What a beautiful day. The sun has shone unceasingly all day. The sky has been such a bright blue it has been almost cartoon-like in its brilliance.

We have spent the last day of 2004 walking on the moors and watching the sea glinting in the distance. Archie has excelled himself, happening on a couple of ewes, not ten feet away from him, he slunk down on his tummy, staring intently and quivering but making no attempt to leave the path and chase them. I feel as though that is a significant step forward for him because we normally have to keep him on the lead for much of our walking because of the huge numbers of sheep on the moors. He has earned the right to a bit more slack by being so good today. That’s so cool.

This photo was taken during a fifteen-minute sit atop one of the ruined buildings at Pearce’s Shaft and the photo is the engine house. You can see the barbed wire around the top of the shaft itself (behind the ruin) to stop(!) people from falling down it. I suspect there are probably a few sheep carcasses down there!!! The ‘lump’ on the horizon is the Cheesewring quarry, where I’ve taken a couple of potd shots before and the village is Minions - the highest village in Cornwall.

New Year’s Eve isn’t a celebration that DM enjoys really so, despite the fact that I always hosted a party on NYE in the past, since we’ve been together we have spent the evening quietly. This year, we have been into Looe, a small fishing town nearby, to see the fancy-dress of the local revellers then back to Alan and Dee’s for a quiet night in, watching Jools Holland and drinking fizz. This late post reflects a 3am end to the night and the fact that we spent the morning sitting around drinking coffee and sharing our hopes and dreams for 2005 with our friends. So, after our beautiful day, a wonderful night.

My 2005 diary starts here!