Jensen was rehomed on January 2nd, and now lives at Modbury, in South Devon.

He is much fatter, catches rabbits regularly, and still bites !

Back to Tenerife in January, for our third stay at Apartment 442.

Diets thoroughly compromised once again !

Lots to look at, even at dusk.

This year, for the first time in ages, we booked a trip aboard 'Benchijigua Express' - Benchi to it's friends - for an afternoon on La Gomera.

Here, Benchi manoeuvres into position, before reversing onto it's mooring.

It's certainly a spectacular ride, as Benchi cruises at 42 knots (48 mph).

The approach to San Sebastian de La Gomera.

La Gomera is very much 'traditional Spanish', especially compared to large parts of Tenerife.

Back to Tenerife in time for G&Ts.

Chris gets busy.

The south-western coastline, Playa del las Americas more or less in the middle of the frame, the the peak of Mount Teide behind.

Chris's photographic Holy Grail is to catch the evening ferry silhouetted against the sunset,

 but cloud over La Gomera or El Hiero often prevents this.

This is the nearest that we got in 2017....

"Never mind pet, have a drink" !

'Tornado' heads an excursion on the Down Relief line out of Reading, passing the Traincare Depot, on 1st March.

Later in March we had our first weekend at Narracott Apartments, Woolacombe.

Ours was the top one of those shown here.

The work-in-progress includes building loads of new ones to the right.

Quite a decent view too, And yes, that is the corner of The Red Barn bottom right of frame, just a stone's throw away.

Tom and Fliss Harper joined us for the weekend.....

Fabulous open-plan living space (Oh no, slipping into Property Porn mode now !)

Muttley does her best to dominate a super king-size double bed !

March also saw a weekend at Lee Abbey for the Roberts clan

Here the sisters, along with assorted offspring, and Kate's husband Bob, pose for Colin Smith on the beach.

After it's latest post-landslide refurb, the chalet now boasts an atrium, complete with instructions for use on the wall !

Trying to tempt finnicky feeder Muttley with a titbit

Traditional hearty fare.  OK, own up !  Who couldn't spell 'Bastard' then ?

On the Sunday, a trip on the Lynton and Barnstaple Railway

The afternoon excursion climbs back towards Woody bay

April, and it's a new toy for the boy, having dipped a toe in the water during 2016.

The tether, incidentally, proved entirely superfluous, only making the Typhoon angry !

An aching neck is now common !

The first test-flight was near the old Cadbury's factory, currently undergoing conversion and refurbishment.

Early April, and the weather was kind enough for an outdoor gathering

L-R: Alice Jay (breeder of Muttley), Denise, Emma Cooksley, Natalie Osborne, John and Lynn Haddrell.

Alice had just bred a litter from her Miniature Schnauzer 'Ruby'.

To save you counting, eleven !

Resisting the temptation to compliment Alice on her 'nice puppies' !

And yes, she does still both need him and feed him !

Birthday card devised and produced by Fliss Harper

This year's birthday lunch.  Once again the weather was kind.

In 2018, there may well be a dress code !

The spring boating week began with a crossing of the famous Pontscysllte auquduct.

Nick and Lucie Harris joined us for the first weekend of this trip.

Just 'a nice little spot in the middle of nowhere' on the Llangollen Canal, not far from Ellesmere.

This is where the drone really comes into it's own.  Mel Cunliffe is on the tiller.

The drone was flown from the football field below, providing a big, safe take-off and landing area.

Click here for video

Mel and Sally joined us from the run from Trevor to Llangollen

Llangollen visitor moorings, from 400 feet.

June saw the Vets4Pets Summer Barbecue, hosted by Carla and Ollie.

Back row: Lynn, Sarah, Sophie.  Off-centre: Alice.  Front: Natalie and Denise

The cast of 'Mrs Brown's Boys' take a curtain call at the end of an excellent show in Cardiff.

"Monsieur, I know that it is very 'ot, but surely one 'at is enough ?"  

Admittedly this is a mash-up rather than a proper panorama, but it serves to highlight one point....

Not all boatyards are scruffy and boring !  This is the Le Boat  base at Castelnaudary, one of our favourite French moorings.

The Cathédrale Saint Nazaire at Beziers, viewed from the Canal du Midi, at the top of Fonserannes staircase.

Photo by Nick Harris

And the view from the tower of the Cathédral, taken the following afternoon.  The aqueduct carrying the Canal du Midi is on the left.

The staircase locks at Fonserannes.

Click here for the video

Nick and Lucie were with us for the fortnight, Steve and Rachel Wells joined us for the second week.

"Traffic in your right, two o'clock, range 240,000 miles is the Moon.  Report when visual"

The fabulous railway bascule bridge at Sete, with a similar road bridge just visible directly behind it.

Sadly there were no bridge-lifts during our two days on the étang.

Dusk at Bouzigues...

...and early morning the following day.

We had two glorious days cruising the étang....

Click here for video

....and exploring it's surrounding ports.

