Christmas at the Hearnden's

It's been a lovely festive season, quite extended with our Christmas Day on 28th. It all began with Hubby birthday on the 21st with a lovely sharing meal at Miller and Carter. The table was full of dishes (we needed a bigger on really) with steak, lamb and chicken taking centre place ... paired with a delicious Argentinian Malbec.

It has been and exciting time for us as Hubby bought a new car. Unbelievably we'd had our BMW Gran Tourer for 8 years, Hubby bought it when he retired. We both loved our 7 seater and have had many driving holidays in it through France and Germany but it was showing its age and we did worry expensive repairs may be looming. 

After trying a few BMW options we chose a X1, it's similar but different to our old car and is definitely lighter to drive. We no longer need 7 seats but wanted to make sure the boot was still big enough for our travels .... it's huge. 

Christmas Day was just the two of us as our grown up children spent the day with their other half's families. We had a lovely day starting with a glass or two of Buck's Fizz before a walk to our social club where we met up with my stepdad fir a Christmas drink.

It was very strange to lay the table for just two. In previous years we've had as many as 13 and had to bring the table in from the garden. 

We had a bottle of Louis Delaney champagne with our salmon starter followed by a superb bottle of White Castle Regent with our turkey dinner with all the trimmings.

Being just us there was no rush, it was almost dark by the time we had dinner which made it quite festive with the lights and candles lit.

Too full to eat any more straight away so our Christmas pudding was enjoyed later in the evening with a glass of Blandy's Clarence Maderia wine.

All in all a lovely Christmas Day followed by a chilled Boxing Day with our son and girlfriend.

Saturday was a food shopping day ready for our family buffet on 28th, the best bit of this was my doughnut treat accompanied by a chocolate Irish Coffee made with Jameson's Stout Edition and Mozart Chocolate Liqueur.

Our Hearnden Christmas on the 28th was superb, time together enjoying sharing gifts, eating a delicious buffet and a variety of alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks. 

Thanks to my lovely Hubby and amazing family for making Christmas 2025 very special.

White Castle Winery

Our first visit to White Castle Vineyard was a few years ago when our daughter and (now) son-in-law adopted a vine for us following our discovery of this superb wine by winning a couple of bottles in a raffle. We were delighted as you can see in my blog post in 2021

We have revisited Robb and Nicola a few times since, in particular to purchase Welsh Sparkling Wine to celebrate our daughter's engagement to her Welsh love and for a super tour & tasting with our wine friends. 

The White Castle dream was to have a winery at the Vineyard making their wine pure Welsh from ground to bottle. 

The dream came true in 2024 with the opening of Y Gwindy, a superb purpose build winery with a row of impressive stainless steel vats and all the necessary wine making equipment including a bottling machine. 

White Castle wine is now grown, nurtured, harvested and produced on site making every drop 100% Welsh.

It's been a great growing year for the vines producing an abundance of grapes with riping happening earlier than previous years. When we visited Siegerrebe and Pinot Noir Précoce had already been harvested, pressed and were happily fermenting in the vats. 

We tasted both and although cloudy and still developing they were delicious, especially the Pinot Noir Précoce with a deep red colour and evidence of complex flavours maturing.

Robb and Nicola's hard work is evident all around the winery, as is their passion for what they are producing. Everything is in place and ready for the next harvesting which was happening just a few days after our visit. 

Y Gwindy had a wine smell that just made me smile, a smell I have appreciated in many wineries across Europe. One fragrance in particular means wine; that for me is wood, in particular oak, and filled the air from the White Castle branded barrels sitting ready for their next fill.

There are still a few finishing touches to happen in the winery, mostly finding the easiest working place for equipment, this is a discovery that will happen over the next few months as Y Gwindy is in full swing with this year's bumper crops.

One item to find its permanent place is the lovely board Robb and Nicola have had made to thank those who helped crowd fund their dream.

White Castle now produce a sparkling Cabernet Franc Rosé, a great addition to their range and one that came home with us along with Regent, our Christmas Day red. 

A sparkling Cabernet Franc is a new discovery for me that I'm keen to taste but I'll be opening it for something special with time to savour, as yet who know why or when that will be but hopefully soon.

Thank you Robb & Nicola for such a warm welcome, it was a real pleasure to visit Y Gwindy, your pride and enthusiasm is a delight to see. We'll certainly be calling by again on one of our travels to Wales, diolch.

It's beginning to feel like Christmas

Hubby and I took a little trip away to get into the festive spirit, nothing big I just wanted to be amongst the sights and smells of the festive season. 

I was browsing online for hotels and places with Christmas markets when a 2 nights for 1 offer popped up for Best Western Hotels and Bournemouth has a market. To top it off the train is direct from Coventry and our station has a train to there ..... and so all booked!

As seems to be the norm these days after a walk to our station we discoverer our train to Coventry was now a bus .... and would not be there in time for our Bournemouth train. The station office couldn't advise if our tickets would be accepted on a later train so we decided to take an Uber; great car, great driver, reasonable price and safely at the station in time. 

The Bournemouth train was a great journey, initially we faced backwards but the train changes direction at Reading so we were forward facing from there. I remember this happening when we took the train to Weymouth with the scouts in 1983, we took them to Guernsey for camp that year. 

Our journey passed through Leamington Spa, Banbury, Oxford, Reading, Basingstoke, Winchester, Southampton Airport, Southampton, arriving at Bournemouth. It was only 15/20 minutes between stations, so nice to see a different view of the countryside ... with our refreshments in hand (coffee, sandwiches and a glass of wine) 

We walked into Bournemouth as we had a while before check in, I was so surprised to find it very hilly. I thought it was flat like Weymouth or Brighton but the town centre sits on a Chine (a steep-sided gorge where the river flows to the sea) and our hotel was at the top of the very steep west cliff side of the town. 

