austen. It looks very sheltered by the harbour wall that is behind me, known as The Cobb (famous in the French Lieutenant's Woman) The car is parked in sea front car park in the middle of the buildings.

This is a view along the last bit of The Cobb. I find it fantastic that, apart from a few disclaiming notices, that they still let us walk along it. No rails, no nothing. The highest point on the coast is Golden Cap - doesnt look so golden today though, but we've climbed the path up to the top this summer, great views.

After our stroll, we went back to the car for our lunch (I had avocado, tomatoe and brie in pitta bread, mmmmm) and a cup of tea from the Thermos flask. This was the view through the windscreen.

This is the Man of the House walking towards his car (the low white one) The clock is a war memorial to all those who died in the 20th century from Lyme Regis.

We climbed up the hill to the new gardens (the old ones were slipping into the sea, so some major stabilising work has taken place, meaning the gardens were revamped.) Another view back towards Golden Cap.

The gardens have a low maintenance theme, with drought resistant plants. Past the grasses you can look west and see the harbour and The Cobb behind it, sheltering it from the prevailing south westerly winds and the strongest seas.

The sun set on a most unusual Christmas Day, with near perfect weather - difficult to believe it was December. And although Lyme Regis isnt my favourite part of the Jurassic coastline, it was a good day out.