we only have 3 more days left of work WOOO HOOO!! We both finish up our jobs this Friday and then we have a week left in the UK before heading to Spain on the 31st December.
The last few weeks have dragged as we count down the days for our next trip. But we have still managed to fit in a fair bit on weekends. Last weekend we took Tania and Nick on a 2 hour lunchtime cruise on the Rochdale Canals. We had a great time and a very delicious roast dinner. The canals are manmade waterways that used to connect villages and towns which we used to transport goods between mills. They are very narrow so the boats are long and narrow too. We were surprised to find that they are also only 18inches deep. It was so cold the day we went that there was half a centremetre of ice covering most of the canal. We had to break through it with the boat which makes an awfully loud rumbling noise. It made us think we were on the Titanic! It was amusing to watch the ducks getting all confused and not being able to figure out where they can and can't swim. They'd faff around for ages at the edge of the ice before either using their wings to fly (hello! you are a duck! Why did it take so long to work out!) or inadvertantly ending up standing on the ice and then proceeding to shakily skate and slip their way back into the water. Kept us amused anyway. The canals have locks periodically to allow the boats to change elivation ie go uphill. It is quite ingenious how this works. They have a series of gates which dam the water and they then raise or lower the water and then open the gates to let you through.
Nearby in the town of Halifax they have set up their annual ice skating rink. Tania took Debbie as a surprise for her birthday which was brilliant fun. Brought back memories for Deb as she used to skate regularly as a kid. Nick and Ed watched from the sidelines but Ed was pretty keen to have a go too so the following week we went again which was fun. Neither of us could walk for days afterwards though.
As mentioned we are finishing up our jobs on Friday. The weekend will be spent pottering about locally, packing our bags and boxes, last minute xmas shopping etc. Xmas day avo we will be spending with Tania and Nick which we are very much looking forward to. Then the rest of the week we are thinking about going away for a few days up north, maybe the Lakes District.
We are both really excited about Spain now, and are hoping that it will be abit warmer than here. We are feeling the cold and we haven't even really hit winter yet. We are looking forward to seeing the sun again as we haven't seen it for weeks. When we get up in the mornings it is pitch black and then it's dark again at 3:30pm.
We would like to wish everybody a very Merry Xmas, Happy New Year and best wishes for 2008.
love
Snish and plmbob