But the climb was worth it, what a festive welcome and although an old hotel our room was huge, clean, comfy and had a sea view. To be honest we couldn't have stayed at the nearby Premier Inn for the price we paid, especially as breakfast was included.

The photo above shows how the road drops away to the sea. Our first evening we strolled down the hill, what a superb view of the Pier lit up and the lights beyond. From the Pier we walked through the gardens along the River Bourne to the Christmas market, the decorations were huge and very festive. 

Being a Monday it was fairly quiet which was perfect as we could get to all the stalls and had no trouble getting a table at the Slug and Lettuce for dinner with cocktails. We had a great night out, a lovely walk back through the gardens and a tiring walk up the hill.

The next morning after a delicious cooked to order breakfast, I had smoked haddock and poached egg, we decided to walk along the coast towards Boscombe Pier. In the daylight the views were even better, the smaller pier in the distance of the curved bay. We could also see the Isle of Wight and the Needles with its lighthouse, we should have brought our binoculars for a better view. 

Before setting off along the coast we walked to the end of Bournemouth Pier and back. There was a great Christmas Tree trail along the Pier with each tree having a Christmassy question with the answer at the next tree. From the end of the Pier we looked back towards our hotel, it's behind the white hotel and you can see the steep slope down.

Of course being on a pier and being by the sea means only one thing .... the 2p machines. I love a tipping point game, yes we never come away with big winnings but it's the game that gives the joy. Hubby did win a chew sweet!

It was lovely walking along the promenade road, often covered with sand, with the sea gently breaking on the shore. There were plenty of runners, dog walkers and even a few swimmers. There were rows and rows if beach huts, all closed now for winter, as was to my dismay the road train. 

The east cliffs towered above us, in some places the promenade was sectioned off due to landslides revealing the sandstone layers. We were so surprised to see a group of goats on the steep slopes, they seemed very happy munching away.

Boscombe was inland, again uphill and sadly it was very much like other town centres with many closed shops. We did find a lovely coffee shop before taking the bus back into Bournemouth. We decided not to venture back into town for dinner (the slope was too much after already walking 6 miles) and so had a pub meal in the Hop Inn just along from our hotel. Still being early when we got back we settled in the hotel bar with a very festive mulled wine and mini mince pie, perfect end to our day.

Our last morning started with another delicious breakfast and as our train home was late afternoon we left our cases with reception so we could explore the east of Bournemouth. I was not keen on doing more slopes so we walked along the cliff top route to Branksome which is actually in Poole district. 

The views were amazing, it was such a lovely sunny winter morning. To the west behind us is the coast to the west with Bournemouth Pier and the Isle of Wight in the distance. We were so lucky with the weather. 

To the east was Studland, we could just see Old Harry's Rocks sticking up at the edge of the coast. The weather did begin to change as we walked back, the sea noticeably changing from being still to being choppy with waves on the shore. 

As we walked back along the beach I knew we'd have to climb up to the hotel. Not enjoying the steep slopes we opted for the steps, oh my there were lots of them and a few stops to admire the view were very much needed. 

We had a lovely few days away, different experience not going in the car and using public transport. After collecting our cases from the hotel we walked back into Bournemouth for a meal before catching the bus to the station to get the train home. 

It was certainly beginning to feel like Christmas, a super early December getaway.

The Royal Mint - birthday treat

To start the final year of my 50s we stayed in Cardiff for a couple of days. It's always good to see our daughter and son-in-law and we do like Cardiff Bay.

I had a lovely birthday, and a second day celebrating with our son and girlfriend once home. It all began with a trip to the Royal Mint, somewhere we've had on our visit list for a while.

It must have been planned in the stars as whilst enjoying a coffee before our visit Hubby noticed he had a new £5 note in his wallet (now in my purse hee hee) It's lovely but a bit strange to see the King on our currency.

The Royal Mint tour was amazing, our guide explained which metal is used, how the designs are drawn and finally how the coins are pressed. The value of each coin is the value of the metal and the weight of each is relevant; two 1ps weigh one 2p, two 5ps weigh 10p. 

We were very lucky to see one of the machines being loaded and held one of the finished coins, still warm. The Royal Mint currently makes coins for other countries and these coins were for Malawi.

At the end of the tour there was an opportunity to forge your own coin, this was one of the special coins celebrating the RNIL's  200 years. The coin is legal tender but will not be in general circulation. Our guide wore special finger covers so now sealed in its display cover the coin has also never been touched.

For obvious reasons no photos were allowed within the tour. It was allowed in the foyer where the Penny Lane mini and Grommit stood shining bright in their coinage.

It was a super tour, so informative and amazing to see how coins are made. It was also astonishing just how much money (in value) is both on display and in storage, a coin may not seem much money on it's own in my purse but it certainly mounts up .... guess that's why we have money boxes and empty bottles for collecting lose change, I wonder how long we'll be able to do that.

And then it was time for birthday celebrations 🥳

We visited our favourite Cardiff micro brewery Zero Degrees followed by a new experience at Vermut Bar where we tried different vermouths. Thanks Philippa and Michael for introducing us to new flavours and styles, a lovely experience.

Hubby and I love Miller and Carter The Hayes, it was a real treat to have their 28oz sharing experience with lobster, mac n cheese and a delicious Argentinian Malbec - thank you Nick, it was superb

And back home the following day we had a super dinner at our son and girlfriend's. Such a lively surprise to have cake with candles ... never too old for birthday cake.

It's been a great few days celebrating my final year of my 50s .... 12 months to the big 60 🥳