Drone recovery, as seen from it's own camera.  Nick was flying the drone, leaving Chris to work the camera.

Sunrise at Les Onglous.

Looking north-west from the étang, this is the very beginning of the Canal du Midi.

As always, the ascent of the Fonserannes staircase was one of the highlights of the trip.

G&Ts at Capestang. 'Anjodi' (as used by Rick Stein during his French Odyssey) is directly behind.

Girls just wanna have fun !

As do the boys.

Back at home, we celebrated Chris's mum's 94th birthday.

L-R: Standing - Lottie Cutcher, Denise, Phil Cutcher;  With dogs - Sheila Cutcher;  Seated:  Ed Cutcher, Margaret (Chris's mum), June and Brian Stowell,  Dennis Hill.

In July we were again able to visit Jude Davidson and her husband Nick, near Inverness.

At Fortrose, the dolphins rush to escape following a rumoured sighting of David Attenborough !

Panoramic view on the lovely afternoon at Gaerloch.

Further south, the deterioration of the 2017 summer weather was in full swing.

Our trip included a visit to Fort Augustus, just after it was made famous in ITV's 'The Loch'

Dressing up time, as Jude has now become an accomplished bee-keeper.  Next-door neighbour and mentor John is second from the right.

Part of one of the two hives.

Schnauzer Party, as various schnauzers and their owners came over for lunch.

These are the same puppies seen above shortly after they were born.  Alice kept two, and Lynn also bought two.

In position for this year's Flying Proms at Old Warden.

We were however carefully positioned to get some shelter from a fresh and rather chilly breeze.

Spitfire MH434 looking resplendant.

A unique flight line.  L-R: Lysander, Piston Provest, DH88 Comet, Percival Mew Gull, Sea Hurricane.

By the time the flying started, it had become a thoroughly gloomy evening.

Two former racers share the sky - The Comet and the mew Gull

Now this was something - An Extra 300 displaying at dusk, with pyrotechnics.

But for a bit of finger trouble with the ISO setting, this shot might have been far better !

The gloomy conditions did not however detract from the finalé

.

'Wild Sorrel' was our boat for the September holiday, from Calcutt via the Southern Oxford Canal, to Aynho and back.

Alice and Emma joined us for the Sunday...

As did Ruby, who managed to fall in.

Despite early misgivings, Alice soon got used to the tiller.

Approaching King's Sutton, on a lovely September morning.

In his element !

In October Chris had a day out on the Severn Valley Railway with John Virgin

Here, 34027 Taw Valley leaves Kidderminster, bound for Bridgnorth

And just nine days later, Chris and J.V. had another day out.

This time on the new I.E.T., seen here approaching Bristol Temple Meads on it's first day in service

This was the set that didn't disgrace itself on national TV by cascading water from the aircon onto some poor punter's laptop !

I.E.T. stands for Intercity Electric Train.  Except that it isn't. 'Electric' that is.  It's actually bi-mode, as it has diesel engines as well.  Furthermore plans to electrify right through to Bristol are on hold for the foreseeable future, the plan being to stop just west of Chippenham, despite having already done all the necessary work on Box Tunnel.  I think I can feel one of my headaches coming on !

CD and JV pose up by the cab, before riding up on the second-ever service to Paddington

The verdict - numb bums after two hours on very hard seats.

Photo by Signaller Ted Gleed.

At Paddington, the three ages of rail travel:  'Tornado' on platform 1, an H.S.T. on platform 3, and the I.E.T. on 5.

This is the new home of Tony and Suzie Lewis, former owners of 'Foxdown'.

And this is 'The Warren Inn' a guest cottage behind the main house, to which we were kindly invited.

Denise with our hosts on the terrace.

Inevitably, the weekend included time spent at Instow.

Here, Denise tries to attract Muttley's gaze with her sex toy.

Aerial Selfie

For a fleeting moment, Muttley holds a decent pose.

Back at Instow four weeks later, for a weekend with Andy & Wendy Tandy and Roger Beazer in this pleasant little holiday let.

Friday lunch arrives, Andy being momentarily elsewhere.

The owner of these dune buggies loves helping to excercise peoples' dogs !

Woolacombe beach.

Serious business, this photography malarkey !

The beach is inevitably followed by a visit to The Red Barn.

Ah, time for more neck-ache.

The northern edge of Instow.

Then, as you pan round,

White House Close is centre of shot, just 2 minutes from the beach.

Dining in on Saturday night.

Muttley has now managed to complete six boating holidays without falling in.

This means that we're still not certain that she'll float without her life jacket.

'Sea trials' in the bath produced reasonable grounds for optimism,

even if we couldn't get it deep enough to stop all paws resting on the bottom.

The Super Moon of December 3rd.

Sadly cloud precluded both 'moonrise' and 'moonset' shots.

After far too long an absence, Denise's 'baby' sister Diana spent a fine weekend with us in early December.

Merry Christmas everyone, and a Happy New Year !

Chris & Denise

P.S: If by any chance you feel the urge to look at previous years, here are the links:

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