Hello !

We had a good Christmas, hope you all did too? We have been trying to do more walks but the tracks turned very icy and slippery and I managed to do a complete comedy slip on Christmas Eve, when both legs went up in the air and I landed on my back - thankfully no injuries. We have tried a couple of walks since but all the trails have been too icy to be enjoyable. We went into Guelph, which is the nearest big town, and walked along the River Speed where the path had been cleared so that was really nice - I have attached a picture of the river which shows where the ice had broken and how thick it was. James also walked on a frozen lake, and I stood on the side, ready to shout for help if it broke!

Christmas Day was started with prosecco, we had roast chicken for dinner which was very tasty and then just as we were relaxing, the smoke alarm went off (randomly, I had long stopped cooking so not my fault) however it's all wired into the security alarm so it was a hectic couple of hours trying to stop it, calling the alarm company and the home owners and trying to get it sorted. Eventually we had to take the alarm down and cover it with cushions until the engineer could come on Friday and replace it.

Whilst trying to get the broom from the (cluttered) cupboard, I managed to dislodge a precariously hanging hammer which then fell and bashed me on the shoulder so I have been my usual clumsy self whilst being here. The language that followed had the cats running for cover!!

Yesterday we drove to Niagara Falls, it's about an hour and a half from here and was well worth the trip - we thought they were incredible. From the Canadian side you can see 2 lots of Falls, Bridal Veil Falls and Horseshoe Falls and you can see the American side very well - it's much better from the Canadian side though. We took a trip up the Skylon Tower - not as high as the CN Tower, so we were ok up there and you get a great view over the Falls. They had a display of other towers around the world, we were delighted to see that Portsmouth's Spinnaker Tower also got a picture and a mention!

You can walk all alongside the River Niagara and the Horseshow Falls and the force of the water going over is really spectacular, we took plenty of pictures so prepare to be bored! The boats weren't in action, presumably they close for winter, but 'Journey behind the Falls' was open and you get to walk into tunnels with portals out behind the waterfall. It's odd because mostly you can't see out due to all the water but occasionally you get a glimpse of the lake. All in all it was spectacular and we are intending to go back for NYE as Bryan Adams is playing a free concert and they light up the Falls in the dark, as well as 2 firework shows so it should be quite special.

Happy New Year to you all

xxx