A New Year's Day walk

We had a slow start to the day as the four younger members of our group were still in bed at 11am! Keith and I couldn't really do anything until they'd woken up so we just mooched about and I felt a bit fed up, as we'd planned on going to Oxford today and it was clear that we were running out of time.

When Sophie and Laura emerged, we made a start on breakfast and I dashed to Mawsley to buy some more orange juice and baked beans. The weather was dull, grey and gloomy so not a great opener to the new year and decade!

After we'd eaten breakfast and cleared away, Laura went home and we made the decision to go to Olney for a walk and a drink at one of the pubs there. We all hurriedly showered and dressed and by 2.30pm we were on our way.

After parking in the small car park in the centre of the town we walked towards the river and took a path over the fields. There was a sign post saying that Newport Pagnell was five miles away and I should imagine it's a lovely walk in the summer. The fields were flooded after all the rain we've had lately. We walked a short distance but it was getting late so we turned around and walked back into the town having a good look at the lovely old houses on the way.

We had a couple of drinks at The Swan which was a lovely old pub bustling with New Year's day drinkers. They had been doing food as lots of people were lingering over late lunches, but we were still full from our cooked breakfast! It was lovely to sit and chat and there was a great relaxed atmosphere in the pub.

We drove home and had about an hour and a half before we went out to India2Mawsley for dinner. The restaurant was very quiet again with just two other diners but that was fine with us. We all enjoyed poppadums and curries and the food was as delicious as ever.

On the way home we came across a car that had gone into a hedge on a nasty bend. It must have happened in the hour and a half that we were eating and we drove past several times to make sure nobody was in the car and hurt. The airbags were out but the lights were off so we called the police just in case. We have a feeling whoever was in the car had abandoned it, so at least they weren't hurt, but it was a bit unnerving to say the least!