Christmas Day and gone . Today is Boxing Day. Boxing Day or St Stephens day goes back a long time . Dated to the Middle Ages it was the time when the alms boxes were opened and money distributed to the poor . For us Boxing Day meant sales. It meant trips to the markets and cattle markets , fox hunting and the to town .
The weather has settled down and walking has been a pleasure . My explorations have taken me along the river Dee and up the Overton Road to the racecourse. A walk of around an hour there and back . There were not many folk about today . I had the Overton Road to myself . In the distance I could see the church. I used it to judge the time of my walk . There was not much to see on the way . The trees are bare and the fields muddy . I picked up a phone signal eventually . How we take phone networks for granted . We only notice we miss them when we dont have them. As I walked I thought about the work I had
to do when I got home . More wall paper stripping . Making more lists of things to do. The air was clear and fresh . The sheep in the fields had muddy legs . I spotted the private land of the Albert Angling club . Just on the corner of a bend in the river as it meandered its way to the next village of Farndon. It was too muddy to walk along its banks. I kept to the road . My mind thinking over sales . The shops are shut. Lockdown in Wales and nothing will for another three weeks . No fairs . They have long gone out of fashion. No agricultural markets . The hunt would be out despite it being illegal to hunt foxes .
I could see Minera mountain in the distance . Wrexham too. It felt odd walking in such a rural area. I passed the Hole in the Wall. A house name . I would not have chosen that if I had the choice . There were farms scattered along my route . The seagulls were inland and I caught sight of a large brown bird of prey.
Eventually I arrived at the Racecourse . Bangor on Dee races. Never been before . Perhaps now we lived here it might be a good idea to have a day at the races . The yards looked empty but still impressive. Racing has taken place on this left handed course since 1859. The only times that there were no races were during the war and now with Covid. Perhaps by February there might be a light at the end of the tunnel .
Gradually I am walking the village . Gradually finding my way round the nooks and crannies . Slowly working out what is interesting about my new home. How we miss Gabby though . It feels odd not to have her parked up on our front garden . Will we get away in 2021. It is just round the corner . We need to at least start planning where to go next in our girl Gabby .
