We caught up for Lunch with Geoff & Rhonda today. Our Eatery of choice was the ever-reliable The Olde Victoria in nearby Burton Latimer. We do love this place, having only been there as recently as last Sunday with Carole H for Lunch. It’s probably our most frequently visited Pub since we moved into the …
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Category:Friends
Quorn or Meat?
Well, both actually! 😀 We took the hour’s drive to Quorn, north of Leicester, to meet up with Ralph & Karen for lunch and a catch-up. Our destination? The Quorndon Fox. Last time we were here was back in December 2023, again with these two! 👏👍. The perfect combo then – great mates and (based …
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London Calling!
Sunday – 4 January We woke to a freezing cold Kettering! It felt much colder than the forecast suggested. Well, at least it was dry! 🙄 But we weren’t at home for long, as we’re off to our favourite City – London – where it was a tad ‘warmer’. We’re with friends, John & Trish …
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New Year’s Day (2026)
We do like a bit of variety over Christmas and the new year, so I’m not sure what happened for New Year’s day, 2026! 🤔😂😂 This time last year, we decided to go for Lunch at The Pheasant at Keyston with longtime friends and neighbours, David and Valerie. And this year? ❓❓❓ How about Lunch …
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New Year’s Eve (2025)
My Blog is still broken and I’m unable to upload any photographs! 👎. Hopefully, it’ll, be fixed soon, but in the meantime, I’ll keep things ‘short and sweet’. Usually, at this time of year, we’d be off to see a Pantomime, and then we’d probably see the new year in with friends and/or neighbours. This …
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Winner, Winner! TV Dinner! – F1 – The Movie (2025)
We’re round at ours with great mates, Jo & Janet and watching last year’s Brad Pitt blockbuster: ‘F1 – The Movie’. Ann is playing to her strengths, conjuring up some yummy food! I’m not quite sure why we didn’t see this when it first came out, but it seems to have been received well by …
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Christmas 2025
Here’s my annual jottings for Christmas week, 2025… After what seemed a manic period taking us up to this week, we somehow managed to get ourselves really well-organised this year, where in the week before this one, it all seemed very relaxed – just what retirement should be about (but it seemed to have eluded …
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Salvation Army Carol Concert (2025)
For reasons that I can’t recall, we haven’t been to the annual Carol Concert here at The Citadel, Kettering for the past couple of years – and it was good to be back! 👍 It’s not that we haven’t been at all, as we saw their excellent performance of The Messiah back here in April. …
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Trish & John’s Festive Meal 2025
With Australia calling (or at least whispering) this might be the LAST of Trish & John’s legendary annual Christmas Meal get-togethers. We’ve been going to these for what seems like, forever – and we’re sure to miss this annual gathering of our neighbours & friends for what is usually a mega-festive-feast with a Christmas Quiz …
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The Countryman (Again!)
Here I am at The Countryman in Staverton Village. The Pub is becoming a semi-regular haunt for our three-monthly catch-ups with Ian & Ann and Alan & Mags since discovering it with old work mucker, John ‘Mez’ Merrell, exactly 17 years ago today, back in 2008! 🙄👍. Sadly, Mrs P wasn’t able to make the …
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Up to Uppingham
We took the short drive to nearby Uppingham today for lunch with Nick & Celina for a pre-Christmas catch-up. Ultimately, we were to end up with our first visit to ‘No 23’, a rather upmarket Bistro (where they even had a dress code on a Sunday!). Bet you can’t guess the address!!! 😉 But, before …
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First Christmas Meal!
I’m not sure whether this is a record or not for us? It certainly feels like it – it’s our first official Christmas meal of 2025 – and it’s not even December yet! 😮. Last year, I had to wait until December 7th for my first festive nibble (but c’mon, we had only just returned …
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Warner Weekend 2025 – Return to Holme Lacy (Day 3)
The Northants Nutters (aka, Paul & Sue, Geoff & Rhonda and us two, plus ‘Honorary Nutters: Richard and Nicki) are at Warner’s Holme Lacy House. Last time were here was in March 2020 – just prior to COVID – it was therefore good to be back under less threatening circumstances. This is our last full …
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Warner Weekend 2025 – Return to Holme Lacy (Day 2)
The Northants Nutters (aka, Paul & Sue, Geoff & Rhonda and us two, plus ‘Honorary Nutters: Richard and Nicki) are here at Warner’s Holme Lacy House. Last time were here was in March 2020 – just prior to COVID – it was therefore good to be back under less threatening circumstances. Welcome to Day 2! …
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Warner Weekend 2025 – Return to Holme Lacy (Day 1)
With apologies to Dean Martin: “The weather outside is frightful, but heading away for the weekend is delightful!“. Time for the self-titled Northants Nutters (aka, Paul & Sue, Geoff & Rhonda and us two, plus ‘Honorary Nutters: Richard and Nicki) to re-assemble and head for Warner’s Holme Lacy House. The last time the Nutters were …
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New Arms!
