More Monday

And so I head out into the winter wonderland after the morning rush hour had died down. I headed down to Halfords to pick up bike lock for Jools' niece as a Christmas present. Something so simple are no almost as expensive as a bike!

And then up to Whitfield to battle with the evil that is the BT broadband hub; I cracked my knuckles as the computer powered p and prepared for the worst. Only, it worked fine. Really. I went to a couple of sites and it wasn't quick, but good enough.

A quick dash home for a bite of lunch before heading back out, this time to photograph another steam locomotive. I went down beside the sea in the shadow of Shakespeare Cliff and waited.

I worried that maybe all trains had been cancelled, and had to wait for half an hour until one Javelin service finally went passed. As the second service went round the sharp bend near the Prince of Wales Pier, a puff of smoke could be seen.



And then, puff, puff, silent at first, but then a hint of a 'chuff' sound. Tornado accelerated, and huge columns of smoke rose up into the leaden skies. I snapped away, and the camera recorded every frame, six a second.



And then it was under the bridge we were standing on, and we were engulfed in smoke and steam as the train passed by. We went to the other side of the bridge to try to get s shot as it went into the tunnel under the cliff; more smoke, more steam.

And it was gone.

And so back home, after picking Jools up, she had bought a bun tin, and so back home and make some mince pies. I used a recipe from the BBC website; the pastry had just flour, butter and sugar, handrolled and put in the tin; a spoonfull or mincemeat and a handrolled top and then in the oven.

And they are dreamy; quite the best ones we have tasted. Washed down with a pot of coffee made with home made egg nog instead of milk or cream. We lit the fire and sat in the twilight munching on mince pies, drinking coffee watching the flames devour the logs.

Merry Christmas, everyone.