A first visit today to The Fancott Arms in err, Fancott, Toddington It was time for a catch-up again with longtime mate, Angela C. The location was about halfway between us, and made a pleasant change to our usual haunt of The Bistro just up the road in ‘old’ Toddington. It was less about the …
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Call to Arms!
Today, we drove over to the Montagu Arms in Barnwell to meet up with Mick and Jane. The last time we were here was back in May this year, also with Mick and Jane. This used to be a very frequent destination ‘back in the day’, but until earlier this year, we hadn’t been back …
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Winner, Winner! TV Dinner! – Fantastic Four: First Steps (2025)
For me, as a BIG Marvel fan (since the very first in 2008), I can’t quite recall why I didn’t see this at the cinema when it was released back in July of this year. Maybe it was simply that the highly infectious ailment called ‘super-hero fatigue’ had finally caught up with me too, after …
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Holiday: Spain (2025)
Friday, 31st October We flew out to Spain to catch up with long-time mates Roy & Susan. Roy sits amongst that small group of longtime friends, who I’ve known for close on 45 years – and we’re looking forward to a week of R&R at their place with plenty of time to reminisce! 👍 In …
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The Importance of Being Earliest
Well, we haven’t done this in a while! The last time we saw this Play was back in July, 2021 at Tolethorpe Hall. We headed off to Stratford upon Avon and The Bear Pit to see the matinée performance by Am-Dram group, Second Thoughts of The Importance of Being Earnest. It starred good mate and …
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Two for Who!
Fellow Doctor Who fan, Jo and I took a drive over to Peterborough today. It was a rare opportunity to visit the City that’s hosting an unofficial Doctor Who Exhibition at their Museum & Art Gallery. It’s been running since May this year (ending on 2 November) and has turned out to be extremely popular. …
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Lincoln Castle and Prison with Dennis and Sandra
We’re off to Prison with Dennis and Sandra – the Victorian Prison inside Lincoln Castle. We set off just after 9am and enjoyed a strangely uneventful journey north – even the A1 was quiet! 🤔 This is our 19th cultural day out together with our friends since we started these back in February, 2017. So …
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Passion in Paphos
Here we are in Cyprus! We’re here for a week, where the main event is the marriage of Sean and Kellie this coming Thursday! What follows is a much briefer account than my usual Posts (‘hooray!’ say some!) as I took the decision to travel light and leave the laptop behind and attempted to record …
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Rockingham Castle with Gill
We caught up with Gill today at nearby Rockingham Castle. For a more detailed description of the venue, read my Post from a few years ago (August 2022). Prices have gone up slightly since we were last here. We paid £17 (for the youngster) and £18 (for the elderly). Well, it was perfect weather for …
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Thunderbirds are… 4K!
Who needs the TARDIS to travel in time? All I need is an episode of Thunderbirds to instantly transport me back to the 60s! In fact, it was just after my 9th birthday that I first got acquainted with the Tracy Family and all their high-tech kit (ahh, so that’s where I get my obsession …
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Candlelight Concert: Coldplay and Ed Sheeran
It was off to nearby Northampton to see another in the series of Concerts by Candlelight that are all the rage at the moment. Last time for us was in September, 2023 at Peterborough Cathedral to hear the music of The Eagles. This time it was ‘two for the price of one’ with the sound …
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Arrow Returned
We headed off to the Arrow Mill today to catch up with long time muckers: Ian, Ann and Mags (sans Alan). It’s been just over a year since we were last here and it was good to be back! 👍 Yum yum!! A great menu that changes daily. You can’t beat this ‘posh Pub’ for …
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Azamara Holiday – Summary
Day 22 — Saturday, 23rd AugustAzamara Holiday – Summary Phew! As promised, here’s a summary of our holiday, which includes links to all my daily Posts. We spent it with great mates, Ralph and Karen, taking in Canada, Greenland and Iceland. Thanks for your readership, comments and feedback – it was great fun recording our …
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Amazing Azamara – Day 21 – Even More Akureyri
Day 21 — Friday, 22nd AugustEven More Akureyri! Morning all! 😁. Welcome to our BIG Holiday of 2025 – and our last day exploring Iceland! We’re with great mates, Ralph and Karen, having conquered Canada, and grappled with Greenland‘s weather! 😯. Even MORE Akureyri? Can there be anything left to see here?* *Of course there …
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Amazing Azamara – Day 20 – More Akureyri
Day 20 — Thursday, 21st AugustSightseeing around Akureyri Morning All! 👍Welcome to our BIG Holiday of 2025! With Canada and Greenland completed, our final hop is here in the north of Iceland – in Akureyri. In a first for us eating Breakfast abroad, in amongst the continental staples of ham, cheese, peppers and tomatoes were… …
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